Bahamas: Missing Female Diver

[Tricia]

I've been following this post from the beginning and I know there's been a lot of speculation about WHY Mrs. Wood took off like that and shook off/fought/argued with the DM who wanted her to come back up. Given her "strong personality" (as described by several who knew her), I'm now wondering if she didn't actually see something (a shark, manta, etc.) and decide to go chase it and didn't realise how deep she was going? I mean, most of us have done that at one time or another (especially photogs like me): suddenly you check your air and depth and think "Oh *****! How did I do that?" And then you have to start ascending carefully.

Now once Mrs. Wood had her "encounter" with the DM, it's clear she must have had a good idea how deep she was. But given her forceful personality, I can just imagine her saying to herself, "Oh I can go a little deeper - I've got plenty of air. And I really want to see that shark!" (I say this because I've dived with women like this before.)

Of course, as Bowl of Petunias has so correctly pointed out, we have no idea what all the pressure would have done to her rational thinking processes. And that's because nobody has ever done a study of scuba diving type pressures on a human post stroke/"cerebral incident" (as they call it here in France). But I suppose that's because most doctors would never advise you to dive after something like that.

Lastly - thanks again to OnlyHalcyon for being brave enough to come back on here and talk with us some more. You have answered a lot of tough questions (and put up with flak from silly people). I admire your courage!

Trish

 

[cruiser]

...after reading the posts bashing the DM for not stepping up I find it strange that no one has ever mentioned her husband? He was in fact diving with us that morning and new far more about her than anyone. If she had indeed had a stoke he would have know how serious and to what level of supervision she would require, if she should have been diving at all?

It's making a big assumption that MR. Wood would know what level of supervision MS. Wood required. Was he a doctor or medical professional? She had had a stroke just a month before, so this whole "dealing with a stroke victim" may have been new to him as well, and he just didn't have the skill set to know what to do.

Not to mention MS. Wood sounds like she had a strong personality and it may not have been up to MR. Wood whether or not MS. Wood dove that day.

...but you have to ask yourself what diver in their right mind would let his wife dive and not be behind her keeping and eye on her.?

I can think of a few instances where divers felt their wives were safer buddying with a dive master rather than themselves, especially if they didn't have much dive experience. Do we know how much dive experience MR. Wood had? No doubt MR. Wood felt MS. Wood was in good hands since she was with a dive master.

And did you notice how the Wood's interacted with each other on the boat? Sometimes when there's tension between a couple, whether long term or somebody just got PO'ed that morning, it's not always best to dive together. Her stroke could have also caused a personality change in the last month, something that takes the spouse awhile to deal with and learn how to handle.

Just my $.02

 

[Jim Lapenta]

The more that comes out of this the more it looks like it was an intentional act on the victims part. I keep hearing the music from MASH playing- "Suicide is Painless".

 

[Web Monkey]

A resort DM can probably keep most routine bad things from happening, but a diver dead set on screwing up will probably be able to circumvent most DMs' best efforts. (Most does not mean the most highly trained team divers or those who will undertake MACHO rescue efforts.)

I know this keeps going in circles, but it really bothers me that the concept of "buddy" has become so watered down that mere competence is now seen as "highly trained" or "macho".

Although my buddy and I are both DiveCons, saving Mrs. Woods wouldn't take anything more than what is taught in a recreational rescue class. According to what we currently know, turning a fatality into an annoyance would have required:

1. Mrs. Woods: Blows the dive plan by 10' - 20'.
2. Buddy: Points to Mrs. Woods depth gauge and signals "level off"
3. Mrs. Woods: Flips off/ignores/pushes away buddy and continues descending
4. Buddy: Decides Mrs. Woods is mentally compromised (blew the dive plan, ignored buddy), grabs her tank valve from behind, and does a safe ascent to the surface.

None of this requires "highly trained" or "macho" or even a DM cert. It only requires a minimal amount of training past OW, enough assertiveness to know you're doing the right thing, and concern for the safety of the other buddy.

Terry

 

[Thalassamania]

There was a time when being a certified diver meant that you were competent to do that, but today it falls into a realm beyond what may be reasonable expected of the average dive instructor?

 

[Web Monkey]

There was a time when being a certified diver meant that you were competent to do that, but today it falls into a realm beyond what may be reasonable expected of the average dive instructor?

That's just sad.

Terry

 

[TheScubaBOB]

There was a time when being a certified diver meant that you were competent to do that, but today it falls into a realm beyond what may be reasonable expected of the average dive instructor?

That is something that I have been pondering as my oldest daughter completed her OW on July 3rd. For the most part I will be her primary Dive Buddy.

I'm confident that I will be able to ensure that she always returns to the surface after every dive. I'm Rescue Certified and have noticed that since the class I've become more aware of my dive buddies and my own gear/situation underwater.

The Instructor who finished her training was diving with us the weekend. He approached me after one of her Adventure Dives and asked if I was okay with him giving her a mini "Intro to Rescue" on the surface. Of course I agreed.

He had her simulate towing me to the shore and removing both our gear (no rescue breaths, just the tow) and reviewed a couple of options with her after asking her a "What should you do now?" type of question.

Now she's much smaller than I am at 5ft 2ish & 130lbs (I'm a whopping 6ft 3 gorilla weighing in at 240ish).

She's already completed 4 of the 5 Adventure Dives needed for AOW so I'm thinking of maybe getting her through Rescue this summer.

FWIW, if she had a problem at depth there is nothing that would keep me from bringing my baby back to the surface. I'm so glad I did Rescue before she completed her OW.

 

[cruiser]

There was a time when being a certified diver meant that you were competent to do that, but today it falls into a realm beyond what may be reasonable expected of the average dive instructor?

1979 I took the PADI scuba class. Aced the academics (there were lots of academics taught) and pool sessions. During open water checkout, had ear problems (couldn't equalize due to chronic sinus issues) and didn't complete certification.

...fast forward after marriage and raising a family...

Took open water and got certified in 2006. World of difference in what was taught. I drew alot on the 1979 info I learned, and still do.

 

[ScubaSteve]

1979 I took the PADI scuba class. Aced the academics (there were lots of academics taught) and pool sessions. During open water checkout, had ear problems (couldn't equalize due to chronic sinus issues) and didn't complete certification.

...fast forward after marriage and raising a family...

Took open water and got certified in 2006. World of difference in what was taught. I drew alot on the 1979 info I learned, and still do.

So are you saying you had the same problems but they certified you anyways?

 

[N2BLUE]

Wow...that's really all I can say in awe of some of the pearls of wisdom and insight offered up by some of you, "divers". Wow...