Annual Diving Report - Divers Alert Network

1.2 Annual Diving Injury and Fatality Rates
1. INTRODUCTION
To assess progress in diving safety, quantitative measures are essential. Based on data available
to DAN, we have selected the following indicators for this purpose: (a) the annual incidence rate
of DCS per 10,000 PDE dives (Figure 1.2-1); (b) the annual incidence rate of DCS per 10,000
PDE divers (Figure 1.2-2); (c) the annual incidence rate of injury claims per 10,000 insured DAN
members (Figure 1.2-2); (d) the annual incidence rate of fatalities per 100,000 DAN members
(Figure 1.2-3); and (e) the annual incidence rate of fatalities per 100,000 British Sub-Aqua Club
(BSAC) members (Figure 1.2-3).
It should be noted that data presented in Figures 1.2-1 to 1.2-3 are from limited and restricted
populations (specifically PDE volunteers, DAN members, and BSAC members), and
generalizations to other populations may well be inappropriate. The value of such indicators,
however, lies in contrasts and comparisons with similar information from other population
samples as, for example, Scapa Flow and Warm Water diving (Figures 1.2-1 and 1.2-2) or DAN
and BSAC fatalities (Figure 1.2-3).
Figure 1.2-1 shows the annual DCS incidence rates per 10,000 Scapa Flow dives and per 10,000
Warm Water dives for divers enrolled in PDE. The Scapa Flow dives took place in Scotland in the
colder waters of the North Sea. About 85 percent of the Warm Water dives occurred in the
Caribbean while most of the remainder were from the warm or temperate waters of the Atlantic or
Pacific.
According to our data, the DCS incidence rate among PDE dives in Scapa Flow appears to have
decreased nearly four-fold from 40 to 10 cases per 10,000 dives between 2001 and 2004.
Confidence in the validity of this observation, of course, requires further analysis and independent
confirmation. The incidence rate among the Warm Water dives fluctuated from 0 to 5 cases per
10,000 dives between 1998 and 2004.
DCS Per 10,000 Dives
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
19 DCS in 10,096 Scapa Flow Dives
18 DCS in 94,012 Mostly Caribbean Dives
1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004
Figure 1.2-1 Annual DCS incidence rates per 10,000 dives at Scapa Flow and in
the Caribbean among divers enrolled in PDE.
8 Annual Diving Report: 2006 Edition