I finally saw the stats on how decompression sickness rates dropped since the 80s

Was reading through some old Navy diving manuals my buddy gave me and noticed a chart about DCS incidents. Turns out back in the early 80s there were like 12-15 cases per 10,000 dives in commercial work. Now it's down to 2-3 per 10,000. I always figured it was safer now but didn't know it was that big a change. Anyone else notice how much more strict the tables and deco stops have gotten compared to what the old timers talk about?

2 comments

2 Comments

charles9191mo ago

Oh man that "hold their breath and kick harder" line got me. My uncle used to tell me stories about diving in the North Sea in the 70s and he said they'd just crank up the O2 if they felt off, no one knew any better. Makes me wonder how many old timers are walking around with permanent damage they just blamed on "getting old." But hey at least we got better tables now, even if my dive computer yells at me for breathing too hard on a shallow reef.

reese_anderson431mo ago

My first dive was on some ancient Navy tables from the 70s, and I did a 30 minute deco stop that I'm pretty sure was just for fun. Newer computers make me feel like a rookie every time I plug in my numbers. Those old timers probably just held their breath and kicked harder, ha.