Scuba Diving: Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 20:23, 13 September 2025

Scuba diving is a popular and relatively safe recreational activity, but like any adventure, it has inherent risks. Most of these risks are well understood and can be significantly managed through proper training, planning, and equipment.

This page provides interactive tools to help you understand two of the key risks in diving: the risk of a fatal incident and the risk of Decompression Sickness (DCS), also known as "the bends." Use the dropdown menus below to see how different factors can influence your personal risk on a single dive.

Your Personalized Dive Risk

Tell us a little about yourself and the type of dive you're planning.

What is your age group? [{"Age_Selector":"Under 40 years old","DCS_Age_Multiplier":"1.0","Fatality_Age_Multiplier":"1.0"},{"Age_Selector":"40-49 years old","DCS_Age_Multiplier":"1.34","Fatality_Age_Multiplier":"1.5"},{"Age_Selector":"50-59 years old","DCS_Age_Multiplier":"1.81","Fatality_Age_Multiplier":"2.5"},{"Age_Selector":"60+ years old","DCS_Age_Multiplier":"2.43","Fatality_Age_Multiplier":"4.0"}]

What is your biological sex? (This primarily affects DCS risk) [{"Sex_Selector":"Female","DCS_Sex_Multiplier":"1.0"},{"Sex_Selector":"Male","DCS_Sex_Multiplier":"2.11"}]

What is your diving experience level? [{"Experience_Selector":"Novice Diver (<20 dives)","Fatality_Experience_Multiplier":"2.0"},{"Experience_Selector":"Experienced Recreational Diver (>20 dives, no planned decompression)","Fatality_Experience_Multiplier":"1.0"},{"Experience_Selector":"Technical Diver (planned decompression, caves, deep wrecks)","Fatality_Experience_Multiplier":"3.0"}]

What kind of dive profile are you planning? [{"Profile_Selector":"Stayed within No-Decompression Limits","DCS_Profile_Multiplier":"1.0"},{"Profile_Selector":"Required mandatory decompression stops","DCS_Profile_Multiplier":"10.0"}]

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-Scuba diving lets you breathe underwater and explore a whole new world of coral reefs, shipwrecks, and amazing sea creatures. It's an incredible adventure, but like any adventure, it has some risks.
+__NOTOC__
+Scuba diving is a popular and relatively safe recreational activity, but like any adventure, it has inherent risks. Most of these risks are well understood and can be significantly managed through proper training, planning, and equipment.
-The good news is that diving has a strong safety culture. Through training, careful planning, and using the right gear, divers can manage these risks very effectively. This page has interactive tools to help you understand two of the key risks: Decompression Sickness (a unique risk to diving) and the overall annual risk of a fatal accident. Use the dropdown menus below to see how different factors can change the risk.
+This page provides interactive tools to help you understand two of the key risks in diving: the risk of a fatal incident and the risk of Decompression Sickness (DCS), also known as "the bends." Use the dropdown menus below to see how different factors can influence your personal risk on a single dive.
-=== Decompression Sickness (DCS) ===
+=== Your Personalized Dive Risk ===
-Decompression Sickness, or "the bends," can happen when a diver comes up to the surface too quickly. It's a serious condition, but very rare on typical recreational dives. Your choices can make a big difference.
+Tell us a little about yourself and the type of dive you're planning.
-What is your age group?
+'''What is your age group?'''
 <dropdown table="AgeData" />
-What is your biological sex?
+'''What is your biological sex?''' (This primarily affects DCS risk)
-<dropdown table="SexData" default="Female" />
+<dropdown table="SexData" />
-What kind of dive profile are you planning?
+'''What is your diving experience level?'''
-<dropdown table="ProfileData" default="Stayed within No-Decompression Limits" />
+<dropdown table="ExperienceData" />
-<riskdisplay model="DCSRisk" />
+'''What kind of dive profile are you planning?'''
+<dropdown table="ProfileData" />
-=== Annual Fatality Risk ===
+=== Your Estimated Risk Per Dive ===
-This is the average risk of a fatal incident over a full year of diving. It's based on data from a large group of active, safety-conscious divers. Unlike the DCS risk per dive, this risk is not affected by the choices you made above.
+==== Risk of a Fatal Incident ====
 <riskdisplay model="FatalityRisk" />
+==== Risk of Decompression Sickness (DCS) ====
+<riskdisplay model="DCSRisk" />
 See the [[Scuba_Diving/Data|data page]] for all of the details on how these risks are calculated.
-Initially created by Gemini 1.5.
+Initially created by Gemini 1.5