Why Don’t Pre-Dive Checklists and North Carolina Mix?

The use of a pre-dive checklist, basically a buddy check of one's gear, weights and air, can reduce the number of mishaps while diving, including injuries and deaths. So why do so few divers use a checklist, especially in North Carolina? Petar DeNoble, vice president of Mission at Divers Alert Network, and his assistant, Shabbar Ranapurwala, wanted to understand why so that they could create a better way to prod divers to do so.

In the summer of 2012, they gave pre-dive checklists to 617 divers to use, but 30 percent of them didn't used a checklist were older (over age 35) and had a higher average number of divers per year -- they adhered to the checklist 67 percent more than divers under age 35. The biggest factors for divers who didn't use the checklist were being female, and surprisingly, diving in North Carolina. Those who dived there used the checklist 58 percent less often than those who dived in the Caribbean.

DAN says it will do future studies to understand divers' risk perceptions and promote better use of pre-dive checklists. Looks like its target audience should be cocky young female divers who favor North Carolina.