The present study was conducted to provide baseline data for understanding commercial diving fatalities between difference work categories, used equipments and root causes of death by identifying the basic structure and meaning of such life threaten accident.
Since year 2010 to 2019, we have 60 diving fatalities in Korea and many of these accidents could have been prevented.
The work category was divided into shellfish diving 14 death, propeller debris removal diving 12 death, ship husbandry diving 11 death, and other category 17 death such as relating with civil engineering, construction or installation, dam or power plant water intake etc. Hookah 30 cases and SCUBA 11 cases were the predominant equipment used in Korea. 5 cases of full face mask and only 1 case of KMB band mask are added. The major causes of diving fatalities in Korea were varied such as run out of gas or CO contamination 8, crashing by propeller 6, differential pressure delta P 4, DCI 5 and cardiac arrest 2, fouled 4 and 3 for others. Many of 28 cases was not able to identify.
The usage of insufficient diving equipment and violation of safety standard such as diving operating with out surface standby diver were the additional contributing factors to increase diving fatalities.
To minimize those fatalities, This study created self rescue drill and several other rescue scenarios and performed experimental dives.
The results are as followed:
1) The results of ‘underwater ditch and recovery’ task was satisfied with out rehearsal exercise after 6 month blank period.
2) The results of ‘unresponsive diver rescue’ time was 7 minutes 20 seconds and divided into underwater rescue 4 minutes 35 seconds, surface rescue 2 minutes 45 seconds.
3) The results of ‘stretcher and hoist’ time was 7 minutes 26 seconds and divided into underwater rescue 4 minutes 1 seconds, surface rescue 3 minutes 25 seconds. ‘Cage and hoist’ was 5 minutes 25 seconds and divided into underwater rescue 3 minutes 26 seconds, surface rescue 1 minutes 59 seconds.
4) The results of ‘surface interval’ time was 4 minutes 32 seconds and mostly satisfied targeted surface interval time 5 minutes.
5) The results of ‘decompression diver rescue’ was 6 minutes 13 seconds and surface interval time was 5 minutes 34 seconds which many of them satisfied targeted surface interval time 5 minutes, 5~7 minutes. But only #9, #10, #11, #12 have satisfied both underwater rescue time 5 minutes and surface interval time 5 minutes.
In conclusion, From the results of the above findings, The created self rescue drill and other rescue scenarios can be applied for formal commercial diver candidate training program and it is essential that the periodical exercise should be carried out.