stupid instructor incident last week

[DiverDebbie]

Come on guys, cut her some slack. Sure, she definitely should have put air in her BC, but I have to agree with Drew Sailbum. She was a brand new diver wit zero dives logged. They should have noticed that for one, and NO DM or instructor should be putting anyone into water with a giant stride that is
"at low tide it is about 5feet deep and it goes to around 7 feet when high tide"
Even with air in your BC you are bound to hit bottom. I'm 5'9" Think about it. Would you giant stride into the shallow end of a pool? Stop giving her grief about her mistake... which was to make a first dive with idiots.
Johnny, I hope her foot heels well enough to walk ok, and I hope eventually she can trust other dive operations and dive again. Here's wishing her a speedy recovery!

 

[Diver0001]

Come on guys, cut her some slack. ....snip....!

Actually, Debbie that's not my point at all. On the surface it sounds like the DM was wrong to put her in the water like that. I'll agree with that along with everyone else.... The nagging doubt I have about this is why an instructor would do that. That's what makes me think there's more to this story than meets the eye. Everyone, and certainly every instructor knows you can't do a giant stride in 5 ft of water..... I would just be curious to hear the other side of this. I would like to hear what the normal method is for entering the water at that site. I would like to hear if the DM concurs that it is only 5ft deep and so on.

A buddy of mine just broke his leg diving.....on the entry. He was also engaged in a guided dive and slipped on a rock and got his leg jammed (from what I heard I haven't talked to him yet) between two other rocks and fell sideways. They had to cut him out of a $3000 dry suit and he has a bad break. He'll be out of the running for at least a year. Someone has to be responsible, right? Maybe the DM? maybe it was a stupid place to make an entry? Maybe it was ill advised about how to enter the water? I mean after all nobody told him how to walk over the rocks, maybe they missed something? Sound familiar?

...hmmm... Would it help if I told you my buddy is a PADI staff instructor, and an IANTD tek diver/instructor with 5000 dives?

But if he was OW or AOW we'd all be screaming "THE DM DID IT..." wouldn't we.........

R..

 

[JonnyB]

Hi all.
The divesite in question have 2 entry places. One cool one and one not so cool.
In order to get to the cool entry place you have to walk downhills, for about 30yards or something like that and at the end just before you reach the shore you have to balance upon some big rocks. When you reach the short you need to concider the shallow depth when you go in the water, what you normally do, is walk in the water and then gently roll on your back and swim out abit. The reason this is the cool entry is that you have caves just below and many DM/Instructors take people there.
The not so cool entry, where i take all my divers, is a walk all the way to the shore, then you drop in the water as the depth is more than 10feet. when you get out of the water in the not so cool place, you swim up to the edge, get your fins of and climb up. While on the cool place, you swim in the cave i mentioned earlier, then you swim up and through a whole in the ground, pulling yourself out of the water. Personaly i have problems with that as i have to turn over on my belly and act as a seal in order to get out of the water... but that is another story.
I believe this accident should have been avoided, is definately could have been avoided. Now who is to blame. Well many people are, first Elena as she should have been more cautious, the instructor as he should have informed the people of special conditions in the are where they were diving(he did inform but not correct information). I understand that you want to hear the other persons story as well and i agree with you that it is important to get both views of the incident. I am waiting to get more info about this and i will let you know.

kind regards Jonny

 

[okidoki]

Maybe a scuba tune-up would have been in place and what about the buddy check.

 

[pacificparadisedivers]

As a certified diver- she is responsible for her own actions. I am sure that he had a waiver signed, and if so will probably be covered.

Although, a good instructor will always grab the LPI and make sure themselves, just like they check to make sure their air is on.... so a stupid mistake on both parts. Just hope she is not hurt for long.

 

[f&rdiver241]

There is only one person who will have to endure the pain and suffering of this accident and that is the diver herself. I really hope she has a speedy and good recovery. Now let’s look at the incident itself. A dive sight with a difficult entry, jagged rocks, 80 foot over head obstruction and having to doff gear to enter is, in my personnel opinion not a dive for a novice or even a somewhat experienced diver. Was the DM at fault? You bet, as a DM all divers in the group are your responsibility weather they signed a waiver or not, you can still be held liable. Unless I misunderstand the legalities involved, a person can not sign over his or her personnel safety or life for that matter. I have friends that own and operate business in which all persons are required to sign a waiver, which in reality is nothing more than a bluff to hopefully keep you from getting sued. Did the diver share any responsibility in the incident, yes she did. First off she did not recognize that she was potentially over her head with this dive and by making a probably common newbie mistake. Should have the DM given a more in depth briefing, definitely. A more in depth briefing could have prevented this accident, not by refreshing basic skills but by making the diver more informed of the conditions involved with the dive. Sounds to me like a somewhat careless DM and just an anxious new diver. Maybe a little complacency on the DM’s part, nobody ever got hurt before. This is an unfortunate accident that hopefully will not discourage a new diver from reentering the water and will hopefully open the eyes of a somewhat careless DM.