The medical risks of underwater diving and their control

SCUBA diving carries with it not only the risks associated with any kind of adventurous outdoor activity, but also some hazards typical of the exposure to high environmental pressure while under water. Through a systematic overview of these hazards, the principles of barotrauma and decompression sickness are explained. Some of the discussion looks at the fact that many, if not most, of the commonly used 0decompression aids (e.g. tables or computers) use algorithms that have been derived from rather crude observations, and so can only, at best, give an "educated guess" at how to decompress a diver in trouble safely. It is thus unwise to dive to the limits of these devices, as this may dramatically increase the risk of having a diving accident.