RIU-T-73-009 C, 2 ReportNo. URI-SSR-73-8 ~ United States Underwater Fatality Statistics-1972 NOAA Grant No. 4-3-158-31 December 1973 ByHilbert V. Schenck, Jr,,Professor ofOcean and Mechanical Engineering, andJohn J. McAniff, Research Associateand Diving Officer, University of RhodeIsland, Kingston, R.l. 02881 Preparedforthe U.S. Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; U.S. DepartmentofTransportation, CoastGuard; and U,S. Navy, Bureau ofMedicine andSurgery Farcate by the Superintendent ofDocuments, U.S.Qoverntnent PrintlnyOflice, Washington, D.C.,20402. Price $0.90 Mention of a commercial company or product does not constitute an endorsement by NOAA. Use for publicity or advertising purposes of information from this publication concern- ing proprietary products or the tests of such products is not authorized. CONTENTS Abstract ~ ~ ~ vi PART 1 History and source analysis Section 1.1 Introduction 1.2 The 1970 survey 1 1.3 The 1971 survey 1 1 1.4 Sourceanalysis for 1972cases 1.5 ~ ~ ~ ~ 2 ~round rules for inclusion in the accident census 1.6 Conclusions 4 PART 2 Generalscuba fatality statistics- Section 2.1 Fatality totals 2.2 Geograph i c vari at i ons ~ ~ ~ 6 2.3 Distribution by weekdayand month 7 2.4 Environmental factors ~ t o 10 2 ' 5 Viork-related fatalities ll 13 PART 3 Thescuba victim: trainingand medical aspects Section 3.1 Age distribution 3.2 Experience,training, andcertification 15 3.3 Diving partners and their activities 16 3.4 Medical aspects 17 3.4.1 Cause of death 19 3,4,2 Medicalcauses of the accident ~ 20 3.5 Search and rescue . 20 21 PART 4 Equipmentaspects Section 4.1 Regulatorsand air supplies 4.2 Entanglementsand ditching 22 4.3 In fl at ab 1 e ves ts 22 4.4 Gas explosion . 23 23 PART 5 Fatal and nonfatal scubacase summaries Section5.1 Fatalscuba case summaries . , . 24 5.2 Nonfatalaccident survey based on U.S. Coast Guard Data . 25 PART 6 General summaryof skin diving fatalities 28 Section 6.1 Skin diving fatality totals Geographi c variations ~ 28 6,2 28 Environmental data . 6.3 . 30 6.4 Age distribution and other data PART 7 Re ferences Section7.1 Citedreferences.............,,....., .. 37 7.2 Noncited,but useful refex'ences...,........... 3 7 FIGURES 1 Instant Alert postal reply card 3 2 Scubadiving fatalities by State, 1970, 1971, and 1972.... 9 3 Cumulativedistribution curveof scubaaccident depth for the years 1970, 1971, and 1972 . ~ , 12 . 32 4 Underwater accident report form TABLES 1 Primarysource of 1971and 1972 fatality data bothskin and 4 scuba diving! 2 Summaryof diving fatalities, 1970,1971, and 1972 ~ ~ ' ~ ~ 6 3 Scubadivers trained, pre-1971,1971, and 1972 7 4 Scubadiving fatalities by State and foreign area, 1970, 1971 , md1972 . 8 5 Distributionof fatal scubaaccidents by weekday, 1970, 1971, md 1972 . 10 6 Distributionof fatal scubaaccidents by month, 1970, 1971, and 1972 . 10 7 Locationof scubafatalities, 1970, 1971, and 1972 ...,...... 11 8 Fatal;cuba casesinvolving weathex and sea conditions, 1972 . 11 . 14 9 Work-related diving fatalities, 1972 10 Agedistribution of scuba diving victims, 1970, 1971, and 1972 .... 15 11 Experienceof scuba divers lost in fatal accidents,1970, 1971, and 1972 .. e ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ t ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ . 16 12 Scubatraining activities during a fatalaccident, 1970, 1971, and 1972 . 17 13 Scubadiving paxtners during a fatalaccident, 1970, 1971, and 19 72 , . 17 14 Buddyactivity duringa fatal accident,1971 and 1972 ~ 18 15 Multiplescuba fatalities, 1970,1971, and 1972 . 18 xv 16 Results of autopsies, 1970, 1971, and 1972 19 17 Elapsed t'me between start of scuba accident and body recovery, 1970, 1971, and 1972......................... ~ . 21 18 Performance of inflatab1e vests, 1970, 1971, and 1972 23 19 Proximate starting causes of scuba fatal accidents, 1972 24 20 Fatal cases identified by SAR and U.R.I. methods, 1970 and 1971 26 21 Nonfatal diving accidents from SAR reports, 1970 and 1971 26 22 Skin diver fatalities by State, 1972 28 23 Location of skin diver fatalities, 1972 28 24 Distribution of skin diver fatalities by weekday, 1972 29 25 Distribution of skin diver fatalities by month 29 26 Age distribution of skin diving victims, 1972 30 27 Partners-buddy relationship of skin diving victims, 1972 30 28 Elapsed time between accident onset and recovery of skin diving vi ct im, 1972 31 ABSTRACT Information is summarizedon knownunderwater fatal accidents during 1972that involved U.S. citizens whereverthey mayhave been diving andnon- U.S. citizens diving in U.S. waters. Informationfor 1970and 1971 accidents is included for comparison. Therewere 118 scubadiving fatalities and 16 skin diver fatalities dur- ing 1972. Thesedeaths are reportedand tabulated separately because it' s difficult to obtain information on skin diving fatalities that is as complete as on scubadeaths. In addition there weretwo scubadeaths associated with a compressedair depth record attempt, two deaths involving the useof surface-suppliedair, andone fatality causedby anexploding air cylinder in a compressorroom. Thesefatalities are also treatedseparately because of their "specialnature." A smallsubmersible was involved in twodeaths that are not included becausethey havebeen extensively investigated else- where. In comI>arisonthere were 112 scuba diving fatalities in 1970and 114 in 1971,but twofactors must be considered;First, majorrecreational diver training organizationsagain reported a significantincrease in training, fromabout 165,000 persons in 1971to about226,000 in 1972. Theactual numbersmay be somewhatless becauseof individuals'being certified by more thanone organization.! Secondly, there would have been a modestdecrease in the absolute total of deathsbetween 1971 and 1972if it werenot for a suddenincrease in multiple-victim accidents two triple deathsand nine double deaths in 1972as comparedwith four doubledeaths in 1971!. With someminor fluctuations, patterns remainedrelatively consistent fromyear to year,for instancewith the 16-to 30-yearage group suffering the greatest numberof fatalities. Initial reports of fatal accidentsare usually obtainedfrom a newspaper clippingservice. Theyare also obtained from the CoastGuard, local cor- onersand law enforcementofficials, cooperatingdiver organizations,and individuals. Additional informationto documentthe accidentas fully as possibleis obtainedby mail and telephone. Data on commercial underwater fatalities are moredifficult to obtain becauseof limited press coverage andbecause of insuranceinvestigations, possible litigation, andsimilar factors that limit the release of information. Alsoprovided are the findingsof a Navysubmarine medical expert who reviewedautopsies for 31fatalities whichoccurred during 1970. Nonfatal accidentsto whichCoast Guard units respondedare also analyzed. PART 1 HISTORY AND SOURCEANALYSIS 1.1 Introduction During 1970 and 1971, the ScubaSafety Project collected data on fatal diving accidentsinvolving U.S. citizens plus a fewcases in whicha foreign national died while diving in V.S. waters. This effort has been continued for the 1972calendar year. Althougheach year's efforts have resulted in a report Schenckand McAniff 1971, 1972a, b!, location efforts for prior years have continued for two reasons; First, to be certain that statistical trends andconclusions are basedon the total fatality populationfrom each year; and, second,to ensurethat the location methodsare completeand ex- haustive. This portion of our report will discussthe questionsof data acquisition and completenessand also outline the groundrules for inclusion of a fatal event in the survey. 1.2 The 197I7Serve The 1971 fatal accident survey found 21 fatal skin and scuba acciden!s that had not been reported for 1970. The 1970 total increased from 122 to 143 deaths. During 1972, two more skin diving deaths in 1970 were found during a checkof nonfatal pressureaccidents involving recompressiontreat- ments of Florida divers suffering bends. The 1972 study found no new 1970 scuba cases; 'therefoxe, we believe that the scuba numbers for 1970 are rela- tively complete. As has beennoted before, skin diving accidents are much less "visible" in the press and amongdivers than those involving tanks and compressed air.. This report treats scubaand skin diving statistics separately. We recognizethat skin diving fatalities share manycommon aspects with scuba deaths,including use of belts, suits, inflated vests, andother itemsplus similar dependenceon weather, buddy, and experiencefactors. However,we feel that it i' desirableto keepthe statistics separate,because complete data on skin diving casesare moredifficult to get than for scubacases, 1.3 The 1971 The 1972study located one additional 1971scuba death. Wespent con- sidexable effort in mail queries, phonecalls ta police and divers, and appeals in magazines such as Skin Diver; therefore, this modest addition of one death suggeststhat the 1971methods were relatively comprehensive.Dur- ing the first 2 years, we learned there are areas, such as the Monterey coastal region in central California, where diving activity is important, but wherenewspaper coverage and accident reporting are relatively modest. Spe- cial efforts tc collect information must be madein that region. The 1970 survey was incomplete by 25 fatal cases Schenckand McAniff 1971!; ho~ever, there is no indication that the 1971effort is deficient to a similar degree. We feel that the 1972 census is probably as good as the 1971 census. In addition to the l970 and 1971 fatal cases, we obtained and studied V,S. Coast