Criminally negligent homicide?/Scuba Instructor Faces Charges (merged threads)

[ScubaSteve]

If it is in fact this incident you are talking about there is another thread (actually two that I know of) that this one can perhaps be joined with. This is the link. And here is another.

 

[Gombessa]

"Moore inhaled pressurized air from his equipment while he descended, officials said."

I know this is a horrible story, and my prayers go out to the family...

Nooo, moore inhaled chlorine water and was able to use his gills to breathe...

I think this goes to show how dangerous pressurized air is. What if you own scuba tanks and keep them at home? If the tank develops a leak, all that pressurized air will start to come out into the real air, and if it happens when you're asleep you may wake up with a huge embolism, right there on your face. I think we need to work towards legislation to ban pressurized air before another tragedy ensues. At this point, it's just a matter of time.

 

[alibi 2]

the instuctor was teaching a private lesson the same time a class she was teaching was in session??...if these facts are true....she is in deep doo doo...

 

[lins]

This discussion has made me curious about changes in PADI training. I got my PADI OW certification in 1991. We did OOA drills in the pool and on our ocean dives, including surfacing without gear in the pool. In the ocean we did the doff/don exercise without surfacing then surfaced with gear but with the regulator out of our mouths. All the surfacing without a reg was done one on one with the instructor right in front of our faces. Is PADI no longer doing this training or is the decision left to the instructor?

 

[Missdirected]

If it is in fact this incident you are talking about there is another thread (actually two that I know of) that this one can perhaps be joined with. This is the link. And here is another.

Just saw this. I will get a mod to merge them. Keep in mind, if you feel something needs merged, just shoot a pm to a mod. Admittedly sometimes you have to try several of them before one responds but eventually someone will do it. I see Ber Rabbit is on, I will ask her to take care of it.

 

[Ber Rabbit]

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A ScubaBoard Staff Message...

Three threads where you were all discussing the same thing have been merged. If one of your posts in this thread no longer makes sense PM me and I can fix it when I get back online Monday. Have a safe weekend!
Ber

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[SPG3K]

I do not think this is a safe drill. I do not understand why it was being done in an open water class. You should never breath compressed air then leave your scuba regulator at the bottom. This goes againt what a reasonably prudent scuba instructor would allow. I am afraid they may have a case.

Jay

It's a standard part of the PADI curriculum. It is done in Confined and Open water for every OW student. And it should be. It's an important skill to learn - as evidenced by the student who died.

I'm not positive - but I would guess other agencies also require this.

A "reasonably prudent" SCUBA instructor, following the guidelines set forth by their agency, would allow and would be forced to conduct this drill to certify a student.

And also remember that the term "Reasonable and Prudent" depends on which instructors or what people you seat on the Grand Jury. I'd wager most have no idea about diving, or, in appearances, like yourself, are unfamiliar with the curriculum, which would lead them to say exactly what you said which is patently false.

Thus - the failure of the American Judicial System, in a small featurette window. Grand Jury sucks. Most of the time the people are stupid. I've been there so much now it's a science. And there is always one person who thinks they should be a judge that will ask you 9,654 questions that have no bearing on the case whatsoever.

 

[nereas]

...

This indictment in this case, absent some inaction or neglect that I am not aware of, should cause some level of increased angst in every scuba instructor and store owner. ...Phil Ellis

For the fast-track PADI instructors, maybe.

But if you slow down and teach your instructors correctly, then something like this should never happen.

Even for a PADI instructor, I cannot imagine any normal instructor letting an episode like this happen.

I know it is fairly common (once a year somewhere in the world) for the cold ocean. But in a pool???

 

[PhilEllis]

For the fast-track PADI instructors, maybe.

But if you slow down and teach your instructors correctly, then something like this should never happen.

Even for a PADI instructor, I cannot imagine any normal instructor letting an episode like this happen.

I know it is fairly common (once a year somewhere in the world) for the cold ocean. But in a pool???

same old same old.

Phil Ellis

 

[chilie]

I agree that some instructors in general don't turn out the best students, but pease do not lump me in with the crowd. That said, many instructors don't turn out good students and you can't simply generalize it to all PADI instructors.

I pride myself in the quality of students I turn out even in an open water class. This is very visible when we go someplace like Weeki Wachee springs and I observe my student's skills compared with other open water students. When I did my IDC/IE, I observed many instructors that should not have been there, but got rubber stamped anyway. At that point, I made a promise to myself about the quality of students I cerfity.

Perhaps you have needed this skill, but was it immediately after your open water class, or did you take advanced training? Most likely, you were in an advanced situation (wreck, cave, etc) that an open water students shouldn't be in.

I don't discount the importance of such skills in more advanced classes...just the use of them in the basic open water class. If it was such an important skill, why doesnt the RSTC require it as a minimum training standard for open water classes? I simply think it's too much for a basic student. Let's say we agree to disagree on this one...both of us take the views of our certifying agencies in this regard.

Tthere are no PADI police at the entrances to caves or wrecks checking C-cards. An OW student can still manage to get themselves in entanglement issues or other maladies that would require a doff and don. I find it irresponsible and reckless that you as an instructor advocate not teahing this skill. I learned and demonstrated this skill to proficency in my OW classes. Then again it was 2004 and I got my cert through SSI. I consider it a basic skill, much like manuverability is for driving.