Scientific diving in the United States: the value of SCUBA as research methodology

The US scientific diving regulatory, medical, training and operational framework has resulted in a remarkably low decompression sickness incidence rate. In this particular segment of the diving community, diving safety research on dive computers, ascent rates, multi-day repetitive diving, polar diving, reverse dive profiles, oxygen-enriched air and advanced scientific diving contributes to the conservative risk management approach of scientific diving. The importance of scientific diving as a valuable research tool by placing the trained scientist's eye under water is illustrated by a number of Smithsonian Institution research projects that could otherwise not have been performed, with results published in the scientific literature. The peer-review publication process validates the viability and effectiveness of SCUBA as a research methodology.