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Diving Health/Safety Index

Below you'll find links to Undercurrent articles concerning all kinds of diving health and safety issues. They cover reports of DCS and emoblisms along with the most recent medical studies about them, diving accidents and deaths and what really caused them, medical studies on all aspects of diving from ear problems to long term effects of diving, disesase and drugs used by divers, shark attacks and no-see-um bites, crime activity in dive resorts, ... Honest, unbiased info about diving medical and safety issues that you will not find in other publications.

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Should You Breathe Oxygen Before a Dive?, 8/09	Can Saunas Prevent Decompression Sickness?, 7/09	The Misuse of Dive Computers, 8/08
Wait Times for Flying After Diving, 6/08	When Considering Deep Stops, Profiles Rule, 4/08	Irrational Fear of Flashing Dive Computers , 7/07
Younger, Newer and Female Divers Show More DCI Symptoms, 7/07	The Tactical Use of Dive Computers, 5/07	You've Come a Long Way, Nitrox, 3/07
Blue Cross/Blue Shield Won't Cover Bent Diver's Chamber Costs, 3/07	Multiple Flights after Diving, 3/07	Decompression Illness Presenting as Breast Pain, 10/06
New Evidence that Dehydration Increase the Risk for DCS, 6/06	With DCI, Age Matters, 3/06	Reverse Diving Profiles, 5/06
Who Gets Bent More?, 5/05	Deep Stops: Better than 3 minutes at 15 feet?, 3/05	Hidden Heart Defect Raises DCS Risk Five Fold, 9/04
Free Diving Between Scuba Dives Could Bend You, 9/04	Free Diving Between Scuba Dives Could Bend a Diver ,9/04	More About Exercise Before Diving: and a pill for DCS?, 5/04

		San Diego Dive Shop With a Dark History, a suicide, a dead diver and accusations of lies and theft, 02/10
Reader Advice for Not Getting Lost at Sea, 01/10	Why the Dive Industry Is Dying: “It’s the Media’s Fault”, 10/09	Diver Deaths Around the World, 8/09
Croc Attacks Diver in Raja Ampat: The Follow-Up, 8/09	Divers Survive 24 Hours in Open Waters of Gulf of Mexico, 6/09	Say What?, 5/09
Roatán Dive Guide Charged With Attempted Murder, 5/09	Why Divers Die: Part II, overweighting and uninflated BCDs can cause big problems, 4/09	Unusual Hazard for Young Divers, 3/09
Why Divers Die: Part I, 3/09	Two More Divers Stranded for Hours on Great Barrier Reef, 3/09	Stranded At Sea? Buy Yourself Some Time, 3/09
Abalone: The Fatal Attraction, why are divers killing themselves over these marine mollusks?, 2/09	The Major Cause of Dive Accidents, 2/09	Ouch! Diver Spears Himself in the Groin, 2/09
Diver Drifts 12 Hours in Somosomo Strait, 1/09	Dive-Related Death Investigations, how the U.S. compares to other countries in handling them, 10/08	A Second Look at Dive Boat Engine Exhaust, 9/08
Diver Charged with Killing Wife on Honeymoon, 7/08	First It’s Sharks to Fend Off, Then It’s Lethal Lizards, 7/08	Nineteen Hours Adrift in Australia, Undercurrent interviews the rescued couple, 7/08
Update on the Shear Water Shark Attack Incident, 7/08	The Baani Adventure’s Lethal Air Compressor, 7/08	Divers Saved After 40 Hours at Sea, 6/08
Look Before You Leap, 6/08	Freak Wave Capsizes Shark Boat, Kills Three Divers, 5/08	Why Divers Die: Part III, tragically dumb mistakes that turned into fatal errors, 5/08
The Death of A Shark Diver, will it affect shark dive trips in the Bahamas?, 4/08	Poor Buoyancy Is a Bigger Factor in Dive Accidents, 3/08	Rebreather Deaths Are on the Rise, 3/08
Why Divers Die: Part II problems on the surface, 3/08	Why Divers Die: Part I; panic attacks and entanglement are two killers, 2/08	Fire Sinks Amigos Del Mar’s Dive Boat, 2/08
When Divers Become Hazards, 10/07	Diver’s Death Blamed on Few Skills and Faulty Valve, 10/07	Dive Boat Fiascos, 10/07
Got a Medical Emergency? Call DAN Again and Again, 8/07	NOAA Nixes Split Fins, 6/07	Deaths in the Caymans, 6/07
"Tank Blackout" Can Be Fatal, 5/07	Dive Accidents Above Water, 4/07	Why Divers Die, Part III, 2/07
Ladies, Avoid This Dive Instructor, 1/07	Why Divers Die: Part II, 1/07	Belize Divemaster Gets Away With Diver's Death, 1/07
Nai'a Crew Rescues All Hands After Grounding, 10/06	Why Divers Die: Part I, 10/06	Irwin's Death Stirs Backlash, 10/06
Diver Rescued after 56 Hours at Sea, 10/06	Staying Alive until the Boat Finds You, 7/06	Surviving Three Days in 68F water, 6/06
The Yellow Fin in the Sand, 4/06	Four Cases of Divers Drifting at Sea: Mistakes Galore, 4/06	Post Hurricane Cozumel, 4/06
Three Divers with Belize Operator Drift Two Days; One Dies, 1/06	Why Divers Die, Part III, 1/06	Australian Couple Drift Six Hours, 10/05
Why Divers Die, Part II, 10/05	Divers Left Behind in Florida, 9/05	Why Divers Die, Part I, 9/05
Two Thai Live-Aboards Sink, 7/05	No Safe Harbor: A new book on the Wave Dancer tragedy, 6/05	More Divers Left at Sea, 5/05
Thumbs Down — Advanced Diving, Placencia, Belize, 4/05	The Wave Dancer Tragedy Belize releases its final report, 4/05	Divers in the Tsunami: divers caught in the wave, 2/05
Why Divers Die, Part IV: equipment failure ... or operator error?,10/04	Why Divers Die, Part III: the true cause of death – panic, not drowning, 9/04	Sixteen Divers Surface to Find Boat Missing , 10/04
Divers Vanish in Fiji , 10/04	Divers Drift 45 Miles and 14 Hours in the Red Sea, 9/04	Why Divers Die: Part I ...obesity, conditioning, denial, 8/04
Dive Boat Strandings: Part II 8/04	Every Diver's Nightmare left behind to drift at sea, 6/04	Squid Fishermen's Bombs Rattle Night Divers (see sidebar, p.11) 5/04
More on Dropping Weights (see sidebar, p.13) 4/04	Three Perish in Red Sea Live-Aboard Explosion (see sidebar, p.4), 4/04	Crocodile Hunter in La Paz Rescue (see sidebar, p.10) 3/04
Relax and Drift (see sidebar, p.10) 2/04	Why Divers Die, Part II 1/04	Drifting the Night Away (see sidebar, p.14) 1/04
Shark Feeding Stops $25 Million Suit for Lost Leg, 1/2004	The Belt Goes First (see sidebar, p. 14) 10/03	Two Live-Aboard Fatalities Raise Question were safety procedures sufficient?, 9/03
Underwater Suicide (see sidebar, p. 7) 8/03	Is Your Liveaboard Trip Aboard a Safe Vessel? Part I what the experts discovered about the Wave Dancer, 5/03	Drifting the Day Away (see sidebar, p. 4) 4/03
Spoilsport Tragedy (see sidebar, p. 9) 3/03	Serious Shark Attack Raises Questions (see sidebar, p. 9), 1/03	Why Divers Die, Part III are you rusty? 2/03

		Grand Cayman Officials Say Alcohol and Stingrays Do Mix , 02/10
Divers, You’re Not Using Enough Sunscreen, 7/09	Bacterial Contamination in Rinse Tanks , a new study says don’t dip your mask and regulator, 6/09	Why Divers Die: Part III, the older you are, the higher your mortality risk during a dive, 5/09
Easing Back Pain While Diving, 1/09	The Underwater “Spin Cycle” Known as Diver’s Vertigo, 10/08	Having Trouble Equalizing? Try Sinus Surgery, 9/08
Wait Times for Flying After Diving, 6/08	When Considering Deep Stops, Profiles Rule, 04/08	Shooting Saltwater Up Your Nose, 3/08
Donald Sutherland Claims Diving Is a No-No Past Age 50, 3/08	Women Divers May Be Better Than Men, 1/08	Secondary Drowning: A Few Drops Can Be Fatal , 9/07
Survival Psychology of Divers, 8/07	Part II: How Many Divers Are There?, 6/07	Would You Please Repeat That?, 5/07
DAN Debunks Antioxidants Before Diving, 5/07	Heavy Breather? Add 15 Minutes to Your Underwater Time, 4/07	Is Diving Off Limits for Pregnant Women?, 3/07
Why Divers Die: Part II, 1/07	It's the Salsa, Stupid, 1/07	Women Divers and Their Menstrual Cycles, 8/06
Have a Little Nitrox, M'Dear, 7/06	Managing Sea Sickness, 7/05	Sciatica and the Giant Stride, 9/05
Why Divers Die, Part I — panic and entrapment, 9/05	The 'Pee Factor' in Diving,When the urge hits, should you?08/05	Medicine on the Web, 8/05
Managing Mal de Mer, 7/05	Is Diving Safer Than Skiing?, 1/05	Exercise Before, During, and After Diving: there are DCS risks, indeed, 3/04
Why Divers Die, Part III ... over weighting is a common contributor 2/04	Doo Doo Redux (see sidebar, p.4) 2/04	Why Divers Die, Part I , [View as html] learning to say no, 10/03
Deep DooDoo 10/03	CoCo View Cuts the Cheese and (hopefully) Blows Away Turista (see sidebar, p. 4) 10/03	Panic in Recreational Scuba Divers , [View as html] yes, the sexes are Venus and Mars, 8/03
Slow Burn , [View as html] (see sidebar, p. 7) 4/03	More About Those Medical Exams (see sidebar, p. 12) 2/03	Study Finds Diving May Damage Your Lungs (see sidebar, p. 9) 2/03

		Transferred by the Rinse Tank: A Nasty Case of Conjunctivitis , 9/08
Malaria on Roatan, 8/08	Infection Warning, 2/07	Drugs Divers Take, 5/06
Managing Mal de Mer; the Right Drugs, 7/05	Malaria and Divers: Even in Roatan there's a risk, 10/04	Heart Defect Raises DCS Risk: twenty-five percent of divers have it, 9/04
CoCo View Resort, Roatan, Honduras: ...10 years later, the same diver paradise, 07/2004	Coco View Redux , [View as html], 5/03	How SARS Can Ruin Your Dive Trip ... Even if You Don't Have It (see sidebar, p 13) 5/03

Stung Divers: Skip the Vinegar, Use Hot Water, 7/08	It’s Sea Lice Season in the Caribbean Again, 04/08	The Skinny on No-See-Ums,9/07
Two Inexpensive Weapons against Jellyfish Stings, 3/07	Latest Results on Insect Repellents, 10/06	Beating the Bite; New Spray as Good as DEET, 1/06
New repellents prove as effective as DEET and less offensive, 1/06	Malaria and the Diver; Even in Roatan, 10/05	They Sting, and Raise Angry Welts, it's sea lice season, 5/05
Malaria and Divers: Even in Roatan there's a risk, 11/04	Cream Wards off Jellyfish Stings, Stanford Study Suggests (see sidebar, p. 5), 8/04	Diver's Shark Tales from Around the Globe, 7/04
Who You Callin' Hostile? (see sidebar, p. 13), 9/03	Getting Nailed by Jellies , [View as html] a commercial preventative lotion proves effective, 9/03	No-See-Ums More Than Just an Irritation , [View as html] 01/2000

	Why Divers Fail to Disclose Medical Conditions, there’s not much trust in the system, 10/09	Stoppering the Problem: Do Ear Plugs Work Underwater?, 10/09
A Better Way to Find Lost Divers , Mike Ball’s invention: special buoys and “dummy divers”, 5/09	A Reminder About Safe Boat Diving from PADI, 4/09	Stranded At Sea? Buy Yourself Some Time, 3/09
Diver Loses Fingers on the Dive Ladder, 1/09	When Bad Air is Pumped into Your Tank, a recent study states it happens more often than you think, 1/09	Drinking and Diving: How Much Alcohol Is Too Much?, 10/08
Downward Dogs Can Improve Your Diving, 10/08	How Useful Is a Dye Marker in a Search?, 10/08	Why Technical Training is Worth Your Time, 2/08
How to Emergency Breathe From a BCD, 1/08	Out of Air? Try Your BCD, what the agencies won’t tell you about secondary air sources, 1/08	Breathing Exercises For Longer Dive Time, 10/07
New Advice for Divers Caught in Rip Currents, 10/07	Industrial Oxygen in My Nitrox?, 9/07	Safety Concerns on Liveaboard Boats, 8/07
For or Against the "No-Pee" Rule? a steady stream of reader comments, 6/07	Scuba Shack's No Peeing Rule, 4/07	When Bad Things Happen to Good Divers, 2/07
CDs: The Ideal Surface-Detection Aid?, 2/07	Serious New Regulations in the Galapagos Islands , 1/07	Deeper into Diving, 9/06
British Expert Calls Short Courses "Madness", 9/06	When Divers Get Benched, Part III, 5/06	When Divers Get Benched: Part II, 4/06
No More Diving Today: When Divers Get Benched: Part I , 3/06	Tech Diving, Rebreathers and Wreck Diving; Why You May Not Be Ready , 3/06	Diving After Eating; A Navy death raising issues, 10/05
The ever-valuable reef hook: where to get, and how not to get stuck..., 9/05	Bob Halstead's quirky formula to ensure divers don't drift away..., 9/05	Divers Still Being Left at Sea, 5/05
Diving Out of the Mainstream, 1/05	Coast Guard to the Rescue? , 1/05	The Dangers and Thrills of Deep Wreck Diving (see sidebar, p.15), 7/04
Free Diving as an Extreme Sport (see sidebar, p.14), 2/04	Gray Around the Gills are you ever too old to dive?, 9/03	Losing Your Buddy in Inner Space Bob Halstead says what you've been taught is STUPID, 9/01

Lying About Your Health Could Be Lethal, our medical expert tells you why you shouldn’t fib to dive shops, 01/10	Is That Overseas Dive Destination Safe to Visit?, 8/09	Passport Tips for Traveling Divers, 7/09
A Diver’s Tale of Somali Piracy and the Seychelles Arm, 6/09	Proper Liveaboard Hygiene, 5/08	Diver Car-Rental Scam in Cozumel, 1/08
Infection Warning, 2/07	When a Passport Isn't Enough, 9/06	New Luggage Limits Slam Traveling Divers, 8/06
How to Go Diving with Nondiving Kids, 8/06	Consider the Season, 6/06	Selecting the Right Airplane Seats, 6/06
Ship Ahead Rather Than Carry Your Gear?, 2/06	Photo Gear, Rebreathers Stolen from Divers — And there it is, for sale on eBay 3/06	Theft and Dive bag Security Screeners, 2/06
Airport security screeners and divers: what to watch for..., 9/05	U.S. State Department Warnings (see sidebar, p. 5) 6/04	And Don't Forget Your Visa (see sidebar, p. 3) 6/04
Tanks, Bottles, and Spare Airs May Be Confiscated, (see sidebar, p. 4) 5/04	Is Your Live-Aboard Safe? -- Part II , [View as html] can you trust it 500 miles at sea?, 6-03	Travel Safety in the Age of Terrorism Bali? The Red Sea? The Philippines? 2/03

Embarrassing Dive Moment Leads to a Major Diet, 02/10	Death of a Shark Diver, Redux , dive ops rely on sharks for business, but it comes at a price, 7/09	Bahamas Bull Shark Bites Back at Irked Spearfisher, 6/09
A Diver’s Tale of Somali Piracy and the Seychelles Arm, 6/09	Somali Pirates Also Going After Dive Boats, 5/09	Sales of “Shark Shields” Soar in Australia, 5/09
Cayman Dive Operators Protest Safety Regulations, 8/08	Cave Diver Gets Electric Shock, 8/08	Update on the Shear Water Shark Attack Incident, 7/08
A Rusty BCD Connection Can Rocket You to The Surface, 3/08	Shields and Repellants to Keep the Sharks Away, 1/08	When Needlefish Attack, 1/08
When Lightning Strikes During a Dive, 9/07	Many Sunscreens are Short on Protection, 9/07	Ciguatera Facts, 8/06
Unlucky Fiji Divers Poisoned by Dinner, 8/06	When Sharks Hunt Divers, 2/06	Shark Repellent Under Development., 8/05
The giant stride causing sciatica: what a pain..., 9/05	Sting Ray City Eel Rips Boys Arm, 6/05	Sharks of the World, 7/05
The Dangers and Thrills of Deep Wreck Diving, 7/04	Fly-By-Night Training, 6/04	How "Advanced" are Advanced Divers?, 5/04
Electronic Shark Repellent Vindicated (see sidebar p. 2), 5/03	Is Your Gear Safe with Nitrox? at what oxygen content is ignition possible, 1/03	Is That Welding Oxygen in Your Nitrox Tank? (see sidebar p 14), 1/03

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