Archives: Diving Incident Reports

Postdive Symptoms Possibly Caused by Gas Contamination

Two cases of postdive symptoms likely caused by contaminated gas. Predive checks and proper equipment maintenance may help to mitigate risk

Stranded While Drift Diving

Being stranded at sea is psychologically taxing as well as physically demanding. Hazardous marine life encounters, dehydration, exhaustion and hypothermia are all possible life-threatening scenarios.

Savvy Diver Prevents Uncontrolled Ascent

An experienced diver with an underwater scooter saves an unprepared diver who overbreathed his regulator and attempted an emergency ascent.

Unrecognized Ear Barotrauma

Problems with pressure equalization in the middle ear are very common in diving and may result in barotrauma, which is the most common diving injury.

Sea Lion Attacks a Scuba Diver

With any injury in the marine environment that penetrates the skin, medical evaluation and treatment are essential. Documentation indicates that seal bites in particular have a very high probability of infection.

Out-of-Shape Diver Dies During Surface Swim

There were plenty of warning signs for this diver. He probably had difficulty climbing a few steps of stairs in everyday life, and that is sufficient indication of poor physical fitness.

Heavy Currents Contribute to Serious Head Injury

Heavy seas create problems for a diabetic diver who nearly drowns after a ladder hits his head.

Vertigo After Dive

Vertigo is a feeling that you or your surroundings are moving when there is no actual movement. The time of symptom onset after the dive increases the probability that it was caused by the dive.

An Assistant Instructor Suffers a Reverse Block

A reverse block can happen even when everything else went well in a dive and this diver followed the correct procedure by re-descending to take the pressure off.

Buoyancy Wing Comes Loose During Dive

This incident serves to remind all divers wearing double tanks to tweak-down their wing-nuts when attaching a back-plate and wing.