stupid instructor incident last week

[JonnyB]

He is what happend.
I have a firiend of mine and she took her open water 7months ago and have not done a single dive since then. So she comes to visit us where i live and get picked up by this diveschool that hangs on the beach all day trying to sell introduction dives and discover local diving. So she decides to go for the discover local diving, to an area called the caves, this is a fairly simple dive, with a maximum of 40' and around 1hour dive time, the tricky part here is the entry and the exit. When i take my divers here i usually do not have the same entry/exit point as the other guides have and one of the reasons is that the depth will vary alot between high and low tide. at low tide it is about 5feet deep and it goes to around 7 feet when high tide and where i go there is atleast 10 feet of water at low tide. Well this instructor told her that due to the fact it was shallow and a low tide that she should step into the water instead of gently rolling her back. so what happens, well as she is a novice, she was to heavy, did not fill her bcd enough and she sunk like a stone, hitting the bottom really hard, cutting her foot open from the middle of the foot, past her heel and halfway up the calf. All the way into the bone. Having her rushed to the hospital and doing a major operatino on her trying to save the nerves so she might get back some movement on the foot in the future. So when i heard all about this i asked around who this guy was and i found out that he spent 6 days in the chamber and got released from the hospital just 1 week before and his doctor strongly adviced him not to dive for atleast 6 months. So then i was interested why he spent time in the chamber and i found out that he claimed that he was doing a deep dive and that he had to go down and bring up some people who had droped deeper than the diveplan, but they didnt get the bends.
It is a shame that bad instructors like this guy can continue to ruin peoples lifes. First of all he should not have been out there in the first place, then you do not take begginers to the caves. I mean its stupid to take a novice diver a place where the entry and exit is quite tricky and the only thing to do there is to swim thought a 80' underwater passage, which is quite narrow as well. and in order to exit from the water is to swim in a cave and then exit from a whole in the ground.

well this is the sotry so far, now we are going to see what is going to happen to my friend as she still has not been released from hospital.

kind regards Jonny

 

[Windminstrel]

Wow, sounds like a crappy operation. I'm sure the insurance gods will make sure he stops his stupidity -- hopefully before he gets someone killed

 

[Rick Inman]

...well as she is a novice, she was to heavy, did not fill her bcd enough and she sunk like a stone...

Inflate your BC. I think that's taught in the first hour of OW class. She might have done this even with a great instructor. Some personal responsibility might be in order.

 

[CelticRavenVA]

I am gonna lean with Rick on this one. I don't see anything in your post stating this was a drift dive where you may need to make a negetively buoyant entry. Should the dive op have better prepared the students, yeah most likely. An in depth dive breifing here would have helped. Did your friend make a mistake? Yes. (Unless I am missing something) It is not a DM's responsibility to inflate your BC for you.

 

[mech]

That a shame.
Your safety like it or not is really your own responsibility.
That being said proper buddy skills were also not used.
All it takes is a few seemingly minor things to add up to something serious

 

[Scottri]

I think both parties can share some of the blame with the majority being on the person supervising. He or she should have clearly told them to inflate their BC's. Accidents happen but this one sounds like it may have been prevented with a good briefing.


Scott

 

[Rick Inman]

I think both parties can share some of the blame with the majority being on the person supervising. He or she should have clearly told them to inflate their BC's.

Dive briefing:
"OK now, don't forget to put air in your BCs before you go over the side. Oh, and turn on your air. And remember to put you regulator in your mouth, and don't forget to breath. And, do you all know how to clear your ears? You might want to do that before you descend. And don't forget to check your air pressure often during the dive. Now this here is the sign for OK, and this slashing motion means out of air. If that happens blah blah blah blah......"
If I ever got this kind of dive briefing, I'd find another boat. Can you imagine saying, "Hey! I busted my ear drum 'cause the DM didn't tell me to clear my ears."

 

[miketsp]

Jonny,
It's always easy to be wise after an event but as Rick stated, is it not possible this would have happened with a better DM?
Your friend was certified, not that long ago; did she make clear to the DM that she was inexperienced?

In your own words "this is a fairly simple dive" but you then stated "First of all he should not have been out there in the first place, then you do not take beginners to the caves."

That's not what the tourist advertising for this dive states. If this is the one I am thinking about, 10 mins from Protoras then it is internationally advertised by various operators as only requiring OW certification. They only state that you should go with a DM.

"The Caves is a spot where you can't go on your own. A divemaster is needed to guide you through the endless tunnels. You enter the water through a hole in the rocks where you first lower your tank and then slip in yourself. the divemaster is leading you through a tunnel with all kinds of coloured fish."

You then make it sound like a dive which is not worth the risk. "the only thing to do there is to swim thought a 80' underwater passage, which is quite narrow as well".

I read various trip reports which class this as a "RECOMMENDED" dive for OW and above.

The bit about the DM being in the chamber without a good reason appears to be supposition on your part & could easily be slanting what might actually have been a heroic effort. I would feel happier if I could hear his side of the story.

If he really was to blame and somebody was injured then your friend would appear to have grounds for criminal and civil action to be brought.

I am curious as to what happened after the event. Did he provide assistance? Is he offering to pay medical bills, etc?

I would like to hear the outcome.

Of course I wish your friend well and hope for a speedy recovery.
Mike

 

[Web Monkey]

I've got to tell you that that description scares the crap out of me, and since I haven't taken any cave classes, there's no way anybody would get me in there ever if Jacque Costeau were the DM.

Who would take non-cavers into a cave with "endless tunnels" and an entry where you have to lower your gear in ahead of you?

Terry

Jonny,
"The Caves is a spot where you can't go on your own. A divemaster is needed to guide you through the endless tunnels. You enter the water through a hole in the rocks where you first lower your tank and then slip in yourself. the divemaster is leading you through a tunnel with all kinds of coloured fish."

Mike

 

[miketsp]

I've got to tell you that that description scares the crap out of me, and since I haven't taken any cave classes, there's no way anybody would get me in there ever if Jacque Costeau were the DM.

Who would take non-cavers into a cave with "endless tunnels" and an entry where you have to lower your gear in ahead of you?

Terry

Some of the trip reports call the site "Caves & Tunnels" and since the trip reports I found were in general written by people in the range "just certified" to about 30 dives, I find it hard to believe that DMs are taking newbies into an extensive overhead environment.
Let's wait for Jonny's comments?