Risks of Diving

13% or all spinal cord injuries involved sport

66% of sporting injuries or (8.66% of all injuries) involve diving

95% of all diving injuries (8.23%) occur in water 5 feet deep or less.

This works out to be 1 in every 12 spinal chord injuries occurs with people diving into water less than 5 feet deep.

Under the Causes of Injuries the text listed (Note video on first day of class)

1. Diving into open water that is shallow (running into a lake or into surf)
2. Diving from the deck into a shallow end of a pool
3. Diving into above ground pools
4. Unsupervised dives from starting blocks.

Principles of Diving Safety

See page 57.

Pool Safety Guidelines: The national governing body of competitive diving, show that there have been no fatalities or catastrophic injuries during ....
(Russian or German died a couple of years ago)

Pool Dimension Guidelines:

Some disagree with how deep a pool should be, however few disagree that no one should dive in water 5 feet deep or less.

The American Red Cross recommends that you check the depth of the water. If the water is not at least 11'6" inches deep at the point where you might hit the bottom, do not dive unless you have been trained in shallow water diving.

There are a list of rules suggested for diving facilities:

Be able to describe at least 5 of these rules in a quiz. The rules are see pg. 60.

The stuff on Diving Equipment is FYI.

Residential Pool Guidelines
· Do not allow diving unless the water is 11'6" deep and there is at least 16' 6" from the plummet to the upslope in front of the diving board.
· Clearly mark depths on the deck near the edge of the pool and on the side coping.
· Clearly mark the location of the breakpoint between shallow and deep water by placing a float line there and marking the deck with signs that indicate depth.
· Place "No Diving" signs on the deck near shallow water and on the fence or wall around the swimming pool or on a stand at the entry to the swimming pool.

Notice why hopper pools and spoon shaped pools are problematic.

Don't dive into an above ground pool EVER. Not even in Wisconsin.

STARTING BLOCKS: Often at shallow end and are a liability there.

Starting block diving should be taught at a depth of at least 9'

WATER PARKS

Always slide feet first
Cross your legs

OCEANS RIVERS LAKES & QUARRIES Use common sense.

| Dr Williams' Homepage | KPE 237 Homepage | KPE 237 Lesson Outlines |

URL: http://www.csulb.edu/~emyrw/T3/lessons/ Divingsafety.html

Last updated: 3/3/98