drysuit inexperience

[dave4868]

(snipped your excellent description of the uncontrolled ascents of two drysuit divers in an AOW class)

this day got me thinking,we were only about 7m down,so ok it relatively shallow,but even still can cause serious problems,but as i watched the students underwater and there reactions to the situations i wasnt all confident with thier abilities,i understand that technique and confidence come with practice and time,it took me a while to get used things aswell,but do student divers ever get let loose in the openwater before they are ready even though they have completed a course to requirements(passed final exams and completed all skils etc)? and in the drysuit introductions is enough done to stress the actual dangers a drysuit(or any other kit) can cause when not understood fully(people dont always ask questions so is enough done to tell them and encourage questions to be asked)?

This is a great question because it may get more people to realize that, for many students, scuba training doesn't create proficiency until augmented by experience.

The "badge" marketing of the industry is misleading in this regard, but that's another rant. Thankfully, most courses stress the need for more experience after the training and the need to dive within one's ability and training.

In fairness, the students who couldn't rectify their uncontrolled ascents may been overwhelmed by trying to handle multiple issues at the same time.

One issue might be that the shallower depth makes it more difficult to adjust for the more rapid buoyancy changes. Maybe they didn't have much experience with buoyancy problems in shallow water.

Possibly they were overweighted. That can happen pretty easily to a newbie. That really can make things worse because the weight requires a greater amount of air in the suit (and/or bcd, if they use both). That larger amount of air can be a major challenge by itself.

A loose-fitting drysuit might have allowed rapid air-shifting to occur.

Add the pressure of a class dive and they might forget their training.

At least they didn't hold their breath! :11:

I'm curious, did you notice if they solved their problems on subsequent dives? Did they mention later what they thought happened? Did you ask them about the incidents and offer some advice?

If you talked with them, did they seem to be lacking in adequate knowledge or training?

i ask these questions because had it happened on a buddy dive after qualifying,from a depth of 30m or less (18m OW) there would only be a buddy to help and as newly qualified divers would they be able to help each other out,or themselves? the situation could easily prove to be fatal.would this then be down to a failure on the instructors part,even though he/she had taught the divers following all standards and practices by the book,and the students had performed to standards asked?

You're absolutely right that some divers might successfully complete a training and still be at high risk of accident.

However, it's made quite clear when someone passes a course that they themselves are responsible to dive within their abilities, not just within their training.

That's the way it should be.

Thankfully, accidents are rare because divers take responsibility for themselves and continually learn from their experience and from divers like yourself.

Dave C