How many divers die each year?

[Thalassamania]

I read somewhere once that if a diver had a heart attack whilst diving it would listed as a diving fatality, which would be wrong. So any figures that exist will probably have some errors.

I would not say that that is absolutely so. Would the victim have had the heart attack if he or she had not been diving? Would the chance of survival been higher had the victim suffered the heart attack on land? Etc. There are many factors that need to be considered. Apologists for the diving industry keep trying to whittle the numbers down with such arguments, many of which are way more of a stretch than a heart attack.

 

[Crowley]

I would not say that that is absolutely so. Would the victim have had the heart attack if he or she had not been diving? Would the chance of survival been higher had the victim suffered the heart attack on land? Etc. There are many factors that need to be considered. Apologists for the diving industry keep trying to whittle the numbers down with such arguments, many of which are way more of a stretch than a heart attack.

Ah yes - we're all (as in dive industry people) trying to find excuses to cover-up the accident statistics in case somebody gets afraid and doesn't want to give us money....

Although there are indeed many different factors to be considered: Did the victim (continuing on with the underwater heart attack scenario) have a prior medical condition or were they taking medication that was contraindicated to diving? Did they knowingly ignore medical advice and dive anyway, knowing they were physiologically unfit to do so? Is that a diving accident, or suicide?

In terms of actual numbers of fatalities - it's not so easy to put an accurate count onto the total number of diving deaths per year, because they are spread out over pretty much the entire planet and there are only a limited number of organisations collecting data in the first place. I have the DAN annual report from 2008 which covers accidents up until 2006 which records 138 scuba diving fatalities worldwide, with approximately 10% being related to cardiac problems.

Before the dive industry alarmists get all hot and bothered, please let me qualify that this is from a table in the report listed as "All known recreational incidents", and includes only those fatalities reported to, or discovered by, DAN.

Clearly this is six years ago now, and I don't have the latest edition of the report but I would expect the figures to have risen slightly, not because diving has become less safe, but because the sheer number of divers has increased overall. In comparison to the actual number of dives carried out per year, the incident rate is pretty small.

Other numbers I've read suggest 1 accident in every 200,000 dives (compared with 4 per 100,000 in 1993, according to one report) and up to 26% of fatalities recorded as "cardiac related" - I haven't posted the links here because you can find them quite easily with a bit of googling.

The short answer to "how many divers die" is: "not very many"

 

[Quero]

Numbers of diver deaths are not reliably reported, even though DAN collects what reports they can and includes them in their statistics.

As to the ratio of diver and non-diver deaths, impressionisitcally, based on fatalities of swimmers and divers on Phuket or departing from Phuket on dive boats, judging only by the numbers of deaths, it would appear that non-divers are at a greater risk. In the last year we have had about 35 drowning deaths on our beaches and two diver deaths (one from an uncontrolled ascent and one an apparent heart attack). However, when we consider the number of practitioners in relation to deaths we need to revise our thinking--we may have had millions of people on our beaches and only hundreds of thousands of divers on our boats, so impressions can indeed be deceiving. I wouldn't be surprised if the risks were found to be roughly equivalent.

 

[DevonDiver]

People die when scuba diving!?!

 

[daniel1948]

I was told by a beach lifeguard that many more people drown, or die from exertion, while snorkeling than diving. Wonder if any records are kept about that?

Garrobo, while that statistic is probably true, that's likely because many more people snorkel/swim than dive, so the numbers are skewed...

This is true.

In addition, for all the shortcomings of the certifying agencies, virtually all divers have had basic training and most understand the need to dive with a buddy. You can take snorkeling lessons and freediving lessons, but most snorkelers just put on mask, fins, and snorkel and hit the water.

 

[Thalassamania]

Ah yes - we're all (as in dive industry people) trying to find excuses to cover-up the accident statistics in case somebody gets afraid and doesn't want to give us money....

That was my experience during the years that I worked for the National Underwater Accident Data Center. You perhaps have a different set of experiences that you'd like to share?

Although there are indeed many different factors to be considered: Did the victim (continuing on with the underwater heart attack scenario) have a prior medical condition or were they taking medication that was contraindicated to diving? Did they knowingly ignore medical advice and dive anyway, knowing they were physiologically unfit to do so? Is that a diving accident, or suicide?

Those are the sorts of questions that we dealt with on a daily basis.

In terms of actual numbers of fatalities - it's not so easy to put an accurate count onto the total number of diving deaths per year, because they are spread out over pretty much the entire planet and there are only a limited number of organisations collecting data in the first place. I have the DAN annual report from 2008 which covers accidents up until 2006 which records 138 scuba diving fatalities worldwide, with approximately 10% being related to cardiac problems.

Before the dive industry alarmists get all hot and bothered, please let me qualify that this is from a table in the report listed as "All known recreational incidents", and includes only those fatalities reported to, or discovered by, DAN.

Clearly this is six years ago now, and I don't have the latest edition of the report but I would expect the figures to have risen slightly, not because diving has become less safe, but because the sheer number of divers has increased overall. In comparison to the actual number of dives carried out per year, the incident rate is pretty small.

I have seen no data to suggest that: "figures have risen slightly," quite the opposite.

Other numbers I've read suggest 1 accident in every 200,000 dives (compared with 4 per 100,000 in 1993, according to one report) and up to 26% of fatalities recorded as "cardiac related" - I haven't posted the links here because you can find them quite easily with a bit of googling.

A source would be interesting, I have seen that number of 200,000 in lots of places, but I never been able to find out whom to attribute it to originally. I'd tend to call it Urban Myth until the origin can be ascertained.

The short answer to "how many divers die" is: "not very many"

From what I know, diving is significantly more dangerous that playing football or baseball.

The closest source for the 200,000 number I can find is:

Diving Safety

QUESTION: I was delighted to read your well-thought-out article on Diving Safety. I have been an active diver for longer than I care to remember and I also happened to work as safety professional before I retired. Since I retired I have done some volunteer work at the Naval Undersea Museum Library here in Keyport, Washington. While I was there I did a little study of SCUBA safety statistics and found the major concern was that the exposure time was unknown, and at that time no one seemed to want to even estimate it. So I found it surprising that you mentioned a death rate in you article (one death per 200,000 dives). If you have a reference for those figures I would appreciate your telling me what it is. I truly believe that the raw data DAN provides annually is not useful without knowing more about the time spent u/w. For example it is not significant to know that accidents have increased if the amount of diving increased proportionally during the same time period. In other words, knowing accident rates can help us identify and focus on true safety issues and accident trends. Thanks for your concern with safety. - Jim

ANSWER: I wrote that blog entry on scuba safety. Let me state right upfront, and maybe I should have made that clearer, that my thoughts were just that, thoughts on a topic based on what I believe in, what I've read and what I've seen. I DO have formal training in statistical analysis and actually did my doctoral thesis in part on the then-new use of computers for multivariate regression analysis and discriminant analysis and so on, but that was a long time ago.

As is, the figures I used in my statement, "Unfortunately, that number is uncomfortably close to the roughly 150 people who die every year in the US from/while diving. But what does this really mean? The rate is about five deaths per million dives. So the chance is one in every 200,000 dives." are gleaned from a variety of dive books I have read, some Google searches, and mostly from "Diving Science" by Michael Strauss and Igor Aksenov, both MDs. On page 185 they state" Deaths from SCUBA diving accidents have remained level at approximately 100 per year even though the number of SCUBA divers has increased 10-fold over the past three decades." (Also, on page 27 they state, "About one injury requiring medical attention occurs for every 1,000 SCUBA dives," and on page 32: "Two or three case of decompressions sickness occur for ever 10,000 SCUBA dives. (in the US).)

Now how did I get from that data to my statement? Like I said, I can not recall if I read it or computed it. I am certain, because I know how I write and think, that I did not simply guess or make it up. My likely thought process was this: "Diving Science" states that there are "an estimated 5 million certified SCUBA dives in the US..." I've read higher and much lower numbers, but let's assume it is 5 million. Let's say of those 5 million, half are somewhat active, and those half do an average of 12 dives a year, so that would be 30 million dives. If 150 people die from diving accidents, that would five deaths per million dives. If it's more like 100 deaths a year, then it'd be three deaths per million dives. If my assumption of half of all certified divers doing about a dozen dives a year is way off, then it is yet another number. If there are far fewer certified divers, the rate goes up, and so on.

I also have no doubt that a dive is not a dive is not a dive. In other words, yes, bottomtime makes a difference, as well as gender (according to "Diving Science" the vast majority of diving deaths are males), age (foolishness/invincibility in youth vs. declining health at age), equipment, training and so on. - Conrad H. Blickenstorfer

It does not take a very careful read to see that this is not scholarly work, but rather rank supposition based on estimation based on wishfull thinking.

 

[flots am]

People die when scuba diving!?!

This is completely unverified, but I've heard they also die in bed and at the dinner table . . .

flots.

 

[black_sea]

Aah, statistics. How many children die in their family's pool? Oh whow, more children drown in pools than by gunfire.
How many people are injured by dog bites? Oh wow, so many more than by shark bites.
How many people die from scuba related injuries? Not many, see the DAN link given above.

If only the scuba industry had not lost the bravado of a dangerous activity for real adventurers only.

People that cannot accept their own mortality... Oh, how I wish they would stay clear from my sport.

 

[Thalassamania]

Aah, statistics. How many children die in their family's pool? Oh whow, more children drown in pools than by gunfire.
How many people are injured by dog bites? Oh wow, so many more than by shark bites.
How many people die from scuba related injuries? Not many, see the DAN link given above.

If only the scuba industry had not lost the bravado of a dangerous activity for real adventurers only.

People that cannot accept their own mortality... Oh, how I wish they would stay clear from my sport.

Aah, self-deception. Diving is hardly, "a dangerous activity for real adventurers only," even at it's more extreme edges it can be conducted with nearly zero risk of death, given a modicum of candidate selection, about three time the training the average recreational diver has and acceptance of team based diving as the norm. I hate to be the one to have to inform you: the danger is primarily in your head, and I expect so is the bravado.

 

[Zieg]

This is completely unverified, but I've heard they also die in bed and at the dinner table . . .

flots.

That's it! I'm living on the couch from now on.