The MCA’s 2009 Diving Report, published last week, has stated that, of all physiological emergencies tended in 2009, 18 per cent were judged to have involved underlying medical problems.
Of those, 66 per cent involved divers over the age of 40, and 37 per cent divers of age 50 or over.
“In general the population are living longer, are fitter and have more disposable income, so it is no surprise that we are diving longer into our retirement age,” said Ken Bazeley, MCA Diving Officer.
“However this does bring some risks and divers should be aware they are not invulnerable and a health check would be advisable.”
Last year the Coastguard was involved in 212 diving-related incidents, but a fair proportion of these involved scenarios such as broken-down boats and diver separations.
Of the physiological-based incidents, fatal or otherwise, 38 involved symptoms suspected to have been caused by an underlying medical condition. This is almost as many as the 42 incidents logged which resulted in decompression illness.
A further 29 incidents involved rapid ascents which may or may not have led to DCI.
The MCA’s warning over the effects in diving of older age come on the back of a similar finding in the British Sub-Aqua Club’s last annual Diving Incidents Report.
Published in late 2009, the report noted that, at 8 out of 14, more than half of fatalities in the previous year had involved people over the age of 50. Yet this age group accounted for just 16 per cent of the diving population.
“The natural tendency is for health and fitness to decline with increasing age, and the numbers seem to indicate that divers need to pay attention to these aspects as they grow older,” said the BSAC.
Related links
MCA Diving Report 2009
BSAC Diving Incidents Reports
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