I am very curious as to who you are. You are talking a pretty good game but I am not aware of anyone that was on the phone with you during the recovery operation. I am also not sure where you are getting your information about cave certifications because you are 100% wrong.
I'm with Walter on this one. I was with someone who "was on the phone" with the recovery team, who also knows the specifics of one of the divers' certification levels, and bpd's information is inaccurate. I'm not saying that bpd is trying to spread misinformation. It is possible bpd was speaking to someone from the sherrif's dept or some medical first responder, but not the actual cave diving recovery team.
The cave diving community is pretty tight, and there are much less than six degrees of separation. For those who are not cave divers, it is probably important to know that the people who risk their lives to go into a potentially hazardous situation to rescue cave divers or, sadly in this case, recover their bodies are extremely advanced divers who do this on a volunteer basis, and put themselves in grave peril every time they are involved in the recovery. These are typically not (except in a few situations) the local law enforcement dive team. They are realtors, insructors, system analysts, etc. In other words, just amazing people who volunteer to do a hazardous and risky job.
After the rescue/recovery, the wok does not stop there. The
IUCRR (International Underwater Cave Rescue and Recovery will analyze all of the data recovered by the team (where were the bodies found, what was the condition of the cave, the line, the equipment, witness statements (if there are any), training levels and experience, etc) and develop an accident analysis. This can take quite some time, due to the need for law enforcement to also complete their investigation, etc. Until that time, much of the information released can be hearsay, speculation, etc. This is not to say that there are not lessons to be learned, just to caution that a complete reporting of the accident may take a while.
It is a sad day when any diver is lost. It is also a blow to the cave diving community to lose one of their own, let alone two. As I mentioned, the community is tight and interconnected. As I am sobered by the loss of these two diver, I also want to take a moment to express my deepest gratitude to those who risked their lives to bring these divers home to their families to rest in peace.
Don
"Last edited by Rick Murchison; Today at 11:12 PM. Reason: TOS compliance"
