Incident due to battery change on dive computer

[RJP]

This seems like a serious lack of training to me.

There's no way in the world to determine that. I know plenty of divers who have received top-flight training from some of the best in the business... bar none. Some of these people are willful idiots and choose to ignore some of the key tenets of what they were taught. There was nothing wrong with the instruction whatsoever.

As a DM I spent years doing scuba reviews for people who would say at one point or another "Gee... I was never taught that in my OW class." I'd simply smile... because I know they were taught whatever "that" was in their OW course. Mostly because I've seen their instructor teach an OW course twenty times and know that "that" was taught. But often I knew this because I DM'd their OW course... and was there when they were in fact taught "that" in their OW course.

 

[redacted]

There's no way in the world to determine that. I know plenty of divers who have received top-flight training from some of the best in the business... bar none. Some of these people are willful idiots and choose to ignore some of the key tenets of what they were taught. There was nothing wrong with the instruction whatsoever.

As a DM I spent years doing scuba reviews for people who would say at one point or another "Gee... I was never taught that in my OW class." I'd simply smile... because I know they were taught whatever "that" was in their OW course. Mostly because I've seen their instructor teach an OW course twenty times and know that "that" was taught. But often I knew this because I DM'd their OW course... and was there when they were in fact taught "that" in their OW course.

What is cover in a sitdown OW classes that you need to know that is not in the book. If a student is reading challenged, then the instructor may need to reinforce the book knowledge. Otherwise it is just a series of sales pitches and "war" stories and a repeat of what was already read, except for a few of the practical exercises with tables.

The OP is an EE. He has learning skills. He just did not see the big deal in his "follow the leader" diving practices in this episode. That might have changed now.

 

[Basking Ridge Diver]

The OP is an EE. He has learning skills. He just did not see the big deal in his "follow the leader" diving practices in this episode. That might have changed now.

Double E - Excellent Exaggerator?

 

[doctormike]

I think the OP thought he was getting bogus info from his PDC because of the setting it was in.

I think that he was under the very commonly held impression that PDC settings somehow change your risk of DCS. The idea that if you push the algorithm, then you can dive deeper and longer, and any hit you get will be "undeserved" because the magic bracelet said you were following the letter of the law.

 

[RJP]

I think that he was under the very commonly held impression that PDC settings somehow change your risk of DCS. The idea that if you push the algorithm, then you can dive deeper and longer, and any hit you get will be "undeserved" because the magic bracelet said you were following the letter of the law.

Stay in the water until your computer starts beeping. Stay out of the water until it stops.

 

[KeithG]

I said significant percentage, because to me, any is a significant percentage. We carry 24, maybe 2-5 per trip? And what I said was "could not read", that is, they cant get it out of surface mode into log mode, nor can they seem to remember "depth" for "time" for the minute it takes to climb the ladder.

Agreed. This is disappointing. And scary. I was making up #s that I thought would approach worst case. I was not even close.

Tends to indicate they can not read their computer. Does not give any indication about their ability to understand.

Question: do dive ops have any kind of responsibility (legal, ethical, moral otherwise?) to carry out "continuing education" for divers? or basic remedial education?

We do liveaboards and Bonaire. In both cases we are subjected to a "lecture" before we can dive. In Bonaire it is all about park rules, on liveaboards it is about boat rules. Maybe an additional 5 minute NDL theory reminder can be added to the lecture? Maybe offering a free "gear check / computer tips" session on the first evening would help?

 

[dumpsterDiver]

I didn't read all the posts, but I have to wonder if the diver didn't use the "one tank rule".. I can't get in too much trouble on one tank-especially if I don't go too deep. I made that rule up but it worked pretty well when we used to dive 70 cu-ft tanks of air. So was he just looking at his air pressure and ignoring the computer, because he "knew" he was ok?

The profile he posted looked pretty close to 80 ft for around 40 minutes... which is about the limits on the old Navy tables. Obviously he violated those tables by going past 80, but he did it early in the dive and was shallow later and then came up pretty slow. So my guess he was not too far into DECO relative to the old tables.

However, he should definitely not have done a second dive without taking a hard look at the deco tables and a reasonable person would probably say .. don't do another dive after a deco dive like that, plus without really knowing what he was doing on the first dive.. any repetitive dive would be pretty scary.

 

[DiveNav]

Disclosure: I do not work for PADI. But, I do work with PADI and we are the developer of the simulator mentioned below.

....My PADI OW class assumed computer use ...... none of us in the class actually owned a PDC at that time, but we did get a card for an on-line simulator (which was never used in the class.).....

So, here you have an agency that is spending substantial effort (and $$$) in promoting the use of dive computers (and offer a simulator that allows a student to see model-specific dive computers in action during simulated dives) and then you have a dive store / instructor that do not use the tool and do not teach tables either.
So, who is watering down education?

 

[Ayisha]

...Was she from the UK by any chance?

No, from Toronto. It was pretty obvious to me from your question that you met someone just like that from the UK.

In her case, the charter captain shook his head but let her throw the computer overboard on the line and do the next dive. Maybe because her boyfriend was the instructor that chartered the boat and was running an AOW class. He was not impressed either.

 

[doctormike]

In her case, the charter captain shook his head but let her throw the computer overboard on the line and do the next dive.

And THAT'S why I dive with Wookie.