People not fit to dive

[rstofer]

Hi i am glad to read that...I feel so bad that I now need help with my gear due to my car accident...i got so weak from all my broken bones ... i had trouble staying upright in the water...im working out with weights and I swim 1000 yrds 4 days a week ...but I have trouble walking due to several surgeries on my leg and ankle..i will proble have to have help with my gear from now on ...hoefully not ...but im realistic...I feel bad but love to dive..and im still a good swimmer ...ill be swimming alcatraz again this year...so in the water im fine its just walking and especially with the tank on my broken back...i need help...

Just make whatever accommodations are necessary and go diving. Putting on gear in the water is pretty common when diving from an inflatable or small boat. It may be inconvenient when diving from charter boats but so what? You should probably be in the water and getting geared up before the first ordinary divers hit the water. I don't see that you would be holding anybody back.

Most charter boats have deck hands or other crew that can help get you and your equipment back on the boat. Your buddy can certainly help by tossing your gear overboard.

Underwater, the stress is minimal. In fact, taking it slow and easy will result in seeing more things and enjoying the dive all the more.

Go for it!

Richard

 

[NudeDiver]

Didnt know you could live with no lungs......you cant live with no lungs...Nude diver thats so not true

Gee, thanks for clearing that up.

*woooooooooosh!!!*

 

[MMM]

Just to be clear, I'm not, in any way, saying people with infirmities should not dive. A few years ago, I dived with a couple of great divers - one of whom had had polio. She only wore one fin due to lack of strength in the other leg. She had a big, strapping husband who carried her onto the boat and helped lift her off. Clearly, they had this down to a science. Both were terrific divers - she a DM and he an instructor. They clearly had things worked out and we had great dives together. I believe that provided divers not viewed as "normally" fit can make great accommodations with their buddy. It's when those plans aren't immediately evident that I become concerned.

 

[DaleC]

I went diving with a guy that had no lungs once. Dude could swim like a fish!

I'm with susie on this one; I think your telling a fib. If it isn't impossible it's at least highly improbable. I don't think anyone can swim like a fish.

 

[NudeDiver]

I'm with susie on this one; I think your telling a fib. If it isn't impossible it's at least highly improbable. I don't think anyone can swim like a fish.

Dale, I like you - and I'd like to give you the benefit of the doubt......but is it really possible that you failed to see the rather obvious non-seriousness in the statement "I went diving with a guy who had no lungs - he swam like a fish?"

 

[NudeDiver]

Just to be clear, I'm not, in any way, saying people with infirmities should not dive. A few years ago, I dived with a couple of great divers - one of whom had had polio. She only wore one fin due to lack of strength in the other leg. She had a big, strapping husband who carried her onto the boat and helped lift her off. Clearly, they had this down to a science. Both were terrific divers - she a DM and he an instructor.

I would love to know how this person could possibly perform the exercises and scenarios required for the Rescue Diver class (pre-req to DM), to the same standard as everyone else. In particular, those parts where, you know, not only do you have to carry YOURSELF out of the pool, but also the victim, who, by the way, you also have to tow quite some distance across the water.

 

[DaleC]

Dale, I like you - and I'd like to give you the benefit of the doubt......but is it really possible that you failed to see the rather obvious non-seriousness in the statement "I went diving with a guy who had no lungs - he swam like a fish?"

Well, I'll just have to take your word for the non seriousness of it. I just can't believe that anyone, lungs or no lungs could actually swim like a fish - It just seems preposterous

 

[NudeDiver]

I just can't believe that anyone, lungs or no lungs could actually swim like a fish - It just seems preposterous

That's what makes it a funny statement....see no lungs...fish have no lungs...swims like a fish...........ergo, the implication is that the guy I was diving with was a fish.......

So...wow - you really didn't see it. That's a double *wooooooooosh!*

 

[DaleC]

someone didn't see something alright

 

[porsc]

nude diver, i feel your pain.

i got the joke the first time i read it, and thought that the others were being sarcastic in their responses, right back at you. but to find out that they were actually being serious, just makes me question the intelligence level of some. sorry guys, i don't mean to be ugly, but it was an obvious joke. it really surprises me that they just couldn't seem to catch it, even when you wrote

whoooooosssssssshhhhhh

after one of your post's. humor doesn't seem to be their strong point.

as far as the original post, i take divers out just about every day of my current life, and i can tell you that just because a customer has a c-card and a signed waiver, does not mean you have to let them dive. the decision should not be based on age, however, it should be based on the divers ability to dive safely. the ability to dive safely not only affects that diver, but can affect several other divers on the dive as well. that should be the sole determining factor, given that the other criteria apply.

i have had to refuse a couple of divers in the past who demonstrated an inability to dive safely. and that is the responsibility of any instructor or dm, if the divers themselves are not responsible enough to call the dive, regardless of their certification level.