On Sun, 18 Mar 2001 20:02:32 -0100, Kuty <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

< snip >

>I know that I am very interested to hear accident reports,
>because I feel that I can always learn from them,

Very true.  But unfortunately for most divers, especially those who
repeat the SAME MISTAKES others have made, over and over and over
again in the annals of SCUBA ACCIDENT "case studies", and accidents
resulted from the same (or very similar) causes -- the very SAME
causes reared their ugly heads twice more.

The only TRUISM in the HISTORY of mankind is that few MEN ever learn
from History.  :-)   I am pretty sure I am just paraphrasing what
was said by some famous historian, possibly Arnold Toynbee.


>  -- Report #1  --
>
>An IANTD technical instructor and another technical diver did a technical
>dive (tri-mix) in Eilat (Red Sea).  While doing a decompression stop at 30
>feet, the diver, who was probably not very familiar with the dry suit
>(according to the report) he was wearing, bolted to the surface.

Bolting to the surface is undoubtedly the NUMBER 1 CAUSE of scuba
accidents/fatalities.  Some common elements:

1.  Unqualified/incompetent divers who should not have been
    certified in the first place, but was.

2.  Those who bolt to the surface almost invariably bolt from
    SHALLOW depths -- having gotten the FALSE SENSE of SECURITY
    that it's the DEEP dives that are dangerous, not realizing
    that MOST of the accidents/fatalities occur at SHALLOW.

3.  Lack of self-reliance/self-responsiblity on the part of the
    DIVER.  I've read TONS of accident case-studies.  In almost
    all cases, there is a diver who RELIES on some other diver
    -- be it an instructor or a more experienced one -- for his
    own safety.   In many cases, it resulted in MULTIPLE DEATHS
    because of this dependency.


>Divers
>who were swimming in for a dive, saw him, and toed him to the beach (he was
>somewhat dizzy) where it turned out that he missed about 40 minutes of
>decompression.  The diver, who could not walk, was carried into an
>ambulance (which arrived very fast).  He was taken to the decompression
>chamber where he got about 7 hours of treatment according to Helium tables.
> The instructor, who completed his decompression (!) was suspended.  The
>inquiry is not completed yet.

Why was the instructor suspended?   The diver was ALREADY certified,
wasn't he?  Was the instructor supposed to miss his decompression
also and POSSIBLY have a DOUBLE ACCIDENT instead of just one?   I am
curious as to WHY the instructor was suspended.  Was there some untold
circumstances that warranted that?


>      --  Report # 2  --
>
>A diver (let's call him Joe) who had a 3 days, open water course, in
>Thailand, and did not dive for more than a year since then,

>During the refresh dive, which was
>conducted in shallow water, Joe could not perform mask clearing.  Every
>time he tried to take off the mask, he bolted to the surface.

>After a long
>session, he hardly managed to clear the mask, when it was partially full.
>The instructor, signed his logbook for the refresher (although he shouldn't
>have).

That raises an interesting point!   If Joe was an UNCERTIFIED diver
taking OW instruction from said instructor, then clearly it would be
a case of negligence on the part of the INSTRUCTOR, and in my opinion,
a case of criminal negligence when accidents such as this occurred
after certification which should never have been.

But Joe was ALREADY CERTIFIED.   The refresher course was taken
at his own initiative (apparently the ONLY sensible thing Joe did
in your story).   Now the instructor is only giving a REFRESHER
course -- and he DID, noting that Joe was "lacking in his diving
skills".   Can an instructor REVOKE a C-card issued by another
agency, another instructor simply because the certified diver
is no longer competent, in his opinion?

>
>Joe and his friend decided to take a guided dive with the same club to a
>local ship wreck (22 meters deep).  This is not a very challenging dive
>because it is not a "real" wreck.

And is not "deep".  There are merely FALSE sense of "not challenging"
and FALSE sense of "security".  They are already far beyond Joe's
own limits.

Joe is clearly NOT QUALIFIED or COMPETENT to do ANY dive, judging
from his inability to clear mask without bolting to the surface.

One would never know NOW.  But I suspect if divers are DRILLED into
taking seriously that ONCE certified, HE and ONLY HE is responsible
for his own safety in diving, and must NOT RELY on anyone else, then
perhaps Joe might be living today, enjoying snorkle and a few
other water sports, rather than venture into scuba for which he
was completely un-equipped to do so.


>It is a boat that was sunken there as an artificial reef and

Rather academic and irrelevant IMO, given Joe's DISqualifications.


>The instructor who was supposed
>to lead the dive, was warned by his colleague who conducted the refresh
>dive earlier, that Joe's diving skills were lacking.

Unless the instructor who conducted the refresher course for Joe CAN
legitimately/legally BAR Joe (a certified diver) from diving, then
it seems to me that he did the best he could -- to WARN others of
this CERTIFIED diver, which is a walking accident waiting to happen.

> one of the divers noticed that Joe took
>out his regulator, tried to find it, couldn't find it, and bolted to the
>surface.

So, Joe was practicing what he always did -- a human missile at the
slightest provocation.

>The two swam fast to the instructor and signaled him that Joe
>went up.  The instructor signaled them to wait for him down there and made
>a rapid ascent.  He looked around but couldn't see anyone on the surface,
>so he went down again, and signaled the other two to ascend with him.

The instructor make several injudicious moves here.  In particular,
depending HOW RAPID his accent was, it could have been a DOUBLE
FATALITY, as in many other accidents of this sort.


>All I can tell you is that I feel sorry for the deceased.  I also
>feel sorry for the instructor.  I think that he will have to carry the
>blame for the rest of his life.   A tragic story.

It was a tragic story alright, but deja vu in its common elements.
The same items (1)-(3) apply to both accidents.  One resulted in
severe injury.  One in fatality.

At the risk of sounding callous, I disagree with you on your
assessment/assignment of sympathy/guilt.

I have the deepest sympathy for the FAMILY of the diseased, but not
much for Joe himself.  It was a classic case of an accident waiting
to happen, and it simply did.   If it didn't happen then, it surely
would have happened on a later dive.

I think you placed much of the blame Joe should bear himself on the
instructor who just happened to be the dive guide.   Dive guides and
DMs are ACCUSTOMED to diving with incompetent divers many of who
should not have been certified in the first place.  I have seen
HUNDREDS of divers like that in my dives in Cozumel alone.  Perhaps
the instructor/dive-guide wasn't told HOW incompetent Joe was
("that Joe's diving skills were lacking").  I have personally
acted MANY TIMES to pull divers by the foot when I saw one starting
to bolt to the surface, and MIGHT have saved their lives.

No DM or guide can be held responsible for a COMPLETELY INCOMPETENT
(but nevertheless certified) diver.  The dive-guide-instructor did
not do many things as well as he should have, in hindsight, but
I don't see anything blatently guilty on the part of the instructor
that "he will have to carry the blame the rest of his life".

This is just ANOTHER two stories that re-enforces the belief held
by many (other than myself) -- that a CERTIFIED DIVER is a person
who is RESPONSIBLE to his own action, and should be self-reliant
and not count on anyone else to save his hide when there is
nothing extraordinary whatsoever that could/should have caused
his own action.

I am thankful that there was no DOUBLE FATALITY because of Joe's
undertaking.  What *I* have learned from these TWO reports are the
very SAME I've learned YEARS ago from those case studies that made
the rounds in rec.scuba years ago.  It's nothing but HISTORY
repeating itself.

-- Bob.