Thank you for mentioning our dive expo, and your assumption is correct. First of all attendance was light and those that did attend were not the ones that needed it. Much like those divers that will pay for a guide or refresher tend not to be the ones with the greatest need. We thought that this would be the case going in, but that is not a reason, to not do the Rodeo. We felt the best we could do is help create an atmosphere where safety matters and this would be an improvement.
As far as the message that is sent, KADO (not all members), may have been our biggest obstacle. Many of their contigancy felt that the "DIVE ALIVE" message was too strong. Any mention, that it is possible to die while scuba diving was met with resistance. We had orriginally posted the accident reports for the Keys for 05 & 06 and they had the proverbial sea cow.
This past week DEMA sent an e-mail to its members requesting them not to publicly comment on the dive deaths during mini-season, but to let DEMA handle it as to not scare potential business away.
I believe that diving is a safe sport, otherwise I would not have trained so many people to do it,
but I believe divers need to be reminded of the dangers of complaceancy and arrogance. I believe that this can be a good thing for the shops as it encourages divers to get additional training.
Safe Dives
trtldvr
aka Bob Guhl
Chairman: Florida Keys Safe Dive Initiative
www.divealive.org
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