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Chapter 34 — 1
Chapter 34
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WHY DIVERS DIE
INTRODUCTION
Experience of life suggests that anything which is fun tends to be either illegal, immoral,
fattening, or dangerous. Recreational diving partly conforms to this universal law, ranking
below hang gliding and parachuting but above most sports as regards the risk of a fatal
accident.
Diving statistics from the USA, UK, Canada and Japans all show diving death rates of 15–30
per 100,000 divers per year, with the statistical chance of a fatality being about 2-3 per
100,000 dives.
These figures tend to contradict the misinformation issuing from some sections of the diving
industry (fatalities of < 4 per 100,000 divers) which would have us believe that diving is a
very safe recreation. It is not, but then we accept risks every day. Even driving an automobile
to a dive site carries an appreciable (but much less) risk of death - a possibility which we
generally regard with equanimity.
This chapter will show that many diving deaths should be preventable and that a diver ought
to be able to minimise his chances of becoming a statistic by understanding and influencing
the factors which are now known to be associated with diving deaths.
STATISTICAL EVIDENCE
The information presented here is mainly based on data gathered by valuable studies
involving recreational diving fatalities. They have been conducted in different countries, but
show strikingly similar results. The USA recreational diving deaths, originally compiled by
John McAniff of the University of Rhode Island and then NUADC, are now collected and
reported on by DAN, which recently analysed 947 open circuit scuba divers. The DAN
survey also included technical divers, who dive deeper, longer and with gases other than