The Abacus Project: establishing the risk of recreational scuba death and decompression illness.

Abstract

In order to establish the relative risk of death and nonfatal decompression illness (DCI) in recreational scuba diving in British Columbia (BC), Canada, a field survey was conducted. For 14 months, every dive shop and charter operator in the province of BC was asked to count the number of scuba tanks that were filled for use in recreational scuba diving. For the same 14month period, hyperbaric chambers reported the number of BC divers treated for nonfatal DCI and the provincial coroners records were reviewed for scuba fatalities. Over the 14 months that scuba tank fill information was collected, an average of 65% (range: 60–71%) of the fill stations reported. Death and DCI incidence rates were calculated based on the 146,291 fills reported by the participating stations. During this same period there were 3 fatalities and 14 cases of non fatal DCI. The incidence of recreational scuba death was 0.002% (2.05/100,000 dives). The incidence of nonfatal DCI was 0.010% (9.57/100,000 dives). Results are discussed in light of this being the first time a reasonably reliable measure of diving activity has been achieved in a large geographic area over an extended time period.