An Open Letter of Personal Perspective to the Diving Industry by NetDoc

[cerich]

Is spacewalking "safe"? No, of course not. Scuba isn't "safe" either, the risk can be well managed but never eliminated. I have difficulty understanding why so many dive pros seem to feel that diving is "safe", have they never noticed they are underwater and can't breath the stuff? It's fairly easy but hardly safe.

---------- Post added December 23rd, 2014 at 02:11 PM ----------

Somewhere in here, I think it was cerich who suggested including standards in the manuals. There are good and bad sides of that suggestion, and I'm not convinced it's a good idea overall but that's just my opinion. I like the part offering discounts on future courses if they fill out some QA form after the course though. That portion may increase the reply rate on the current student questionaire. Two thumbs up for cerich and the few others making real suggestions, even if I don't agree with them.

What bugs you about putting the standard in? I am somewhat bothered that they (students...we already know too many instructors don't.. (joke) ) won't understand them. But in my mind letting the students know what they should be taught is important, very similar to a Student Learning Agreement which is an AWESOME thing...that gets used too little (even by me)

 

[redacted]

Is spacewalking "safe"? No, of course not. Scuba isn't "safe" either, the risk can be well managed but never eliminated. I have difficulty understanding why so many dive pros seem to feel that diving is "safe", have they never noticed they are underwater and can't breath the stuff? It's fairly easy but hardly safe.

-

Just to clarify what you mean when you say scuba is "hardly safe", do you see anything in life that is safe?

 

[cerich]

Just to clarify what you mean when you safe scuba is "hardly safe", do you see anything in life that is safe?

Nothing in life is absolutely safe, however scuba diving is a risk multiplier. Driving isn't safe, however humans(most) don't have a conditioned over our entire evolution fear of it..yet we as a society choose to regulate and advance safety of it as much as possible because transportation has obvious benefits for the majority of society. Diving does not, and is in an environment where programmed deep in the brain at the very core of our instincts most people get the message loud and clear being underwater isn't safe. Watching the industry bend themselves in a pretzel trying to say otherwise is actually counter productive because many, many people when told that diving is safe think "this person is a liar". That tends to not work when getting people to sign up.

 

[Rich Keller]

Is spacewalking "safe"? No, of course not. Scuba isn't "safe" either, the risk can be well managed but never eliminated. I have difficulty understanding why so many dive pros seem to feel that diving is "safe", have they never noticed they are underwater and can't breath the stuff? It's fairly easy but hardly safe.

Amen. Scuba diving is not safe, we do not belong down there so we need to depend on our equipment to get us there and back safely. You accept a certain amount of risk when you choose to do this but if you are being told that this is safe then you are accepting some risks you have not been fully made aware of there by placing yourself in danger. If they told people the whole truth some may be scared off and not buy the equipment needed when they complete the course. This in my opinion is putting profits before the safety of the diver.

 

[clint@uniquescuba.com]

I don't know if many of you have had a chance to read through the 150 + pages of expert testimony yet, but I just finished them. Since I've never dove a lake like this I had a question for those of you that might have.

Apparently Bear Lake has a high mineral content of especially white-colored calcium carbonate (lime) that affects the buoyancy characteristics of the water. Much like the Great Salt Lake, buoyancy rules would be different.

I would be interested in hearing from anyone who has dove in this lake or one like it?

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Pete said earlier the boy had on a 5mm wetsuit and expert testimony from court documents suggest he had on a 7mm farmer john. Anyone know which is true?

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From the expert testimony of witness accounts, the boy had achieved neutral buoyancy and overweighting was not a contributing factor to the incident. When found, the boy was suspended in a more vertical position. Does anyone have differing accounts?

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From the expert testimony, the scuba equipment was damaged during transport and storage.

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From the expert testimony, Although initially thought the boy drowned, he suffered from AGE

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If I have any of this information incorrect please elaborate.

 

[The Chairman]

This is the typical response of scuba professionals who are simply not interested in seeking improved enforcement. You have to wonder why. Are you afraid of more oversight?

Of course I'm afraid of having more Big Brother in my life. I'm almost to the point where teaching Scuba is not tenable for me. Adding more layers of intrusion as well as expense would probably push me out. I've never had a student accident so more intrusion would not benefit my students one whit.

Does Key Largo have a police force? Is it a bad thing? Do you think you would be better off without it?

Key Largo does not have a police force. Somehow our crime rate is about %10 of Miami's crime rate.

Do you believe standards enforcement is at the right level now and improving that capability is unwarranted?

I believe that the quanta leap in enforcement you would like to see would be economically crippling for our industry, overly obtrusive and not warranted by the few accidents that currently happen. But that's just a "typical response" from anyone who might disagree with you.

As a result of this thread, it seems that some agencies are already in the process of improving their enforcement capabilities. Do you disapprove? I believe, in the ended, there will also be some changes in the standards for the conduct of DSD.

As a result of this thread? Please tell us more. I am not aware of this at all.

 

[The Chairman]

From the expert testimony,

Loosely translated: expert testimony is bought and paid for.

As for the lake's buoyancy, I've dove Bear Lake from the Boy Scout camp on the west side of the lake. I dove with a 3 mil, a steel tank and absolutely no lead. I weigh in at 300 pounds. I remember being fairly negative too.

 

[clint@uniquescuba.com]

All lbs. are not created equal

 

[Wookie]

I don't know if many of you have had a chance to read through the 150 + pages of expert testimony yet, but I just finished them. Since I've never dove a lake like this I had a question for those of you that might have.

Apparently Bear Lake has a high mineral content of especially white-colored calcium carbonate (lime) that affects the buoyancy characteristics of the water. Much like the Great Salt Lake, buoyancy rules would be different.

I would be interested in hearing from anyone who has dove in this lake or one like it?

---------------

Pete said earlier the boy had on a 5mm wetsuit and expert testimony from court documents suggest he had on a 7mm farmer john. Anyone know which is true?

--------------

From the expert testimony of witness accounts, the boy had achieved neutral buoyancy and overweighting was not a contributing factor to the incident. When found, the boy was suspended in a more vertical position. Does anyone have differing accounts?

-----------------

From the expert testimony, the scuba equipment was damaged during transport and storage.

------------------

From the expert testimony, Although initially thought the boy drowned, he suffered from AGE

------------------

If I have any of this information incorrect please elaborate.

I'm still busy reading them. It's amazing how different people can read the same facts and come up with unique responses. That's why I'm waiting for the results from court. May the best law team win.

 

[Capt Jim Wyatt]

Please re-post the links to the "expert" testimony