We all want to stay safe while diving – the Two Sophies offer their analysis of BSAC’ s annual Incident Reports to highlight risk factors
TWOSOPHIES
Lessons learned
We all want to stay safe while diving – the Two Sophies offer their analysis of BSAC’ s annual Incident Reports to highlight risk factors
THE QUESTION:
With a new Incident Report now out, what are the recurring themes of recent years and what can we do to mitigate these factors?
Drysuit inversion is a growing trend
Sophie Heptonstall answers
With the 2026 Incident Report just announced, it’ s worth reflecting back on previous reports. Re-reading the reports side by side, what stands out isn’ t how much has changed, but how little. The same themes return year after year and that’ s actually good news, because familiar problems are ones we already know how to tackle.
Health and fitness. Medical causes such as cardiac events and Immersion Pulmonary Oedema( IPO) feature annually. Awareness of IPO is growing, which is encouraging and we have certainly seen positive outcomes from identification of signs and symptoms and subsequent effective first aid treatment. Still, the message is worth repeating: if you feel breathless underwater, end the dive and get out. Seek medical advice before returning to the water and keep your fitness and dive medicals up to date as the years tick by. The self-certification medical should not be seen as a barrier but as a way to check on our fitness to dive and answering it honestly is designed to prevent potential medical issues in water.
Diving alone, by choice or by accident. Separation and solo diving are prominent in our fatal incidents, particularly in 2021 and 2024. BSAC club diving ethos is about diving together – a good buddy is at the heart of safe diving, however experienced we are and if you have a medical issue you may not be able to be self-reliant. Agree on a plan for lost-buddy situations, stay close, and treat separation as a reason to end the dive, remembering that a safety stop is not a mandatory requirement and in emergency circumstances may not be appropriate.
Losing control of the ascent. Fast and uncontrolled ascents are a theme in the reports. Common causes are lack of buoyancy control, panic, jammed reels and dSMB lines that become tangled. More recently, drysuit inversion has grown into a theme of its own, with 2025 cases running at nearly double the usual rate. The key learning here is to make sure your drysuit fits properly, especially around the feet and legs. Complete drysuit training as part of your course or as a standalone SDC, and practise deploying your dSMB until you can do it without thinking. Instructors, please check the fit of the student’ s drysuit boots before every training dive to ensure they are securely over their feet.
Unfamiliar kit. Whether it’ s a new rebreather, a sidemount rig or equipment that has sat unused for a while, unfamiliar or poorly maintained kit causes problems.
Buddy diving remains by far the safest option
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