I went to Pennyroyal Scuba Center in Hopkinsville, Ky. this past weekend. Wow, what a great place to dive. A variety of depth ranging from ankle depth, to over 130' deep, great vis, a variety of obstacles to navigate through, and things to see, an obviously very experienced, and very helpful staff, etc, etc, etc......I can go on, and on.
I have nothing but good things to say about this place.
Here's something serious you might should consider when doing your next quarry dive. There were two deep divers there Sunday at Pennyroyal's Quarry who had seriously miscalulated their dive intervals, and after realizing their mistake expressed their concerns to the owners of the diving facility. The owners who are in charge of Emergency Services for the State of Kentucky, and the son who is also a Professional Certified EMT/Paramedic had 2 ambulances sitting on site at the facility well inside of only 2 minutes. That is simply outstanding. The staff, and the medical personnel were on top of this potential situation without any hesitation what-so-ever. It's was very comforting to say the least to see that my life would be in the hands of such professionals in the event that the worst should happen to me at this facility. I also learned afterward that there is a decompression chamber within only a couple minutes of the quarry. The two divers fortunately checked out o.k., and seemed a bit humbled, and wiser after their experience. Being as their condition checked out o.k., there was no charge for the two ambulances, or the check-outs that where performed on the divers. Again, wow! Not greedy, and very professional. That's rare these days for sure.
The most important lesson that I came away with out of all this was just how important it is to consider how many minutes I'll be from medical help, and also from a decompression chamber in the event of an emergency while diving. Most quarries, and other dive sites are far from either one, and as safety conscious as I am, I'm really surprised in myself that I hadn't given this more consideration without having to learn it this way.
To sum this up in short, I was very impressed with the emergency readiness, the location in proximity to medical, and deco chamber services, and the professionalism, and experience of the staff at Pennyroyal Scuba Center. Since people in general are usually so quick to criticize, and so slow to compliment these days, I decided to take this time to show some well-deserved recognition for a truely first rate operation/destination. Pennyroyal Scuba Center in Hopkinsville, Ky. I only wish I knew about this place years ago.
I have nothing but good things to say about this place.
Here's something serious you might should consider when doing your next quarry dive. There were two deep divers there Sunday at Pennyroyal's Quarry who had seriously miscalulated their dive intervals, and after realizing their mistake expressed their concerns to the owners of the diving facility. The owners who are in charge of Emergency Services for the State of Kentucky, and the son who is also a Professional Certified EMT/Paramedic had 2 ambulances sitting on site at the facility well inside of only 2 minutes. That is simply outstanding. The staff, and the medical personnel were on top of this potential situation without any hesitation what-so-ever. It's was very comforting to say the least to see that my life would be in the hands of such professionals in the event that the worst should happen to me at this facility. I also learned afterward that there is a decompression chamber within only a couple minutes of the quarry. The two divers fortunately checked out o.k., and seemed a bit humbled, and wiser after their experience. Being as their condition checked out o.k., there was no charge for the two ambulances, or the check-outs that where performed on the divers. Again, wow! Not greedy, and very professional. That's rare these days for sure.
The most important lesson that I came away with out of all this was just how important it is to consider how many minutes I'll be from medical help, and also from a decompression chamber in the event of an emergency while diving. Most quarries, and other dive sites are far from either one, and as safety conscious as I am, I'm really surprised in myself that I hadn't given this more consideration without having to learn it this way.
To sum this up in short, I was very impressed with the emergency readiness, the location in proximity to medical, and deco chamber services, and the professionalism, and experience of the staff at Pennyroyal Scuba Center. Since people in general are usually so quick to criticize, and so slow to compliment these days, I decided to take this time to show some well-deserved recognition for a truely first rate operation/destination. Pennyroyal Scuba Center in Hopkinsville, Ky. I only wish I knew about this place years ago.
