title: Provisional report on diving-related fatalities in Australian waters 2010.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  An individual case review was conducted of known diving-related deaths that occurred in Australia in 2010.
  
  
  METHODS
  The case studies were compiled using statements from witnesses and reports of the police and coroners. In each case, the particular circumstances of the accident and details from the post-mortem examination, where available, are provided. A root cause analysis was made for each case.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There were 20 reported fatalities, one less than the previous year. Five of the victims were female (four scuba divers) and 15 were males. Twelve deaths occurred while snorkelling and/or breath-hold diving, seven while scuba diving (one of whom was using a rebreather), and one diver died while using surface supplied breathing apparatus. At least two breath-hold divers likely drowned as a result of apnoeic hypoxia. Cardiac-related issues were thought to have contributed to the deaths of at least three and possibly five snorkellers, and of at least one, possibly two compressed gas divers.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Snorkelling or diving alone, poor supervision, apnoeic hypoxia, pre-existing medical conditions, lack of recent experience and unfamiliar and/or poorly-functioning equipment were features in several deaths in this series. Reducing delays to CT-scanning and autopsy and coroners' reports documenting that the victim of a drowning was snorkelling or scuba diving at the time are aspects of the investigation of these fatalities that could be improved.
authors.affiliation: Divers Alert Network (DAN) Asia-Pacific, Ashburton, Victoria, Deakin University, Victoria, P O Box 384 Ashburton VIC 3147, Australia, Phone: +61-(0)3-9886-9166, E-mail: johnl@danap.org.
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lippmann
authors.affiliation: Statewide Forensic Medical Services, Royal Hobart Hospital, Tasmania, Australia.
authors.forename: Christopher
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lawrence
authors.affiliation: Departments of Hyperbaric Medicine and Intensive Care Medicine, The Alfred Hospital, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fock
authors.affiliation: Retired County Court Judge, Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Wodak
authors.affiliation: Divers Alert Network (DAN) Asia-Pacific, Ashburton, Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: Scott
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Jamieson
authors.affiliation: Department of Diving and Hyperbaric Medicine, Royal Adelaide Hospital, South Australia.
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Harris
authors.affiliation: Retired general practitioner, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
authors.forename: Douglas
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Walker
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001315:Australia / Q000453:epidemiology; D001344:Autopsy; D062485:Breath Holding; D002423:Cause of Death; D004242:Diving / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004332:Drowning / Q000401:mortality; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012307:Risk Factors; D017678:Sex Distribution; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Diving deaths; case reports; diving accidents; scuba; breath-hold diving; surface-supply breathing apparatus (SSBA)