Report on Decompression Illness, Diving Fatalities - Divers Alert ...

3. Dive FatalitiesDAN is not the primary investigative agency for dive fatalities.DAN compiles dive fatality data based on various sources: newspaperarticles, local contacts, medical examiners, eyewitnesses andfamily members. This information is often incomplete and less accuratethan data for dive injuries or Project Dive Exploration. The precipitatingcause of the fatalities and the cause of death are frequentlyunknown. Fatality investigation is limited to U.S. and Canadianresidents, as it is difficult to collect information from abroad.However, all information obtained on each dive fatality case isreviewed by a forensic pathologist who is also trained in dive medicine.There were 77 dive fatalities in 2001, involving 13 women and 64men. Autopsy reports were available for 51 cases. In 11 cases autopsywas conducted but reports were not sent to DAN. Four caseswere not autopsied, and the status of whether an autopsy was donein one case is unknown. The deceased diver was not recovered in 10cases.3.1 Characteristics of Divers Who DiedThe age distribution for male and female dive fatalities is shown inFigure 46. Sixty percent of all fatalities were in the 40- to 59-year-oldage group. The largest proportion of male divers who died (41 percent)was in the 40- to 49-year-old age group, and the largest proportionof females who died (39 percent) was in the 50- to 59-yearoldage group. Five percent of all fatalities were in the 10- to 19-yearoldage group. The average age was 43 for both male and femaledive fatalities, with ranges of 17-66 for males and 17-69 for females.Fig 46Age and genderdistribution ofdiving fatalities(n=77).% of Fatalities4540353025201564 Males13 Females105010-19 20-29 30-39 40-49 50-59 60-69Age (years)54DAN’s <strong>Report</strong> on Decompression Illness, Diving Fatalities and Project Dive Exploration: 2003 Edition