Report on Decompression Illness, Diving Fatalities and Project Dive

Section 2 - Project Dive Exploration (PDE)2.3 DiversThe following information describes both the characteristics of thedivers who participated in PDE in 2003 and the frequency of theirdiving exposure. Most of the volunteers (90 percent) contributedonly one series of dives. The maximum number of dive series contributedby any one individual was 57. The median number ofdives in each series was eight. Only 3 percent of divers participatedwith more than four dive series. These were mainlyRecreational Dive Professionals or individual FRCs who wereusing DL7 Level 3-compatible dive computers and sending in alltheir dives throughout the year. Tables 2.3-1 through 2.3-3 describethe diving frequency of PDE participantsTable 2.3-1Numberof seriesper diver.# Series Frequency Percent1 1,721 90.42 - 4 119 6.35 - 9 35 1.810 - 19 21 1.1> 20 7 0.4Total 1,903 100Table 2.3-2Numberof divesper diver.Table 2.3-3Frequencyof diving.# Dives Frequency Percent1 77 4.02 - 4 363 19.15 - 9 294 15.410 - 19 718 37.720 - 29 354 18.630 - 99 87 4.6> 99 10 0.5Total 1,903 100Maximum Mean Median# Dives / Day 9 2.6 2# Days / Series 41 4 4# Dives / Series 136 10 8Dive series consisted of five to 29 dives in 72 percent of cases.Twenty-two percent of dives were done in short series of one tofour dives, and only 5 percent of dives were completed in series of30 or more.26DAN’s <strong>Report</strong> on Decompression Illness, Diving Fatalities and Project Dive Exploration: 2005 Edition