Just ran across a stat that stopped me cold

Was reading through the Diver's Alert Network annual report last night and saw that 60% of commercial diving fatalities happen in less than 30 feet of water. That's shallow water blackout territory, not some deep saturation job. How many of us are actually running through our safety checks when the water's barely over our heads?

2 comments

2 Comments

tara3451d ago

Honestly, you're mixing up a couple different things there. Shallow water blackout is usually a freediving thing from holding your breath too long, not really what kills commercial divers in shallow water. It's more about things like drowning from equipment issues or getting tangled.

eva_rivera1d ago

Had a buddy back in the day who was a commercial diver on a salvage crew. He got tangled in some old fishing line about fifteen feet down. Panicked a bit, started breathing fast, and sucked water through a leaky regulator seal. Guy was out cold for a minute before they hauled him up. @tara345 is right that it's usually something mechanical or a simple mistake that gets you, not some exotic blackout scenario. Even a small gear failure can turn into a drowning real quick when you're kicking against a current. People watch too many Hollywood movies about this stuff.