Widow sues medical doctor and training company

[Dizzi Lizzi]

I'd be curious what you as an instructor, or other instructors on this thread, would do if you had a student who aborted the 4th dive of OW due to an asthma attack underwater. Would you let them dive again or tell them they need to see the doctor again and can come back on the next trip to complete certification? .

Heck, I'm certainly not an instructor, but if I witnessed that during my ow classes/dives that I would tell the instructor that the person should not dive again until they were cleared again. Even I knew that. Unfortunately if the instructor said it would be ok with a day of rest, I probably would believe him--Trust in meeee, just in meee says Kaa.

If I saw that now, for example in another class or a group dive, I would probably not feel comfortable diving with that person, and would encourage them to sit it out. If they didn't, I would. I don't want to see anyone die diving, and I would be more of a help topside just in case.

waiting to see what instructors say....

 

[Dizzi Lizzi]

Smart.

 

[Subcooled]

I disagree. There are different types of asthma. There are many divers who report asthma and are safely diving when asymptomatic. To make a blanket statement that any OW certified diver knows that asthma and diving don't go together is an uninformed opinion and not in agreement with the Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society. I am sure there are certain forms of asthma that exclude diving as an activity, but not all. The shop is not in a position to make that determination.

I know a very experienced and informed diver, who has asthma (a type of asthma that only causes trouble under heavy physical stress). He says that diving, high O2 actually, relieves HIS symptoms. That combined with intelligent choice of diving environments makes diving perfectly safe in his opinion (and in my opinion). Please note, that the diver discussed here had a more serious illness.

There may be medical conditions that cause diving to shorten the expected lifespan ("may", as I do not cite anything here). People older than 80 are probably excepted, and over 100, certainly. It is all about probabilities and risks and benefits and a provably informed choice and having a reason to live. The ultimate question is: maximize amount or quality of life. The relevant question in this case really is the informed choice aspect.

Having read this: http://www.statesmanjournal.com/sto...ton-woman-files-wrongful-death-suit/86148286/

a) I cannot blame the dive instructor
b) The medical examination could have been more thorough. If someone is to blame, it's not the instructor.
c) Nine million? He had maybe 240 months left to work + pension, 240 months. Should it not be closer to four, not nine millions?