Death rate for experienced scuba divers

[Altamira]

Except for driving, older people likely have a higher incidence of dying while doing any activity, or even doing nothing but sitting in chair watching TV and drinking a beer. But keeping active, including scuba diving, should increase your life span, and it is certainly more fun than sitting on your ass doing nothing. None of us is going to get out of here alive, so I am going to continue enjoying life to the max--until I can't.

 

[Johnoly]

...averaging there at 0.12 fatalities per 100k dives...

Remember that well over half new divers quit diving after their 2nd year past BOW certification.

And with the above stat,,,,the majority of divers with 5 or more year's of diving continuously DO NOT LOG their dives. (some do) So no way to know exactly how many they do. I'm close to 3000 dives (est by tank fill credit card charges). I quit logging dives after #100
And I dive almost every week when weather cooperates (even the cruddy stuff like Thursday)

I'd venture a guess that 0.12 stat is off by half at least from what I see on boats and at the docks.

 

[Kharon]

I'd venture a guess that 0.12 stat is off by half at least from what I see on boats and at the docks.

Which way - 0.024 or 0.006?

 

[KathyV]

This is anecdotal, not statistical information, but it left an impression on me because I know that insurance companies track risks and incorporate them in policy premiums.

When I was shopping for travel insurance for a dive vacation, I asked a Travel Guard Rep if I needed to add coverage for injury or death while scuba diving? He said "No, because scuba diving is not considered an 'adventure sport' or an 'extreme sport' and it is covered under typical vacation activities."

 

[boulderjohn]

When I was shopping for travel insurance for a dive vacation, I asked a Travel Guard Rep if I needed to add coverage for injury or death while scuba diving? He said "No, because scuba diving is not considered an 'adventure sport' or an 'extreme sport' and it is covered under typical vacation activities."

That depends upon the insurer. I have seen statistics on the rate of injury for scuba that indicate that this absolutely SHOULD be a company's policy. Scuba-related injuries are extremely rare in comparison to the amount of participation. Statistics from a couple of decades ago put the fatality rate in scuba at the same level as bowling. Seriously.

On the other hand, I certified a friend of mine a few years ago, and he has since then become an avid diver with well over 150 dives. I could not certify him to dive, though, until he sold his business and retired. His business absolutely depended upon him and his professional expertise, and thus his life insurance policy was critical. In that policy, scuba diving was one of only a couple of activities that would void his insurance should he die while participating in it.

 

[Johnoly]

Which way - 0.024 or 0.006?

.006,,,but even that still is too high.
I dive Jupiter which is known for aggressive dives. Just some rough guess's but it's about 1 per 4-5 yrs and in that timeframe about 180,000 tanks are dove here. Not a scientific, double blind, peer reviewed, data analysis but knowing the scuba market, I'd bet my numbers are pretty close.

 

[PfcAJ]

.006,,,but even that still is too high.
I dive Jupiter which is known for aggressive dives. Just some rough guess's but it's about 1 per 4-5 yrs and in that timeframe about 180,000 tanks are dove here. Not a scientific, double blind, peer reviewed, data analysis but knowing the scuba market, I'd bet my numbers are pretty close.

100 dives a day in Jupiter? Every day?

 

[Johnoly]

100 dives a day in Jupiter? Every day?

6 full time big charter boats, 3-5 six-packs, a dozen CD boats and 30-50 privateers. On a summer day it would be triple that number and I only guessed 200 calendar days per year. Again, just a rough guess, but no way is that .12 number correct either.

 

[PfcAJ]

6 full time big charter boats, 3-5 six-packs, a dozen CD boats and 30-50 privateers. On a summer day it would be triple that number and I only guessed 200 calendar days per year. Again, just a rough guess, but no way is that .12 number correct either.

I think you’re really over estimating the number of dives.

 

[boulderjohn]

This winter in nearby Pompano Beach I was surprised by the lack of diving activity. In past years, the marina there had had 6 active dive boats --2 for Pompano Dive Center, 3 for South Florida Diving Headquarters, and 1 for ScubaTyme. When I arrived this past January, I learned that Pompano Dive Center was permanently down to 1 boat, and that boat was often booked for shark tagging, meaning no diving from it. ScubaTyme's boat was out for maintenance. SFDH often had only 1 boat running because only enough people for one boat had signed up. On a number of occasions, there was no possibility of diving from that marina because there were not enough booked divers to send out a boat--they required 4. I had a couple of booked dives canceled because of lack of enough divers.

I contacted someone from ScubBoard who is active in the Key West area. He said the same thing was happening there. He said there were days when the dive shops had zero customers. A big day raked in $17.