On Diving Safety...
There are other factors to take into consideration also, flying right after diving
can lead to the bends, as can diving at altitude and improperly or neglecting to
adjust your tables (not a concern in seas obviously!)
In my opinion (as an ex-cold water diver) diving is no more risky than most other
occupations such as flying, rock-climbing, driving your car to the mall....  Pay
attention to the rules (e.g road rules), and know your equipment (is your car safe
to drive, do you know how it handles?) and your own limits (am I too drunk, sleepy
to drive, or is the weather too extreme for me?).  Same thing.
I think we feel less safe because we are out of our natural element and it is very
obvious to us.  We think of driving cars as being in our own element so we get
less anxious (maybe even complacent).  Just my 2 bits.

Nora
Calgary, Alberta


Ed Foster wrote:

> At 08:57 AM 11/12/99 -0500, you wrote:
> >Ross and the list,
> >Kobie pretty well spelled it out about narcosis and the bends. Narcosis
> >starts about 80 feet (25 or so meters) and gets worse with depth. It is like
> >being drunk and moving in slow motion. It's only happened to me once at 130
> >feet. The bends can happen at any depth if you ascend too fast.
>
> In general you can't get bent if you stay shallower than 30 ft.  What you
> can get from any depth is an embolism if you don't rember to breath out
> regularly, and it's more likely to happen at shallow depths.  Also, in
> general you won't get bent from a one tank dive.  It's when you do several
> dives a day that you start risking the bends.  Finally, adherance to dive
> tables or a dive computer is no guarantee against getting bent.  It's
> unlikely, but you can get the bends even though you were within acceptable
> limits according to the dive tables.  Other considerations, such as getting
> dehydrated or overexertion, can make you more susceptable to the bends.
>
> >Divers Alert Network (DAN) does comprehensive research into diving accidents.
> >They are located in Durham, NC. They have a web site but I don't have the
> >address with me. They should be able to provide you with statistics about
> >diving.