Rant: Just read that 70% of diver deaths are from shallow water blackout

I was scrolling through the DAN incident database last night and saw that stat - 70% of fatalities happen in less than 20 feet of water. Most guys I work with only worry about the deep stuff or equipment fails. How do you guys actually enforce buddy checks on routine shallow jobs when everyone gets complacent?

2 comments

2 Comments

eva_adams681mo ago

Oh man, that stat blows my mind every time I see it! I had a close call on a 15-foot pier repair job last summer where my buddy and I both got lazy on the pre-dive check because it was so shallow. We were just like "eh, it's easy stuff" and then I went down to untangle a line, came up too fast, and felt that dizzy floaty feeling. Scared me enough that now I make us physically touch each other's regs and inflator buttons before every single dive, even if it's a 5-minute job in 10 feet.

scott.drew1mo ago

I've been diving for about 12 years now and honestly I think that physical touch check can sometimes make people more complacent, not less. My old dive buddy used to do that exact same thing after a close call, but I noticed we'd both just tap stuff without really paying attention because it felt like a ritual instead of a real safety check. What works better for me is a quick verbal call-out while pointing at each piece of gear. Like, "Reg in mouth, inflator ready, computer on" - the talking forces you to actually think about what you're saying. Does that make sense or am I way off on this?