Diving Incident Statistics
A sample of non-fatal cases where DAN Asia-Pacific was contacted during December 2011
LOCATION |
REASON FOR CALL |
ACTION |
| Pulau | Concussion | Bumped head on boat before diving and developed dizziness, nausea and vomited during dive. Referred to hospital. Symtpoms persisted for three weeks. Diagnosis: Inner ear barotrauma. |
| Singapore | DCI | Sent to chamber and required lots of extra treatment for improvement. |
| Australia (QLD) | Possible Muscle Strain. Possible DCI |
Pain in calf arose 1-2 hours after strenuous dive. Referred to nearest chamber and following consultation it was diagnosed as a strain. |
| Australia (QLD) | DCI | Tingling in leg. On liveaboard and 10-hours out to sea. Managed on 100% oxygen with full resolution of symptoms. |
| Fiji | Cerebral Arterial Gas Embolism | Numbness in left arm and leg. On surfacing had blurred vision and impaired consciousness. Improved generally on oxygen. Sent to Chamber. No treatment was given. |
| Malaysia (KL) | DCI | Referred to local Chamber. Received one treatment. |
| Australia (NSW) | Inner ear barotrauma | Referred to specialist care in hospital. On-going symtpoms. |
| Hong Kong | Possible DCI. Possible ankle swelling from flying. |
Swelling in foot and skin lesion after flying post diving. Referred to diving physician. |
| Australia (QLD) | Viral Illness | Nausea, fatigue and slight fever developed after diving. Examined by dive doctor. Diagnosed as viral illness. |
| Australia (QLD) | Sinus squeeze | Sent to local hospital. |
The above is just a selected sample. The DAN AP DES hotline dealt with many more calls from non-members who required emergency advice.
Member v Non-Member. All divers can call the DAN Emergency Hotlines for advice. However, DAN can only arrange treatment, evacuations and guarantee payment for current Members only.
December 2011 Scuba Diving Fatalities
| Australia (Vic) | 47 year old male. Died shortly after surfacing from a shallow solo dive. |
| Thailand (Phi Phi Island) | Elderly French male diver, reportedly not feeling well before dive. |
| Australia (Tas) | 56 year old male died while scuba diving in challenging conditions. |
| Truk Lagoon | Two hours after diving the diver was having dinner on the boat when he collapsed and died. |
The above are fatalities of which DAN is aware. We suspect there were several more throughout the region.
NOTE: The above statistics do not include calls for help received via DAN America, DAN Europe, DAN Southern Africa or DAN Japan.
Who is the Divers Alert Network (DAN)?
For scuba divers worldwide, DAN means safety, health and peace of mind. DAN are the experts in diving accident management. The organisation is committed to improving the safety of diving for all divers. DAN strives to achieve this goal via activities that include providing Worldwide Emergency Evacuation Coverage and optional Dive Injury Insurance Services for Members; funding and/or manning 24-hour diving emergency hotlines throughout the region; offering non-emergency diving medical advice, accident management training; and undertaking data collection and research to enhance dive safety. www.danasiapacific.org. BACK