(31 MAY 05) DOM REP Incident

[clive francis]

I have just returned from 2 weeks in the DOM REP (Sosua)

while there i signed up with Northern Coast Divers (Sosua) for 10 dives.

During their presentation they came across as very professional and so they should they are a 5* company.

did my first dive at 5 rocks no budy checks and a limited dive brief, it was a complete waste of a dive, silted up, poor vis and no fish life.

next dive was at paradise 1 or 2 and that was better, but again no budy check.

anyway next dive was on the zingara, a wreck at 36m, now they knew i had my rescue but they never checked if i was deep dive qualified (AOW only takes you to 30m).

no budy check, limited brief, in we went (after our own check) and down we went.

25 mins later we surfaced and were immeadiately told to get in the boat quick.

my first thoughts were not another bloody tsunami, how lucky could i be?

any way back in the boat, a guy was on the floor on O2.

apparently he had trouble breathing ripped out his reg took a big breath and shot for the surface from 30m.

straight away we said why did you wait 20 mins for us, why not go back and send another boat to get us?

why no emergency recall?

the diver had just completed his OW and was doing his AOW, this was his 5th dive and they took him to 30m, everyone of us (rescue divers or DM's) said why take him to 30m on his 5th dive that is crazy.

they said it was his deep dive for his AOW, yeah we said so what was wrong with 19m or 20m?

it was all down to the cost of putting out two boats.

any way the next day i dived the reg seemed a bit funny, but i didn't really think much of it, until i hit the water that was.

the deeper i got the harder it was to suck some air, so i returned to the surface and had a play, but switched to the octopus.

back on the boat i complained and got the its rental kit so you are not going to get the best stuff!

next day i went diving and had the same or another crap reg (scubapro's) that got harder to breath the deaper you went, again i complained and received the same answer.

the next dive was zingara again so i checked the reg and it seemed ok, i got to about 20m and it felt like someone had turned the tank off, i ripped out the reg and used the octopus and stayed on the line for a couple of minutes to steady myself, and i almost shot for the surface myself, because you keep trying to breath thinking it will get better!

after the dive i complained again and refused to dive, so they changed the reg set.

the new reg worked fine, the hoses had perished through and you could see the inner braid!

now i never got to speak to the diver that bolted to the surface, but i wonder if he had my regs, or more to the point i ended up with his!?!

if this is the case it was no wonder he did what he did.

analysis of this is don't use these guys, not if you value your life!

apparently PADI and Thomson holidays did an investigation and found no problems - every diver on the boat said in a report that it was too deep too soon.

so either the dive shop didn't submit the reports or PADI ignored it.

either way, my confidence in PADI as a professional outfit has been seriously dented and we are all sending an official complaint to them.

 

[mania]

This -apart the quality of the centre - simply proves my view - that AOW should not be taken straight after OWD.
As simple as that. You don't take a guy on his 5th dive down to 30 meters....
Mania

 

[ianr33]

There is NO WAY I would use rental gear on a 120 foot dive. Why did you not take your own regulator?

 

[Tollie]

First, I’m very glad you are ok and that you did what you needed to do both in the water and afterwards.

I have a question. If the diver was under instruction for his A/OW where was his instructor?

PADI will investigate and follow up if a complaint is registered. Compared with other agencies PADI has a vigorous legal staff and does pay attention to quality assurance.

I do have a couple of comments. One is that as certified divers, even if you are participating in a led dive have the ultimate responsibility for diving safely, doing buddy checks and working out beforehand your plans with your buddy should things go south on the dive.

Personally I agree that advanced training should follow a period where the newly certified diver dives within the OW limits (60 feet) before additional training. With that said many disagree with me and feel that additional training following OW completion is desirable. During the mandatory deep dive a dive to 30m is not out of bounds and a dive to 19 or 20m for the deep dive will not give the student the necessary experience that goes along with the deep dive. If this individual were under instruction the dive would have been conducted by an instructor directly supervising the student.

One last thing, the basic ow c-card does not restrict a diver from diving to depths greater than he should or in conditions that are beyond his skill level. All newly certified divers sign a statement twice affirming that they understand that they should not dive in conditions beyond those in which they were trained without additional training.

 

[mrobinson]

I read this and shook my head. I'm sorry this is your dive report and your experience. I'm just wondering why people don't see the need to make changes within the dive industry when you hear of similar incidents like this over and over again.

 

[Atticus]

I realize that I'm repeating what others have said, but this is important.

1. You and your buddy are responsible for your buddy checks. That's why they're called "buddy" checks. No one else is responsible for doing this. As a rescue level diver you should thoroughly understand this.

2. The AOW students instructor should have had control of them. They should not have been given the option of bolting to the surface.

3. Like Ian said, if you are serious about your diving, you should be using your own regs. I would not trust a rental regulator at those depths. I drag mine around with me when I travel and so should you. Yes, it's a pain in the butt.

4. I gather from the way you told the story that the stricken diver survived. I'm very glad to hear this.

I otherwise agree with your observations - that a diver suspected of an overexpansion injury should immediately be taken in for medical care.

 

[clive francis]

I realize that I'm repeating what others have said, but this is important.

1. You and your buddy are responsible for your buddy checks. That's why they're called "buddy" checks. No one else is responsible for doing this. As a rescue level diver you should thoroughly understand this.

2. The AOW students instructor should have had control of them. They should not have been given the option of bolting to the surface.

3. Like Ian said, if you are serious about your diving, you should be using your own regs. I would not trust a rental regulator at those depths. I drag mine around with me when I travel and so should you. Yes, it's a pain in the butt.

4. I gather from the way you told the story that the stricken diver survived. I'm very glad to hear this.

I otherwise agree with your observations - that a diver suspected of an overexpansion injury should immediately be taken in for medical care.

couldn't take my own kit, as the weight allowance had been dropped to 15kg as it was a late book, we had our 2 yr old with us so most of the allowance was used on him.

i managed to squeeze in my camera and housing (the housing and peli case was 12.5kg) and my dive computer.

never had a problem with rental gear the few times i have used it.

just like to point out that scubapro regs are not crap, just the ones the dive shop had given me.

we did our own buddy checks, but everywhere i have gone (around the world) they have always said buddy checks!

if i had of taken my own kit there was no guarantee that it would be on the boat, as on several days divers had to use the shops crap kit as their own kit was not put on the boat by the shop.

the point is that they were sending out divers without properly functioning equipment, they knew it was bad because i told them several times.

 

[getwet2]

Hey Clive,

If you had taken your own gear it most surely would have been on the boat because you would have been the one to take it on the boat with you. It sounds to me that you as well as the other divers on the boat put too much trust in the DO. Why would you leave it up to the DO to take care of your gear.

I could never understand why somone would cart their gear thousands of miles because they don't want to use rental gear and then trust the DO to take good care of it. If you can't trust the DO's gear to start with, how can you trust them to take care of yours.

As for weight allowance. Most airlines will give you extra allowance for sporting equipment, just ask them what that allowance is or check their website under baggage allowance. You will need to put that equipment in a separate bag but you should have more then enough room for everything you want to take, including all your baby stuff in your other bags.

Buddy checks are your responsability and not anyone elses.

From the sounds of it you even accepted the use of poor equipment from your statement that "the new reg worked fine, the hoses had perished through and you could see the inner braid!" Why would you even consider using a reg when you could see the braids? It's a high pressure hose and it is clearly damaged and weakened. What would YOU have done at 36m if the hose blew?

Enough said!

 

[clive francis]

Hey Clive,

If you had taken your own gear it most surely would have been on the boat because you would have been the one to take it on the boat with you. It sounds to me that you as well as the other divers on the boat put too much trust in the DO. Why would you leave it up to the DO to take care of your gear.

when they put your gear in a box and give it a tag number and say they will ensure it is on the boat to save you carrying you have to take them at their word until proved otherwise

I could never understand why somone would cart their gear thousands of miles because they don't want to use rental gear and then trust the DO to take good care of it. If you can't trust the DO's gear to start with, how can you trust them to take care of yours.

i never took mine so they couldn't trash it.

As for weight allowance. Most airlines will give you extra allowance for sporting equipment, just ask them what that allowance is or check their website under baggage allowance. You will need to put that equipment in a separate bag but you should have more then enough room for everything you want to take, including all your baby stuff in your other bags.

you obviously haven't travelled with a child!

1 verge large case, 1 large pelicase, 1 large rucksack with the camera and lenses and filter and batteries and flash and portable hard drive and chargers, 1 large sports bag as second hang luggage and a buggy, there was physically no way to take my regs and bcd.

we also found out the checking guys and girls were on commission, i.e they were really strict on the weights and some people paid over £100 excess baggage.

Buddy checks are your responsability and not anyone elses.

thats why we did ours, but the shop never pushed it!

From the sounds of it you even accepted the use of poor equipment from your statement that "the new reg worked fine, the hoses had perished through and you could see the inner braid!" Why would you even consider using a reg when you could see the braids? It's a high pressure hose and it is clearly damaged and weakened. What would YOU have done at 36m if the hose blew?

Enough said!

it was the last dive, very shallow (snorkel depth) and i had given up complaining because the shop was so useless.

this was run by brits/yanks who should have none better, in the UK HSE would have a field day on these guys

why are you flaming me for telling everyone how it was?

enough said!

 

[carldarl]

"1 large rucksack with the camera and lenses and filter and batteries and flash and portable hard drive and chargers"

Sounds like all that camera gear equals one reg. Is a picture worth more than your safety? I didn't see it as bashing you, more like pointing out things like above.

There is no excuse for supplying poor quality rental gear at any time. But, there is also no excuse for not being responsible for your own safe diving practices either.

I'm sorry you had a less than desireable trip. Maybe future dive trips need to be separate from the baby trips.