Joe Jackson Hole? I will have to tell the people at the dive shop that "The Sump" has a name. LOL
Seriously, many of us are trying to find out happened so that we can prevent it. Mike F. and others are correct that it should be "safe" for those that prepare for it. However, too many are not prepared for it and if that applies to this diver or not, well, let the diver decide. Thank Goodness that this one pulled through. The reason that we have this "speculation" is because of facts like this:
I have had things go on that have wanted to freak me out. I have had every instinct telling me to bolt for the surface from 110 to 130 ft. depending on the incident. I remembered things like this in the back of my mind, told myself that it was narcosis combined with another problem and stayed deep below the water to fix it. The one time was just my first case of narcosis that I felt. But things like these reports are part of continuing training. These remind why we shouldn't freak, bolt and get ahead of the instructor (with respect intended to the victim of this incident). They remind divers to solve underwater problems underwater. They remind divers to go down with enough air to be assured that they and their buddy has enough air to get them up.
The cave diving community is equally analytical on incidents that happen there. The reason is the same. They want to make sure that it doesn't happen to them or their dive buddy. If that is "armchair" or "Monday morning" quarterbacking, so be it.
The trick is not to take any of the brainstorming personally. We have not "shut down the quarry." One poster *suggested* it. We didn't say that this person *had faulty gear*. We said that *many divers* down there had inadequate gear and training for that depth and temperature combination and that is a fact! The question of an instructor issue came up. Some people put more of a liability on an instructor than others. If someone took it that we were trying to hurt anyone, this is called brainstorming! Few of us are professional authors and we tend to be too blunt. Some people should take it to mean that we are concerned. I, for one, am concerned about all diving accidents. Thankfully, this one didn't end in complete tragedy. But, if "little" threads like this prevent one more diver from treating a cold water deep dive like a Caribbean deep dive (and again I am not saying that this happened to this diver, but more often than not that is pretty close to the case.), it will be worth it.
So, if you don't like what I or anyone else has written here, you are free to dispute it. That is why these are called *discussion* boards. Let's just all try to be respectful (which I have seen as a problem lately) and DISCUSS.
BTW,
Safe diving!
