Recreational Diving Fatalities Workshop: Summary

The risks of dying during recreational diving are small. The purpose of this workshop was to consider how the risks might be reduced further. Topics included investigation, surveillance, training and operational safety, and cardiovascular disease. Investigations involve on-scene inquiry, forensic examination of the deceased and life-support-equipment testing. These are essential to determine causes but are often inadequate. Independent annual fatality rates were presented and reviewed for diving, jogging and motor vehicle accidents and for divers in training. Common factors associated with diving fatalities included running out of gas, entrapment or entanglement, buoyancy control, equipment misuse, rough water and emergency ascent. Asphyxia by drowning, air embolism and cardiac events were the principal injuries or causes of death. About one-quarter of the deaths were associated with cardiac events, mostly in older divers. Revised procedures were recommended for identifying occult cardiovascular disease in candidate divers who warrant further investigation, but older, previously certified divers may be at greatest risk.