Training Scuba Ranch Incident Report

[kammel78]

Fall-out continues from Dylan's diving death

An apparently delayed response to a diving emergency; buddying-up of two 12-year-old trainees in poor visibility; a divemaster’s lost computer and mixed

divernet.com

Worse and worse.....

Just FYI, a good portion of what's out there so far is from Lori Brown with Fox 4 News and interviews she's conducted. She's been in direct contact with the family since almost the beginning so if you're interested in tracking the source of truth of information up to this point, you can do so below. You can also find her/Fox 4 on FB and IG for those who want to follow on socials. It look like it's starting to pick and and more journalists will take up the charge and start pressuring for answers.

Lori Brown

Lori is a reporter for FOX 4 News.

www.fox4news.com

 

[kammel78]

I was only a NAUI instructor for a hot second many years ago, so my NAUI standards knowledge is near non-existent, but the way I read this is that Roussel, as a Sustaining status DM, would not be considered a Qualified Assistant. In which case the maximum ratio in ideal conditions would be 8:1. Unless his status was active during the class and only changed to Sustaining after the class. Maybe a NAUI instructor or IT could clarify.

I could not find any training-specific restrictions for Jr OW divers, just post class.

 

[cerich]

The father is a diver. The mother is not. They paid extra for 1:1 OW lessons during the pool portion of the class. They asked if the father could also be in the water, since he's OW certified. They were told no unless he also paid for the OW certification class. Hindsight is 20/20.... you'd imagine that having a dive instructor and dive master, following all the protocols correctly, would be just fine, but it wasn't on this particular day. We take risks in life all the time.... and we hope they all turn out okay. But, the fact that key evidence is being covered up is where the criminal case gets worse. Give the family all the information. It's the right and legal thing to do.

how much pool time was there if I may ask?

It's become that too many shops/instructors are doing very short "confined water" time (what most call pool) . NAUI standards require 10 hour of water time on a Open water course. So even if 4 open water dives of an hour long each is planned (and more often it's in the half hour range) then there should have been a min of 6 hours in the pool.

 

[cerich]

Also 100%. I will refuse non class relatives as well and have at times separated significant others in a class. The extra stress and anxiety that an overbearing parent puts on their child is wildly unhelpful. The pressure I've seen husbands put on their wives, parents on kids to "just do it" when they're so overwhelmed with anxiety and fear is absolutely dangerous. This goes 100% against our mantra of we don't pressure anyone to dive. Find any other type of training that allows parents in the room with kids and instructor. They don't and for a very good reason, so let's kindly stop with the "parents should have" nonsense.

agree 100%, I am..shall we say a very qualified and experienced instructor, Instructor trainer, rec, tech, and PSD. Sat on the training committee for NAUI, the board of NAUI, the RSTC board and also on the International Training "Training advisory panel".

I have a daughter.

Know what I didn't do? Teach her to dive. For all the reasons you mentioned.

I had a friend I trusted do it with a 1 to 1 ratio in what can only be described in as close to perfect conditions as you can get when she was 13.

I did not go in the water on the dives, as much as it was killing me inside. Because was better for her learning and my friends teaching.

 

[johndiver999]

So can someone explain what type of criminal charges might be brought? And against whom? Would all the professionals be held to a legal standard? Is violation of training standards criminal (if that occurred)? Is gross negligence a criminal issue? I’m just curious about how the Sheriff department is doing a criminal investigation, unless it is some sort of cover the officers ass effort and pathetic attempt to appear to be engaging in a competent homocide investigation after completely dropping the ball.

 

[alv0065]

It doesn't add much to the grand scheme of things, but I recently found out that right after this incident, Scuba Toys contacted Athens Scuba park about bringing a group 15 open water divers to the park (presumably because Scuba Toys was and still is banned from Scuba Ranch).

So just goes to show their general callousness, and also more reason why this should not be swept under the rug.

 

[johndiver999]

agree 100%, I am..shall we say a very qualified and experienced instructor, Instructor trainer, rec, tech, and PSD. Sat on the training committee for NAUI, the board of NAUI, the RSTC board and also on the International Training "Training advisory panel".

I have a daughter.

Know what I didn't do? Teach her to dive. For all the reasons you mentioned.

I had a friend I trusted do it with a 1 to 1 ratio in what can only be described in as close to perfect conditions as you can get when she was 13.

I did not go in the water on the dives, as much as it was killing me inside. Because was better for her learning and my friends teaching.

So you agree with me that you would never allow your preteen daughter to engage in an open water training dive with those conditions and with a gaggle of students?

If I were a national training director, I suppose I might know one instructor I would trust with my daughter on a solo class in pristine conditions, but very few of us have those kinds of connections.

Not sure that your decision is especially relevant to the current situation but I certainly don’t find fault with it.

 

[jblittle]

how much pool time was there if I may ask?

It's become that too many shops/instructors are doing very short "confined water" time (what most call pool) . NAUI standards require 10 hour of water time on a Open water course. So even if 4 open water dives of an hour long each is planned (and more often it's in the half hour range) then there should have been a min of 6 hours in the pool.

I'm not sure of the number of hours. It was a long day in the pool. Dylan's pool instructor had commented on how impressed she got everything the first time and did it in less time than was required. Perhaps there was a time limit for the pool portion, in which skills had to have been mastered... I've never taken the course and don't pretend to be knowledgable in these things. But it made it sound like because Dylan showed mastery of the lessons, she finished early? I'm not entirely sure, but I remember thinking that just because she was able to get it done on the first time surely didn't mean that she wouldn't have to practice the skills over and over again.

 

[jblittle]

I do know Dylan passed her writing portion and also showed mastery of pool skills earlier than expected. I'm not sure if she got finished early in the pool, but that's what it seemed like.

 

[jblittle]

So can someone explain what type of criminal charges might be brought? And against whom? Would all the professionals be held to a legal standard? Is violation of training standards criminal (if that occurred)? Is gross negligence a criminal issue? I’m just curious about how the Sheriff department is doing a criminal investigation, unless it is some sort of cover the officers ass effort and pathetic attempt to appear to be engaging in a competent homocide investigation after completely dropping the ball.

I think involuntary manslaughter might fit the definition of what occurred. Probably also some other charges for tampering with evidence.... Against the instructor and perhaps the dive master (if it was his computer that conveniently got "lost").