DAN's 2006 Diving Report on Decompression Illness, Diving Fatalities and Project Dive Exploration
29 mar 2007 | Source: DiveSter
Although talking about diving accidents is often not a lot of fun, it can be useful. Learning from others' mistakes can help you prevent a similar accident in the future. To that end, DAN has recently made available its 2006 Diving Report on Decompression Illness, Diving Fatalities and Project Dive Exploration. I looked over it this weekend, and while it's not a knee-slapping good read, it is somewhat illuminating. For example, I learned that:
Of the 160 reported dive fatalities in 2006, 88 were US/Canada residents. 42% of the fatalities in the US occurred in the Southeast Region (North Carolina to Florida, Tennessee and Alabama). Most fatalities occurred to people aged 50-59. Most fatalities occurred to people who were obese. 64% of fatalities were designated as drowning deaths. The report has a lot more information within it, and so it's worth checking out. However, since it's kind of gruesome, if you're having a bad day, it might be better to wait until tomorrow to look at. Only DAN members can access the report, so if you're not a member, you'll have to ask a friend to print out a copy for you, or rely on the statistics I provided.


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