AOW student dies in training: Alberta

[openmindOW]

PADI will investigate as it does all training dive incidents and a report will be filed with DAN.

Do we know for certain that it was a PADI AOW class?

If it was PADI, then we won't hear anything from PADI. PADI does not share information about what it learns in an investigation.

 

[Jax]

Are you suggesting litigation?

No. If we find that there is a trend in diver training where the divers don't ditch weight or equipment, the family members may be able to rally support to change. Look at Megan's Law or Jessica's Law or Amber Alerts - it was the family that campaigned for and brought about change.

 

[Jax]

Do we know for certain that it was a PADI AOW class?

If it was PADI, then we won't hear anything from PADI. PADI does not share information about what it learns in an investigation.

In line with the above - this is something the families might be able to campaign for change.

 

[coldwatercanada]

yes it was an PADI AOW class becuase thats the only certification Northwest Scuba does

 

[markmantei]

Do you not think its a bad and potentially fatal idea to put 100% trust in your life with some random 3rd party who is a human and cannot be guaranteed to react appropriately in any given situation?
Do you really think a buddy is there to keep YOU safe?
A redundant air source is a far saner idea. And divers that take responsibility for their own safety.

String, you should have read one more sentence, as I addressed this point directly "While my decision will certainly be influenced by my trust level in my buddy's skills, and the amount of air I have available"

No I do not put 100% trust in any of my buddies, but they do have a complete set of gear which does provide me with redundency. No a buddy is not there to keep me safe. Again, they are there to provide me with a redundent set of gear should I have a failure. Wether they are able to help or not is another issue. That said, by the time I get in the water with any buddy I pretty much know wheather they are going to be of any assistance in an emergency. I have never done a dive with any buddy without talking with them first, to assess their experience level and attitude.

I do not dive with a pony bottle right now, are you implying that we should all ditch octos and buy pony's?

Responsibility for ones own safety can include choosing and diving with a good buddy!!!

 

[A&I Mod]

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A ScubaBoard Staff Message...

Closed for cleanup - now reopened

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A ScubaBoard Staff Message...

I've thrown out the trash. Please adhere to the rules for the A&I forum. For your convenience, here they are again:

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The purpose of this forum is the promotion of safe diving through the examination and discussion of accidents and incidents; to find lessons we can apply to our own diving.
Accidents, and incidents that could easily have become accidents, can often be used to illustrate actions that lead to injury or death, and their discussion is essential to building lessons learned from which improved safety can flow. To foster the free exchange of information valuable to this process, the "manners" in this forum are much more tightly controlled than elsewhere on the board. In addition to the TOS:

(1) You may not release any names here, until after the names have appeared in the public domain (articles, news reports, sheriff's report etc.) The releasing report must be cited. Until such public release, the only name you may use in this forum is your own.
(2) Off topic posts will be removed and off topic comments will be edited.
(3) No flaming, name calling or otherwise attacking other posters. You may attack ideas; you may not attack people.
(4) No trolling; no blamestorming. Mishap analysis does not lay blame, it finds causes.
(5) No "condolences to the family" here. Please use our Passings Forum for these kinds of messages.
(6) If you are presenting information from a source other than your own eyes and ears, cite the source.
(7) If your post is your hypothesis, theory, or a "possible scenario," identify it as such.
(8) If your post is about legal action that concerns a mishap, use the Scuba Related Court Cases forum.
Thanks in advance,
Rick

 

[MikeBell]

yes it was an PADI AOW class becuase thats the only certification Northwest Scuba does

I believe he meant that Northwest Scuba only certifies PADI courses, which I believe is accurate. They might do a bit of Tec as well but I am not certain on that.

Some of the posts in this thread are concerning OW students being thrust into the AOW class. As someone who was recently certified by Northwest Scuba, I can assure you that it wasn't pushed onto the students but a suggestion to continue the learning - which is a GOOD thing! Should OW students be taking the AOW class, from my perspective, why not? I continued my training with two excellent instructors who I was already comfortable with in a controlled setting and became MUCH more comfortable. It was probably the best few dives I did because I felt that I grew so much. Also, we had two senior instructors for two students on my AOW, with one of them being there on a strictly volunteer basis. You don't get much more dedication than that.

My condolences to the family (I realize this isn't the thread for that but I have a hard time reading about something so close to home and not stating it). This story is a grim reminder that the sport in which we love, has it's risks - no matter the experience.

I don't know any of the details and thus I cannot comment on the story but I felt I should clarify that the shop is an excellent one, filled with people who both care about your safety and it legitimately feels that you aren't just a paycheque.

 

[Tim_Barker]

Mike is correct, Northwest does PADI OW and AOW (and I would imagine just about every other specialty out there for PADI) so I am not sure what others were talking. Also, unless it turns out there was equipment failure this accident was not the fault of Northwest. As no one who has commented so far was there (Mark did acknowledge he heard the information second hand his knowledge is probably the most accurate) everyone is speculating.

fyi - the Jasper newpaper got the information closest to correct while the Journal was correct in the fact a death occurred in Lac Beauvert and that is about it. Once the information on the cause has been released then maybe the discussion will be informative but until then it is pure speculation. I am not trying to critical on the comments placed so far but some of them prior to the cleanup were .. shall we say inappropriate.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

Once the information on the cause has been released then maybe the discussion will be informative but until then it is pure speculation.

If the investigation follows the usual channels, that information will be released about two days after hell freezes over. The scuba industry does a fantastic job of hiding bad news from the public ... which is why these discussions usually degenerate into pure speculation.

I guarantee you that nobody who was actually there will ever tell the public what happened ... or why it happened.

From the original post ...

The man was training with Edmonton-based Northwest Scuba. Company owner Ken Holliday said he would not provide details of how the man died.

Of course he won't ... and any legal settlement in cases like this usually include the provision that the details of the accident are to be sealed ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[powereng03]

If the investigation follows the usual channels, that information will be released about two days after hell freezes over. The scuba industry does a fantastic job of hiding bad news from the public ... which is why these discussions usually degenerate into pure speculation.

I guarantee you that nobody who was actually there will ever tell the public what happened ... or why it happened.

From the original post ...

The man was training with Edmonton-based Northwest Scuba. Company owner Ken Holliday said he would not provide details of how the man died.

Of course he won't ... and any legal settlement in cases like this usually include the provision that the details of the accident are to be sealed ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

Well I'm not sure how things happen where you live but up here in Canada, people are not allowed to release information UNTIL AFTER the investigation is complete. Releasing details could change the outcome/hamper the investigation so he has no choice but NOT to respond with details. I know this as I used to be an EMT-A. Besides, it's more respectful for the family.

As for Northwest Scuba, they are top notch. I have done almost all my training with Ken and the gang there and they have NEVER taken any short cuts with any of the dives that I have participated in. I'm sad that such an accident has happen. My thoughts go out to the family of the victim and to my scuba friends at NWS and I hope they are all doing ok.