Suit filed in case of "Girl dead, boy injured at Glacier National Park

[Seaweed Doc]

I'm only a DM and not an instructor, although one day I may pursue an IDC. But my opinion is that IDCs should be done in conditions/locations where the person is going to be working or hopes to be working. I don't know where Snow lived and dived before her IDC, but it seems to me that learning how to teach students in warm water is very different from teaching students in cold water when both the instructor and the students are wearing two-piece 7mm suits (or drysuits), hoods, and gloves and visibility and mobility is limited. But this is my opinion, so I'm curious to hear what the instructors out there have to say.

As somebody who didn't do this, let me offer the reasons (good or bad).

Where I live, nobody is making a living as an instructor. For US tax purposes, I lost around $500 teaching SCUBA last year. All to say we have day jobs and teach more as a hobby than income source.
At the time I did the IDC, there really wasn't more than one option a year to do it in my neck of the woods. And my day job has inflexible scheduling for about 40 weeks per year. (I can't take vacation time, and I better not get sick...)

That meant I'd have to travel. The only cold (-ish) water sites that had regular IDCs were in California, and even there they don't have the lousy viz we sometimes get saddled with. Moreover, if I did one there I'd pay more for housing myself than the cost of the IDC.

So to the tropics I went, because housing there came with the course, the CD was highly recommended (and amazing) and the course included emergency oxygen provider and nitrox instructor training, which I really needed.

That said, nearly all the instructors in my neck of the woods DM'd for a substantial time before the IDC. No zeroes to heroes to speak of. We'd see how things really are in cold, murky water. We'd thought about how to have students arranged during a tour. (Tip: Single file may work in the tropics, but it's V-formations around here.)

 

[Outbound]

As somebody who didn't do this, let me offer the reasons (good or bad).

Where I live, nobody is making a living as an instructor. For US tax purposes, I lost around $500 teaching SCUBA last year. All to say we have day jobs and teach more as a hobby than income source.
At the time I did the IDC, there really wasn't more than one option a year to do it in my neck of the woods. And my day job has inflexible scheduling for about 40 weeks per year. (I can't take vacation time, and I better not get sick...)

That meant I'd have to travel. The only cold (-ish) water sites that had regular IDCs were in California, and even there they don't have the lousy viz we sometimes get saddled with. Moreover, if I did one there I'd pay more for housing myself than the cost of the IDC.

So to the tropics I went, because housing there came with the course, the CD was highly recommended (and amazing) and the course included emergency oxygen provider and nitrox instructor training, which I really needed.

That said, nearly all the instructors in my neck of the woods DM'd for a substantial time before the IDC. No zeroes to heroes to speak of. We'd see how things really are in cold, murky water. We'd thought about how to have students arranged during a tour. (Tip: Single file may work in the tropics, but it's V-formations around here.)

Good points. It's the same where I live. I think the key is what you mentioned at the end - nearly all of your local instructors DM'd locally for a substantial amount of time before becoming instructors. I think the zero-to-hero thing is bad generally, but the issues with it get compounded substantially when you have someone go from warm-water zero to cold water/low-viz "hero."

 

[Manatee Diver]

I'm not the biggest fan of DT, but they have the exclusive. An interview with Bob Gentry, his wife Shannon, Lisa Mills, and David.


YT Link

They largely let the guests talk, so it is watchable.

 

[Manatee Diver]

Part 2 is out, haven't had a chance to watch it yet.

YT Link

 

[flymolo]

I'm not the biggest fan of DT, but they have the exclusive. An interview with Bob Gentry, his wife Shannon, Lisa Mills, and David.


YT Link

They largely let the guests talk, so it is watchable.

I couldn't help but notice how many advertisement breaks there were while watching this, and it made me wonder how much money the dive talk crew makes off these videos. It would seem to me that if they really cared about getting the truth out they could have chosen not to monetize the video.

 

[Manatee Diver]

I couldn't help but notice how many advertisement breaks there were while watching this, and it made me wonder how much money the dive talk crew makes off these videos. It would seem to me that if they really cared about getting the truth out they could have chosen not to monetize the video.

uBlock Origin removes all YT ads.

 

[flymolo]

uBlock Origin removes all YT ads.

yeah i could, but that wasn't really my point

 

[kammel78]

Part 2 is out, haven't had a chance to watch it yet.

YT Link

Granted, I'm nitpiking but I wish it wasn't referred to a "Drysuit Death" as if the drysuit killed her and not her supposed instructor. "Training Death", "Tragedy", etc. Yep, I know I'm critiquing YT titles but I'd hate the main takeaway from casual divers to be "drysuits can be dangerous" instead of "sh**ty instructors/dive shops can be dangerous".

 

[landphil]

Granted, I'm nitpiking but I wish it wasn't referred to a "Drysuit Death" as if the drysuit killed her and not her supposed instructor. "Training Death", "Tragedy", etc. Yep, I know I'm critiquing YT titles but I'd hate the main takeaway from casual divers to be "drysuits can be dangerous" instead of "sh**ty instructors/dive shops can be dangerous".

That was my wife's reaction after reading a headline about this incident (she'd push floating ice out of the way to dive her wetsuit and heated vest.) I told her to read the entire article, which pretty quickly got her from "drysuits are dangerous" to "oh my god- they killed that girl"

 

[grf88]

"oh my god- they killed that girl"

About the only conclusion that you can come to.