Lessons to be learned-Death in Palau

[Jon C]

Random thoughts from Southern California...

I think one of the basic keys to increasing safety in our sport starts before the lessons. There are some people that are not predispositioned to fully understand an implement the skills necessary to be a safe diver. Let me be clear, I am not saying this accident falls into this category, I don't know the facts. But this sport can kill you...each dive is similar to a space launch! If the gear fails, the situation changes or panic knocks at the door, not being able to handle the issue can be fatal.

However, I have seen students show up without the respect for the dangers associated with scuba. I don't mean the "uneducated"; I mean the thrill seekers who, in spite of a thorough education, are in it for the wrong reasons and will exchange safety for the bragging rights of extreme depth, expert leve drift dives or that heart pounding cave dive. Again, they may have taken the related classes, but are not hard-wired to respect the dangers.

And. how many instructors out there have seen a spouse pushed into diving against their will? How often does a student come in that you KNOW will not absorb the safety elements due to boredom or bravado? Does anyone ever kick them out of class? Not often enough, probably. And what is the minimum age of certification for each agency now? Twelve? How mature were you at 12? Heck, you can't drive a car for another four years, but go ahead and strap on scuba gear and have fun! (Oh, and remember to breathe!)

Diving instruction has been sanitized so much that less-than-average instructors can "successfully" process just about anybody. Perhaps the discretion of the instructor has been diluted because, in part, of the fancy packaging, the "by-the-numbers/all students are equal" education and the pressure of the LDS to have more cash cows buying gear.

Does our sport really benefit from more divers in the water? Or do the agencies and LDS's? My opinion is less is more. And it is not smuggness driving this. I cannot tell you how often I say "you should take up diving" to complete strangers that happen to stop by when I am gearing up. My enthusiasm for my sport is hard to control!! However, just eliminating the unwilling spouses, the children who are years away from understanding the dangers and give the instructors the real power to wash out those who are on a track to kill themselves would make a big difference.

I know the majority of instructors are excellent. (Keep those cards and letters, please!) My point is some people are over their heads before they do their first giant stride. How can instructors quantify who fall into that category and what do you do with something so intangible? It is hard to say "no" on a gut feeling given the pressures of the paying customer, the LDS and the "come one; come all" attitudes of the agencies. And what of the one member of a family of 4 or 5 taking the course prior to an exotic vacation that "aint gettin' it"? How hard is it to fail them? Those instructors who exercise their veto power show a great deal of courage and, in the end, save lives.

Well, this got too long. Sorry for the ramble....

Jon

 

[Skull]

Basically it comes down to this ...everybody has to get off the bus eventually. Be it a car accident, cancer, heart atack, diabetis, war, famine, old age and yes diving accidents. In the words of my dearly departed father .."if you were meant to be hung you'll never drown!!!"...plan your dive, dive the plan and don't exceed your abilities ....too much... otherwise you will never learn to be a better diver. Or you can pay for another course in a pool and then chance it out in the deep blue.

Point is shut up and dive ...be prepared for the worst and hopefully you will live to talk about your dive. This is a DANGEROUS SPORT and people are going to die ...very experienced people at that. None of us are exempt from a diving accicent...including the self rightous around here who always are quick with a assessment and judgement of each and every post. Otherwise stay home and watch Dr Phil annd Oprah.

 

[Thalassamania]

Use a knife for release or a spinaker shackle to begin with, problem solved either way.

 

[Skull]

Better yet lets stop diving where you have to attach yourself to a living organism thus preventing one to be carried off into the great unknown. Second maybe we could stop drift netting and bottom netting fish while sweeping the ocean floor clean of coral and all reef inhabitants.

 

[rawls]

Better yet lets stop diving where you have to attach yourself to a living organism thus preventing one to be carried off into the great unknown. Second maybe we could stop drift netting and bottom netting fish while sweeping the ocean floor clean of coral and all reef inhabitants.

I think carbon dioxide and the increased acidity thus resulting will beat out the drift netting...in killing the reef systems...

 

[Skull]

I think carbon dioxide and the increased acidity thus resulting will beat out the drift netting...in killing the reef systems...

Think again ... drift netting and bottom netting is wiping out enormous amounts of reefs and deep water reefs as well. They are scrapping the ocean floor clean ... but lets not diminish the idiocy of hooking reefs ...Global Warming caused by man is debatable concerning reef degradation... drift netting is not.

 

[Diver Dennis]

There are a couple spot on places like Blue Corner that have some dead coral but comparing hooking into a reef to trawling or reef bleaching is un-informed and frankly ludicrous.

 

[IceIce]

I saw a lot of replies from people who put the blame to the victim alone. (I only read first page and last page and realized that there are three years apart), but I still can't help to put in my 0.02.
I guess nobody can judge how a person should react to emergency situation with if it was me, I would..., she should have, she shouldn't have...
Imho, you won't know what you gonna do until you are there yourself.
Eventhough one thinks him/herself is a great and experienced diver, he might not know how to act efficiently during bad times. Or a diver who had experience being attacked by shark and survived, might not know how to react when he faces another emergency.

So, nobody should brag that a person handled a situation badly and he/she could/should have done better. The victim herself could say so if she made it. But to think clearly while you are sitting on your table is much different when your brain has to work against death.

First very reason that I give is what do you know about what difficulty she was facing?
Even if you see the accident first hand, there is very little chance that you know what are the factors led to it, and whether she still have those factors when she tried to handle the situation.

 

[victor]

In these days of "Risk Assessments", "Health and safety", too many people believe that they can abdicate personal responsibility. :shakehead

On my first dive trip (Bonaire) I attended the introduction lecture, at the end I asked the staff about the checkout dive etc. They checked our cards and log books, explained the equipment and weighting check off the dock etc. then if that was Ok go diving. I asked where and they pointed to the drop off.
That was when I realized I was responsible for us going out and getting back. Not the staff, not the dive-master, not PADI, just me and my buddy.

Now it’s hard to imagine a safer diving location than Bonaire, I had done my research, however any dive has its risks.
No one checked when we went diving, no one led us around or counted us back in. We were qualified and it was up to us to insure that we dived within our abilities and were responsible for our own actions.
If I had asked I am sure I could have hired a dive-master to lead us around, show us the ropes etc. but that would have to be OUR decision, no one was going to make it for us.

Today too many people in the west believe that organizations, government departments, etc. exist to make the world safe for them. Diving will never be 100% safe nor should it be. It is up to each diver to asses the risk and abort the dive if they feel that the risks are too great for them.
When we are diving in “less well developed” countries than our own we must assume that standards may be different from what we are used to. It is up to us to research the dive sites, it is up to us to check what’s in the tanks, and ultimately it is our lives that are at risk so we should take whatever steps we feel necessary to insure that we understand what we are getting into.

 

[Thalassamania]

...Global Warming caused by man is debatable concerning reef degradation... .

There's not any controversy about that in the scientific community, only amongst the politicians.