Page 60 - AlertDiver_Spring2013

58 | SPRING 2013
RESEARCH, EDUCATION & MEDICINE // S A F E T Y 1 0 1
Rapid ascents, improper gas management, medical
problems, poor physical fitness and entrapment are
much more frequently associated with dive fatalities
and serious injuries than decompression sickness is.
More Than Just Bubbles
Are we too concerned about DCS?
B y N i c h o l a s B i r d , M . D . , M M M
STEPHEN FRINK
Diving grants a freedom to explore and
an opportunity to experience what most
people see only on film. As terrestrial
creatures, we are ill adapted to the
marine world but nonetheless eager to survey the
ocean’s wonders. For divers new to the sport as
well as seasoned veterans, each dive is unique and
requires diligent preparation prior to entering the
water. Divers recognize that any excursion into or
under the water carries with it some risk of injury.
In numerous articles, seminars and presentations,
DAN® proclaims the benefits of physical and
mental preparation prior to diving, which include
physical fitness, equipment maintenance and skills
training. Well represented throughout DAN’s
publications and research and integral
to the dive industry’s introductory
training programs is a focus on
decompression sickness (DCS).
The emphasis on DCS
indicates the relative
importance of this unique
malady and the behaviors we
can employ to prevent it. Often
missing from discussions about DCS, however,
is acknowledgement of its relative rarity and the
comparative commonality of other injuries that can
occur while diving or while on a diving trip.
What Harms Divers?
DAN has been gathering dive injury and fatality
statistics for more than 30 years. In 2008 a team
of researchers led by Dr. Petar Denoble, senior
director of DAN Research, published a paper on the
causes underlying dive fatalities. While the ultimate
endpoint of incapacitating events is often classified
as drowning, the triggering events that lead to these
deaths provide insight into how such accidents
can be avoided. Whether from health-related
problems such as heart disease, which accounts for