A comparison of the incidence of decompression sickness in men and women divers using decompression tables and diving computers for 77,680 dives.

Abstract

Much debate has taken place concerning the relative risk of decompression sickness in divers using dive computers versus those using dive tables, but little data is available. Utilizing the dive tracking system of Ocean Quest International's diving cruise ship Ocean Spirit, we have retrospectively analyzed the 70,000 dives made by participants. Dives made from March, 1989 through February, 1990 were examined. Thirty-two thousand dives were made by divers using the ships Dacor Microbrain and ProPlus Decobrain computers. Thirty-eight thousand dives were made with diving tables. Both sets of divers dove under the same diving rules and divemasters. Divers using diving computers sustained no cases of decompression sickness. Divers using tables sustained 3 cases of DCS, which responded to treatment by the on-board hyperbaric facility. The statistical significance of this data and that of sub-groups, such as divemasters and deep divers, will be discussed.