Is the surface the most dangerous part of the dive?

[johndiver999]

You could say the same thing for almost every other part of a dive. If you do everything competently and responsibly 100% percent of the time, none of it is dangerous.

Very few if any incidents do not have at least one instance of someone either not being responsible or not being competent at some point in the sequence of events.

WOW, you must dive in very benign locations. I can think of many accidents or situations underwater that are not caused by error but rather bad luck.

 

[L13]

WOW, you must dive in very benign locations. I can think of many accidents or situations underwater that are not caused by error but rather bad luck.

Ok, maybe a little exaggeration. but if it truly has a significant risk in spite of responsible and competent planning, preparation, and execution, can you really say it is responsible or competent to even do the dive?

The whole idea of technical/advanced diving is to make otherwise unsafe dives safe by proper equipment, procedures, technique, and execution.

 

[johndiver999]

Try spearfishing....It's a little like a box of chocolates. Your ability to control situations is limited sometimes, I suppose that might be what makes it attractive.

 

[TMHeimer]

If people think the surface is dangerous, they must be doing very little diving. In the BSAC report mentioned there was a single incident of injury to a lady hit by a propeller, the vast majority of the surface incidents are mechanical failures reported by the coast guard or the RNLI. Compare this to 16 diving fatalities 3 of which were heart attacks the others diving related. 60 cases of DCI. 16 rapid ascents. 9 technique incidents and 21 equipment incidents. As for people unintentionally sinking off the surface either after a dive or before it, is absolutely ludicrous and they have no business in the water. They are a liability to themselves and others.

Yes. Exactly what I was saying.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

You really seem to be missing the boat with your comments. The surface IS dangerous, especailly for those people who are endangered at the surface. The ones who can't swim well, have no snorkel or are uncomfortable using one, can't orally inflate, people who will be driven to panic if waves start slapping them in the face nd going in their mouth, the ones who are more comfortable with the mask on the forehead and who are over weighted.

Just because you don't dive with people like that does not mean that they are not out there or are particularly rare.

I can't tell you how many AOW students I have had to rescue, who have stepped off a boat with air in their BC and totally panicked on the surface when their lips got wet. They spit the reg, start yelling and flailing and often pop the mask. You would be surprised how many times I have had to yell "put your regulator in your mouth" as I swim over to grab them and haul them 15 feet to the platform.

these types of "rescues" are far, far more common than having to really help someone underwater, in my experience anyway.

All these people you describe, how did they even get certified?
And why are they out on a boat diving in less than perfect conditions?
Sounds to me like they need more water/ocean acclimation training.

 

[johndiver999]

All these people you describe, how did they even get certified?
And why are they out on a boat diving in less than perfect conditions?
Sounds to me like they need more water/ocean acclimation training.

Not sure how to answer all of that, but I saw a higher incidence of problems In AOW rather than OW students. I guess the AOW students (certified divers) were rusty and were taking the course to brush up on things, but the reality was that too many were just not comfortable in the water and on the surface. The OW students, I assume, had had more recent practice, so even though they were not yet certified, they seemed to have less freak-out incidents, in my observation anyway.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

Not sure how to answer all of that, but I saw a higher incidence of problems In AOW rather than OW students. I guess the AOW students (certified divers) were rusty and were taking the course to brush up on things, but the reality was that too many were just not comfortable in the water and on the surface. The OW students, I assume, had had more recent practice, so even though they were not yet certified, they seemed to have less freak-out incidents, in my observation anyway.

Hmm, interesting

 

[Al Stevens]

I tend to think you also might stand a better chance of being rescued if you are on the surface.

The only serious surface incident I ever read about which really scared me was with Kirsty Maccoll. Absolutely insane stuff. Kirsty MacColl - Wikipedia


So many things there that would have saved that life and completely preventable.

There are dozens of things going on in scuba prep, many of them repeated, so that can't happen. As far as I know, even a complete failure of an O-ring in the hub will result in leaking air, not no air at all.

Divers who enter the water give the hand-on-head signal that all is okay. If it doesn't happen, then attention is immediately given to that diver, with hopefully the DM directing the rescue response if serious.

So it is mindboggling how such a death could happen that way without a complete failure of prep and response. I would be thinking did someone murder her when no one was looking by deflating her BCD and closing the air? Did she do it herself trying to commit suicide?

I would assume the police and the relevant scuba forensic people would have turned up all sorts of issues on that dive.

I live in a third world country. Your on your own. I don't remember where it happened. A guy I dove with told me horror stories of the group he was diving with in Brazil. I'm glad you guys dive doing checks.

 

[IrishLoaf]

I live in a third world country. Your on your own. I don't remember where it happened. A guy I dove with told me horror stories of the group he was diving with in Brazil. I'm glad you guys dive doing checks.

In developed nations, there is an official body like a coastguard that will investigate and document scuba incidents. They work with insurance agencies going through everything with a fine tooth and comb. They will be making sure everyone is properly certified, etc. That health and safety standards were up to par. They break everything down into components to find out what went wrong. Just like an airline accident. If something goes wrong on your watch and after it is discovered you didn't do due diligence, then things can get very bad for you and you really don't want to go through all that, including the stress.

 

[Joneill]

In developed nations, there is an official body like a coastguard that will investigate and document scuba incidents. They work with insurance agencies going through everything with a fine tooth and comb. They will be making sure everyone is properly certified, etc. That health and safety standards were up to par. They break everything down into components to find out what went wrong. Just like an airline accident. If something goes wrong on your watch and after it is discovered you didn't do due diligence, then things can get very bad for you and you really don't want to go through all that, including the stress.

I think the issue is that the results are not always shared publicly so that we can learn from them.