[Diving Accidents in Lakes - a Retrospective Study of a Level-1 Emergency Centre in Switzerland].

Diving Accidents in Lakes - a Retrospective Study of a Level-1 Emergency Centre in Switzerland Abstract. Switzerland is a country in the middle of Europe without access to an open sea. Here one does not assume a noteworthy number of diving accidents. However, this study shows a large number and attempts to explore the main risks of diving accidents. The data from 2001 to 2016 of patients had been collected und retrospectively evaluated using the electronic database of the emergency center of the university hospital in Bern, Switzerland. Barotrauma of the ear (69.0 %), decompression accidents (20.7 %) as well as cardiovascular complications (13.8 %) appeared quite frequently during scuba diving in Switzerland. In contrast, otitis occurred only at a very low percentage (3.5 %). The risk of diving accidents is clearly underestimated. Preventative measures should include more emphasis on the vertical diving profile with increasing diving depths and on the hazards of cardiovascular diseases with increasing age.