Teen drowns at North Texas scuba park

[ScubaTexan]

Not only that but I'm familiar with that incident too. That had nothing to with drowning or diving. The instructor had a medical issue on the surface after doing some drills with students. I have no love for the media either, especially when it comes to SCUBA, they never get it right.

I know exactly which incident you are referring to. I had been certified for nearly a year when I was laid off and never ONCE was I ever asked about diving in reference to a story like this. And I didn't keep it a secret that I was a scuba diver.

 

[TxHockeyGuy]

I was certified at this exact location a few years ago. I can tell you the water was very murky the day I did my cert probably 2-4 feet of viz. My instructor who was a moron had us swim through an underwater metal shark. Going through the shark with (no light) was the scariest thing I have ever done. After getting my OW card I decided to switch scuba stores due to that incident. I told this story and everyone said they knew that guy and he was a danger to himself and other students.

Anyways, the whole park is very laid back and safety seemed to take a back seat. If you are with a dumb instructor then it could mean you lose your life. My thoughts and prayers go out to the family.

Taking any students into any sort of an overhead environment, whether it qualifies as a swim through or not, is not what I would consider a great idea. That being said I have a problem with you insinuating that the entire park seems to not be interested in safety. I've met both of the owners and know that they are very concerned about the safety of the divers at the park and this accident has them very upset. I also dive at this park quite frequently and can say that safety does not take a back seat. The owners have setup a very safe park, the rest of your safety is up to you and your dive buddies. That being said accidents will still occur and they are just that, accidents. We do what we can to avoid them but you shouldn't be blaming "the park", there's nothing wrong with that park.

 

[robbcayman]

Taking any students into any sort of an overhead environment, whether it qualifies as a swim through or not, is not what I would consider a great idea. That being said I have a problem with with you insinuating that the entire park seems to not be interested in safety. I've met both of the owners and know that they are very concerned about the safety of the divers at the park and this accident has them very upset. I also dive at this park quite frequently and can say that safety does not take a back seat. The owners have setup a very safe park, the rest of your safety is up to you and your dive buddies. That being said accidents will still occur and they are just that, accidents. We do what we can to avoid them but you shouldn't be blaming "the park", there's nothing wrong with that park.

I don't mean to slam the park, but with people crying for help and others thinking it is a safety drill doesn't exactly inspire my confidence in the parks safety regulations. I feel there should be some sort of special drills done for rescue i.e. this is a rescue drill cry etc.., so when people are in real danger it is known.

Maybe I am a bit put off by the park because I had a bad experience with a poor instructor. I know the park could not have done anything about his reckless behavior since they were unaware of it. However, when I was there another instructor was literally cursing at another student (over and over I might add) in a navigation drill and the park workers weren't telling him to tone it down. There were children around and the student looked scared out of her mind. IMHO, parks have to be proactive and try to prevent accidents, not set up some guidelines and hope things don't go wrong. I know this is a rare case, but we can all agree one death is too many.

 

[TxHockeyGuy]

I don't mean to slam the park, but with people crying for help and others thinking it is a safety drill doesn't exactly inspire my confidence in the parks safety regulations. I feel there should be some sort of special drills done for rescue i.e. this is a rescue drill cry etc.., so when people are in real danger it is known.

Maybe I am a bit put off by the park because I had a bad experience with a poor instructor. I know the park could not have done anything about his reckless behavior since they were unaware of it. However, when I was there another instructor was literally cursing at another student (over and over I might add) in a navigation drill and the park workers weren't telling him to tone it down. There were children around and the student looked scared out of her mind. IMHO, parks have to be proactive and try to prevent accidents, not set up some guidelines and hope things don't go wrong. I know this is a rare case, but we can all agree one death is too many.

Rescue classes there usually use the words pizza and call for dominoes instead of help and call 911. I've never heard anyone yell for help there before and I've seen several rescue classes in the water. Also those rescue classes are usually held on the extreme north end of the park which is around a small bend and somewhat secluded.

Regarding people not responding it is now my understanding those closest to the scene did not ignore the cries for help or think it was a safety drill and responded immediately. You must realize I was quite far away and only myself and those around me thought this was not a real emergency which has nothing to do with the park or it's park staff. We also knew there were people very close who would be responding if it were an actual emergency. I stated what I did regarding the calls for help and believing that was a rescue class so that people could learn from my mistake that you should always treat a call for help as real. That being said even if I knew this was a real emergency from the beginning neither myself nor anyone near me would have or should have responded to the situation. There were already plenty of people including plenty of instructors in the general vicinity of the accident.

As for the instructor cursing at the student that should have been brought to the attention of either Robert or Debbie (the owners), they would have taken immediate action. If I was in the area, I would have stepped up and said something.

I don't have a problem with parks being proactive but there still is the matter of personal responsibility. We all know we are ultimately responsible for our own safety. You can have all the safety regulations in the world but when you do so you start removing personal responsibility and then you start laying blame on someone else for not enforcing that regulation which is wrong.

 

[DandyDon]

And, if possible, during an actual emergency adding "this is not a drill" might be a good idea.

Too much to hope for in panic - good idea if you think of it.

That being said if I hear calls for help in the future, I'm more than likely calling 911 immediately rather than trying to figure out if it is a rescue class or not. If they were calling for help inappropriately they can explain to EMS and the authorities why they were doing so.

Yep, if anyone cries help - whether I know them or not - it's time to go to high alert. Decide later if there is an idiot and a mistake, and if so - that would be the person crying wolf. But consider it real until proven otherwise.

I do understand that the father's calls were not ignored - that this possibility was suggested early here in error.

 

[Scubatooth]

i got the heads up on this today while in a shop, and this is sad to say the least. It also leaves me wondering why there was a instructor having a class use the H word in a rescue class as to me thats a major contributing factor to this death, that will be investigated in the coming days.

I know that i have drilled this in to the lifeguards in the boyscouts as one day that one student said the H word as a joke and had about 10 staff members running to react to the call which ended up in having a staff member roll a ankle with incomplete tears of ligaments and muscles. saying the H word isnt a joke as when its used loosly causes events like this as no one believes it when the event is real.

Also in this case probably delayed EMS being called which meant precious minutes where lost that even a couple of minutes are the meaning the difference between life and death.

for the record to clear up some details if some one drowns it means that they died within a 24 hour period after a submersion injury. if a person survives beyond 24 hours from a submersion injury and then dies its called a near-drowning, as beyond that there are some complicating factors to the event that caused the person to die. I wish the media would use the correct terms as it confuses people who dont know the difference.

FWIW

 

[ReefHound]

i got the heads up on this today while in a shop, and this is sad to say the least. It also leaves me wondering why there was a instructor having a class use the H word in a rescue class as to me thats a major contributing factor to this death, that will be investigated in the coming days.

I haven't seen any conclusive evidence that the rescue class was using the H word. Several people mistook the H calls for class exercises but they turned out to be real.

 

[Firefyter]

i got the heads up on this today while in a shop, and this is sad to say the least. It also leaves me wondering why there was a instructor having a class use the H word in a rescue class as to me thats a major contributing factor to this death, that will be investigated in the coming days.

I guess we know who hasn't read the entire thread before posting.........

 

[Scubatooth]

I did read the entire thread before posting. Thats why i was questioning the instructors actions as i have seen what happens when the real H word gets abused/mis used to the point that when something does happen others dont react to the situation quickly and it makes the situation much worse.

 

[DeltaWardog]

Scubatooth - the H word was not being used by a rescue class, and nobody near the incident thought it was fake. The OP thought it might have been a drill, as he has explained, but he was a long way from the actual incident.