Is diving dangerous? If I had a pound for every time I've been asked that question, I probably wouldn't be diving any more. According to research back in the '70's, diving is 96 times more dangerous than driving a car...if you're stoned. More up to date research has shown you're more likely to be hit by a bus than killed by a shark. You're more likely to be hit on the head by a coconut, stung to death by killer bees, die in a plane crash or win the lottery than you are to be the victim of a diving-related fatality. Obviously not the lottery in India or China, but maybe Birmingham or Swindon.
If you read any article on the subject, the answer is always non-conclusive and of the same ilk - the safety of diving is dependent on the diver. I claim bullshit on this notion! The safety of the diver is dependent on the teaching of the instructor, so you do the maths. Now don't for a second believe that any diver injury or fatality can be actively blamed on their instructor (and which instructor do you choose), but I do vehemently advocate the point that any flaw in the diver can be traced back to a gap in their diving education somewhere.
Take me for example - I hadn't been an instructor very long when I received my first diving injury; unless you count ripping off my toenail in the middle of my EFR course, or nearly receiving frostbite in Wraysbury Lake during my Advanced, which I don't. I was in the middle of an extremely hectic schedule that I'd landed myself in - doing my full time job in recruitment 8am-7pm Monday-Friday, then teaching in the local swimming pool on Wednesday evening until 10pm and all day Saturday and Sunday at Wraysbury or on trips away. I was exhausted and running myself ragged, but it was a great experience and good pocket money. My friends never saw me, and my only relationships were disastrous ones with the occasional jobbing instructor I saw at the lake...most of whom turned out to be fruit loops or married, or both. On this weekend in particular, I had been teaching a very yo-yo Rescue Course at the lake, and then Saturday evening I was back in the pool for a couple of even more yo-yo DSDs. Sunday I was at the lake with the Rescue again and then Sunday evening in the pool for Open Water Confined. You can see already that this isn't going to end well. Neither the lake nor the pool were particularly deep, I think I was maximum 8m over the whole weekend, but the constant to-ing and fro-ing to the surface obviously shook something loose.
I remember coming back to the surface of the pool, slowly slowly, like a good girl, and feeling an extreme pressure in my right ear. I ignored it, thinking squeezes only happened on the way down, and carried on heading up. At one point I remember hearing a pop and a squeak of air, a feeling of relief and water rushing in, and thinking "That's going to hurt later". I didn't tell anyone, I mean how stupid, you can't get injured in a swimming pool right?? I was loaded into the back of the dive centre van because there was no more room in the front and we went for a drink. Halfway through the evening I started feeling a bit dizzy and decided to head home. I was house sitting for a friend in Notting Hill for a couple of days so I reached the flat and got straight into bed. The pain in my ear was excruciating by this point and I could feel liquid trickling around inside. I took some painkillers but I couldn't sleep and by 3am I was close to calling an ambulance. Still, I didn't think it could possibly be anything serious. I got dressed for work, just another Monday morning, but halfway walking to the tube I lost my balance and broke the heel on my shoe. My boss called me to his office and said we had a client meeting and had to leave straight away. The client meeting happened to be in St John's Wood, and after suffering through it, I excused myself and headed straight to the chamber and the hospital.
The wonderful doctor there diagnosed me with a grade III middle ear barotrauma, which is basically a pressure injury one phase off a ruptured eardrum, and the sloshing liquid noises was blood built up behind the eardrum. My loss of balance and dizziness was down to my inner spirit level being off kilter. I was told no diving for 2 months, and even after that my ears might never be the same again. I was distraught, but extremely cautious over the next 2 months - I didn't even have a bath or go swimming. However, what I did do after my time was up, was launch myself straight back into my hectic schedule, and lo and behold, 3 days after getting back into the water, exactly the same thing happened again. This time I went to the doctor straight away and I was told 3 months with no diving, and if I wanted to get back in the water I had to okay it with him first and wear a Pro Ear Mask. Now these sexy little objects are a bit more fashionable looking, but back then I was wearing the diving equivalent of a retainer and a back brace.
3 months later and a constant wearing of the ridiculous head gear, and I was back to normal. In fact nowadays, I barely need to equalize at all. I have been told that I have a massive build up of scar tissue in my ears which could've come from old infections as a child, which my parents claim never happened (but then they were probably stoned), so I am still susceptible to injury. At least now I know how to recognize the signs and to act quickly.
So, diver error? Well, yes, of course, I was stupid in ignoring my body's signals when ascending, in leaving it so long before seeking treatment, and in pushing myself so hard both times. Instructor error? YES! It had never been pointed out to me before that squeezes or ruptures could happen on the way up as well as on the way down, and I never knew that water so shallow could produce such a serious injury. I tell this story regularly now to hammer home the points to my students, and I hope they take it under consideration. Injuries can happen anywhere anytime, and anybody that thinks they're immune is just fooling themselves. Diving is dangerous, but so is breathing, walking, eating, sleeping, having sex, riding the bus, driving a car and flying on an aeroplane, but do your own research, don't believe everything your instructor tells you, and, unless you're planning on fist-punching a shark in the mouth, or riding a fat bird around on a scooter, statistically, you'll be just fine.
Join me on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/adventuresofadivinginstructor
If you read any article on the subject, the answer is always non-conclusive and of the same ilk - the safety of diving is dependent on the diver. I claim bullshit on this notion! The safety of the diver is dependent on the teaching of the instructor, so you do the maths. Now don't for a second believe that any diver injury or fatality can be actively blamed on their instructor (and which instructor do you choose), but I do vehemently advocate the point that any flaw in the diver can be traced back to a gap in their diving education somewhere.
Take me for example - I hadn't been an instructor very long when I received my first diving injury; unless you count ripping off my toenail in the middle of my EFR course, or nearly receiving frostbite in Wraysbury Lake during my Advanced, which I don't. I was in the middle of an extremely hectic schedule that I'd landed myself in - doing my full time job in recruitment 8am-7pm Monday-Friday, then teaching in the local swimming pool on Wednesday evening until 10pm and all day Saturday and Sunday at Wraysbury or on trips away. I was exhausted and running myself ragged, but it was a great experience and good pocket money. My friends never saw me, and my only relationships were disastrous ones with the occasional jobbing instructor I saw at the lake...most of whom turned out to be fruit loops or married, or both. On this weekend in particular, I had been teaching a very yo-yo Rescue Course at the lake, and then Saturday evening I was back in the pool for a couple of even more yo-yo DSDs. Sunday I was at the lake with the Rescue again and then Sunday evening in the pool for Open Water Confined. You can see already that this isn't going to end well. Neither the lake nor the pool were particularly deep, I think I was maximum 8m over the whole weekend, but the constant to-ing and fro-ing to the surface obviously shook something loose.
I remember coming back to the surface of the pool, slowly slowly, like a good girl, and feeling an extreme pressure in my right ear. I ignored it, thinking squeezes only happened on the way down, and carried on heading up. At one point I remember hearing a pop and a squeak of air, a feeling of relief and water rushing in, and thinking "That's going to hurt later". I didn't tell anyone, I mean how stupid, you can't get injured in a swimming pool right?? I was loaded into the back of the dive centre van because there was no more room in the front and we went for a drink. Halfway through the evening I started feeling a bit dizzy and decided to head home. I was house sitting for a friend in Notting Hill for a couple of days so I reached the flat and got straight into bed. The pain in my ear was excruciating by this point and I could feel liquid trickling around inside. I took some painkillers but I couldn't sleep and by 3am I was close to calling an ambulance. Still, I didn't think it could possibly be anything serious. I got dressed for work, just another Monday morning, but halfway walking to the tube I lost my balance and broke the heel on my shoe. My boss called me to his office and said we had a client meeting and had to leave straight away. The client meeting happened to be in St John's Wood, and after suffering through it, I excused myself and headed straight to the chamber and the hospital.
The wonderful doctor there diagnosed me with a grade III middle ear barotrauma, which is basically a pressure injury one phase off a ruptured eardrum, and the sloshing liquid noises was blood built up behind the eardrum. My loss of balance and dizziness was down to my inner spirit level being off kilter. I was told no diving for 2 months, and even after that my ears might never be the same again. I was distraught, but extremely cautious over the next 2 months - I didn't even have a bath or go swimming. However, what I did do after my time was up, was launch myself straight back into my hectic schedule, and lo and behold, 3 days after getting back into the water, exactly the same thing happened again. This time I went to the doctor straight away and I was told 3 months with no diving, and if I wanted to get back in the water I had to okay it with him first and wear a Pro Ear Mask. Now these sexy little objects are a bit more fashionable looking, but back then I was wearing the diving equivalent of a retainer and a back brace.
3 months later and a constant wearing of the ridiculous head gear, and I was back to normal. In fact nowadays, I barely need to equalize at all. I have been told that I have a massive build up of scar tissue in my ears which could've come from old infections as a child, which my parents claim never happened (but then they were probably stoned), so I am still susceptible to injury. At least now I know how to recognize the signs and to act quickly.
So, diver error? Well, yes, of course, I was stupid in ignoring my body's signals when ascending, in leaving it so long before seeking treatment, and in pushing myself so hard both times. Instructor error? YES! It had never been pointed out to me before that squeezes or ruptures could happen on the way up as well as on the way down, and I never knew that water so shallow could produce such a serious injury. I tell this story regularly now to hammer home the points to my students, and I hope they take it under consideration. Injuries can happen anywhere anytime, and anybody that thinks they're immune is just fooling themselves. Diving is dangerous, but so is breathing, walking, eating, sleeping, having sex, riding the bus, driving a car and flying on an aeroplane, but do your own research, don't believe everything your instructor tells you, and, unless you're planning on fist-punching a shark in the mouth, or riding a fat bird around on a scooter, statistically, you'll be just fine.
Join me on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/adventuresofadivinginstructor
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