Where was the instructor?

[Web Monkey]

I don't think SSI requires it.

We did manual inflation on the surface, but I don't beleive we did it underwater.

In any case, the instructor was always the last one out of the water, whether it was the pool or the lake.

Terry

PADI does, not sure about other agencies.

From open water dive #3:
"7. Achieve and maintain neutral buoyancy underwater by inflating the BCD orally."

As said above, the instructor should be within reach/have contact and ready to share air during this skill (and any skill that requires the reg to be removed from the mouth).

 

[Adobo]

I saw a story+interview on the news about this incident. I posted some info a few days back. Below is the text:

The diver, a teacher who appeared to be in her 40s or 50s, had removed her reg and was trying to reinsert it when she inadvertantly inhaled water. She claims that the reg was some how stuck on her mask. She immediately signaled to her instructor that she wanted to surface.

The rest of the story depends on who is telling it. The diver claims that she doesn't remember much but was told by her instructor and fellow students (after the incident) that everyone surfaced but her. The dive master was asked to go and search for the missing diver who was ultimately found unconscious at between 15-25 ft of water. The diver is implying that she was told that she was left submerged and in distress for a period of anywhere between 5 and 20 minutes.

The version told by the LDS who apparently was providing the instruction (Diver Dan's) is that after inhaling water, the diver panicked and was assisted to the surface by the instructor/dive master. She was then immediately taken ashore for treatment.

Obviously, only the folks there would know the truth about what happenned. However, I am inclined to believe what "likely" happenned vs. what sounds very "unlikely."

 

[liberato]

And to muddy the waters a little more here is the CDNN report (in true PADI bashing format): Diver Dan's student lucky to be alive after near-fatal PADI open water scuba accident.

 

[Heffey]

PADI does, not sure about other agencies.

From open water dive #3:
"7. Achieve and maintain neutral buoyancy underwater by inflating the BCD orally."

As said above, the instructor should be within reach/have contact and ready to share air during this skill (and any skill that requires the reg to be removed from the mouth).

No oral inflation in my PADI OW.

 

[markfm]

You'll have to tear up your OW card, then That's why instructors have the reference slates, to make sure they go through the mandatory skills.

 

[miesemer]

No oral inflation in my PADI OW.

If you've taken a PADI Open Water class recently (years)...
Your instructor failed to make you meet the performance requirement for open water certification. I'm not sure how far back the requirement goes.

 

[AXL72]

That tear up of my OW card just ain't gonna happen. No way no how.

I remember doing a buddy breathing excercise down the length of a 25 m long training pool, generaously exhaling (excercise to avoid air embolism) while my buddy hogged the regulator puffing away on at least 6 breaths, realizing I was eventually out of air at less than 5 ft water depth, giving the out-of-air signal to my buddy who was within inches of my face, and suqing some air from my mask (wow what a vacuum I created...ouch) before getting the reg back.

 

[markfm]

Might have to tear up my card, then We did buddy breathing in Rescue, not OW. I'd heard there had been too many two-fatality situations, so folks now avoid doing that one in an intro class.

 

[mnj1233]

That tear up of my OW card just ain't gonna happen. No way no how.

I remember doing a buddy breathing excercise down the length of a 25 m long training pool, generaously exhaling (excercise to avoid air embolism) while my buddy hogged the regulator puffing away on at least 6 breaths, realizing I was eventually out of air at less than 5 ft water depth, giving the out-of-air signal to my buddy who was within inches of my face, and suqing some air from my mask (wow what a vacuum I created...ouch) before getting the reg back.

Sorry they already De-Certified you based on your post.

 

[Hooked-Again]

If you've taken a PADI Open Water class recently (years)...
Your instructor failed to make you meet the performance requirement for open water certification. I'm not sure how far back the requirement goes.

Re-Certified through PADI in April 05. We were required to perform oral inflation on OW dive. We were also required to disconnect and and reconnect our low pressure line to the BC during the same dive(not simultaneously). These skills were done by each student one by one with the Instructor face to face while the others patiently waited their turn and watched. There was one student in our class who ( as I hear there are in many classes) thought they had the skills down so well that he didn't need to wait for the instructor and proceeded to perform them by himself. The instructor caught him immediately and gave him an underwater tongue lashing that even I felt. My point is that we have a tendacy to automatically blame the instructor or the program before we know the facts.


I took the NAUI certification course in 1969 (or somewhere in that era) and I think my current course and instructor is every bit as professional and dedicated to producing good divers as that course was.