ricki
03-01-2011, 10:36 AM
"Expert warns divers against 'getting in too deep'
BY ROBERT SILK Free Press Staff
rsilk@keysnews.com
ISLAMORADA -- Diving deaths are rare, but many that occur could be avoided if divers would exercise more common sense and be more thorough in their preparation.
That was the message delivered by Dan Orr of the Divers Alert Network before a packed house at the Florida Keys History of Diving Museum last week. The Feb. 16 lecture was the most recent installment in the museum's Immerse Yourself! lecture series.
DAN statistics show that an average of approximately 100 divers in the United States and Canada perish each year. The number, Orr pointed out, is well below the annual count of people killed by toaster electrocution, and not much higher than the mortality count from swallowing pens.
Still, injury and death are endemic risks in an activity like diving.
Last year seven divers and one free diver perished off the Keys, according to the Monroe County Medical Examiner's Office. Such deaths can happen to anyone: old and young, experienced and inexperience, Orr said.
A 1992-2003 DAN study found that 39 percent of the divers who perished during that time had been certified for less than a year. But 35 percent of the deceased had been certified for more than 10 years. The deaths occurred among both occasional divers and those who make regular trips below the surface.
There were more deaths among divers in their 50s, approximately 38 percent of the mortalities, than there were among people in any other decade of their lives."
Continued at: http://keysnews.com/node/30042
http://www.divephotoguide.com/images/news/uploaded/article_4710/125361588.jpg
Dan Orr of DAN who says to avoid too many "firsts" on any dive. Makes sense to me.
Photo: http://www.divephotoguide.com/underwater-photography-scuba-ocean-news/boston_sea_rovers_2008/
DAN members can download the latest DAN Annual Report on diving accidents at:
http://www.diversalertnetwork.org/medical/report/
.
BY ROBERT SILK Free Press Staff
rsilk@keysnews.com
ISLAMORADA -- Diving deaths are rare, but many that occur could be avoided if divers would exercise more common sense and be more thorough in their preparation.
That was the message delivered by Dan Orr of the Divers Alert Network before a packed house at the Florida Keys History of Diving Museum last week. The Feb. 16 lecture was the most recent installment in the museum's Immerse Yourself! lecture series.
DAN statistics show that an average of approximately 100 divers in the United States and Canada perish each year. The number, Orr pointed out, is well below the annual count of people killed by toaster electrocution, and not much higher than the mortality count from swallowing pens.
Still, injury and death are endemic risks in an activity like diving.
Last year seven divers and one free diver perished off the Keys, according to the Monroe County Medical Examiner's Office. Such deaths can happen to anyone: old and young, experienced and inexperience, Orr said.
A 1992-2003 DAN study found that 39 percent of the divers who perished during that time had been certified for less than a year. But 35 percent of the deceased had been certified for more than 10 years. The deaths occurred among both occasional divers and those who make regular trips below the surface.
There were more deaths among divers in their 50s, approximately 38 percent of the mortalities, than there were among people in any other decade of their lives."
Continued at: http://keysnews.com/node/30042
http://www.divephotoguide.com/images/news/uploaded/article_4710/125361588.jpg
Dan Orr of DAN who says to avoid too many "firsts" on any dive. Makes sense to me.
Photo: http://www.divephotoguide.com/underwater-photography-scuba-ocean-news/boston_sea_rovers_2008/
DAN members can download the latest DAN Annual Report on diving accidents at:
http://www.diversalertnetwork.org/medical/report/
.