Guía práctica para la investigación multidisciplinar de las muertes durante la práctica de buceo

Nowadays, diving is a safe practice and fatalities are uncommon. The main cause of death reported is drowning but others have been described, such as, those secondary to the biophysical foundations that govern the hyperbaric environment, like arterial gas embolism or decompression illness. Because of this, multidisciplinary investigation is essential for elucidating the cause of death.

A practical guideline is proposed to systematize and direct the collection of technical-police and medical-forensic data by the different professionals involved to correctly identify all events related to the accident.

It consists of two well-differentiated blocks which shows the sequence to choose the most appropriate autopsy techniques and complementary tests to carry out a complete analysis of each diving fatality, all aimed to avoid overdiagnosis of deaths by drowning.

This way, it will be possible to identify risk factors or unsafe behaviours about which to develop prevention measures.