A review of the forensic investigation of scuba diving deaths

Abstract

With more people engaging in recreational scuba diving, fatalities from this sport are encountered by forensic investigators. There is a plethora of factors contributing to death and the investigator must be acquainted with how to elucidate them. The emphasis is on a multi-disciplinary approach that involves co-divers and instructors, the rescue team, the police, forensic scientists, diving equipment suppliers, underwater physiologists and physicians, decompression chamber personnel, general practitioners, relatives and the forensic pathologist. This report presents the various factors contributing to scuba diving deaths and suggests how to conduct such investigations.