Is Scuba Diving Safe?
Scuba diving is enjoyed by thousands of people around the world every day and is considered a low-risk activity compared to many other outdoor and sporting activities – even such widespread activities as swimming, jogging and all-terrain vehicle riding have higher reported fatality rates than diving.
How likely are you to be injured while diving?
The most common medical issues associated with scuba diving are sunburn, seasickness and dehydration (all of which are preventable). There are actually few injuries requiring any sort of medical attention associated with diving. On average, there are only 1092 scuba-related emergency room admissions in the US each year.
Compared to other popular sporting activities, average annual ER admissions in the US are:
Diving – 1,092/year
Snowboarding – 4,438/year
Bowling – 19,802/year
Volleyball – 57,303/year
Fishing – 170,216/year
Source:NCBI
What about sharks?
Dogs, snakes, crocodiles and even hippos kill more people every year than sharks . Just in Australia there are 20 horse-related deaths each year compared to 1.7 shark-related fatalities: Horse Week, anyone? Most divers love sharks and are ambassadors for this greatly misunderstood animal.
Will I run out of air?
Your dive gear includes a display that tells you how much air you have in your cylinder — think of it like the gas gauge on your car. You’ll learn to check this gauge regularly, so it’s unlikely you’ll run out of air while scuba diving. If you do run out for some reason, your buddy has an extra mouthpiece (regulator) so you can share your buddy’s air while you swim to the surface. Some divers also choose to dive with a small backup supply of air.
Do people die scuba diving?
Unfortunately, yes. Like any activity in the natural environment, there are inherent risks in diving that can never be fully eliminated. However, with proper training and when following sound diving practices, the likelihood of a fatal accident is low – in the US there were only 50 diver fatalities reported in 2014 (the last year for which data are available). With a diver population estimated at 3 million, the diver fatality study for 2014, as published by Divers Alert Network (DAN), reported an approximate 2 per 100,000 participants fatality rate, which “appears to be relatively stable over time.” This compares favorably with other common sports:
--Jogging (13 per 100,000 participants)
--Swimming (6 per 100,000 participants)
--Horseback riding (est. 128 deaths per 100,000 participants)
Considering diving fatalities further, about 45 percent of dive fatalities are precipitated by a health-related event, and about 25 percent are associated with a cardiac event, mostly in older divers. DAN’s most recent Annual Diving Report states, “Older, heavier divers with pre-existing heart or blood-pressure conditions are at elevated risk of dying while scuba diving, compared with younger, healthier divers. Fifty-three percent of male and 54 percent of female victims were 50 years old or more.”
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