well so far after reading all of this discussion, I have come to the conclusion that nobody has the answers to safe scuba. If you think about it people, scuba is not safe. But neither is driving a car, flying in an airplane, going to work, or even attending school. I mean get real guys. you can go ahead and blame the gear, the instructor, the quarry, the pre dive briefing, or even (heaven forbid) the diver. Were we not all new divers in every aspect of our highest level of training. I don't know about you, but when I did my first cold water deep dive with my instructors, yes two of them, and a divemaster, I was still nervous as hell. And I am as comfortable and just as able as any other diver out there. It is very easy to get panicked in a situation like that.
Sure you can make people wear seatbelts and add airbags, or put metal detectors in schools, or even search every single person that gets on a plane, but the fact of the matter is, there are still going to be accidents and things slipping through the cracks. The point is, that diving is not exactly the safest thing to do, no matter how much you try to convince yourself that it is because of your training, experience, and excellent gear. Anything can happen to anyone at any given moment.
So what happens when it happens to you or someone you know. Who you gonna blame then? Your instructor, your dive buddy, your gear, the body of water, or you? Sometimes things just happen.
You say it all has to do with training and lack of skills and control from the instructor. I know an instructor who was very lax in his training techniques. ie: letting divemasters teach his classes, Skipping classroom and confined water and going right into open waters, and just plain disregarding any liability or care for his students. He has trained many many many students and has never had an incident. Good teaching skills you ask? I don't think so. Just plain lucky. Now I know another instructor who does a very excellent job. Very thourough, caring, and is very compassionate about his students. This instructor has had an incident similar to this. Good training skills you ask? Absolutely. Just unlucky for that to happen to him.
Have we not learned as a society that no matter what the activity is, there is always going to be something going wrong somewhere. Accept the fact that in a perfect world things like this wouldn't happen. This ain't exactly a perfect world though, is it?
So if "you think you know" all of the answers. And you know the people I'm referring to. Please, think again.
