Scuba Diving

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"}]

Your Estimated Risk Per Dive

Risk of Decompression Sickness (DCS)

See the data page for all of the details on how these risks are calculated.

Initially created by Gemini 1.5