Parents sue Boy Scouts for 2011 negligence death

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...Leaving those children alone below just seems inexcusable. :shakehead:


With only knowing what has been presented and not the full story...I think DandyDon's comment is spot on.

This loss is such a tragety...for the family, BSA and the instructor.
 
So, now that we know that the scoutmaster panicked and bolted, and the 2 scouts were calm on the bottom when the instructor left to deal with his panicked diver, do any if the internet court participants have any further observations? Does anyone see a greater problem here? Maybe one involving how to supervise DSD and OW students?
 
I'm new to diving but it seems odd to me that these kids were taken into 15' of water in a lake. I was at BSA's Jamboree last year and my son told me the Discover Scuba there, 100% under the control of BSA, was in 4' of swimming pool water.

From the other thread. The BSA is alleging the dive instructor did not have liability insurance per BSA's contract with him/them.
 
So, now that we know that the scoutmaster panicked and bolted, and the 2 scouts were calm on the bottom when the instructor left to deal with his panicked diver, do any if the internet court participants have any further observations? Does anyone see a greater problem here? Maybe one involving how to supervise DSD and OW students?

This shows exactly why 1 instructor and 3 DSD participants is too much to handle, at least with kids involved. I believe that when there are more than 1 DSD participants we need more than 1 instructor/DM. If there is an emergency the instructor will be over whelmed trying to deal with the issue and make certain all participants reach the surface safely. Have been following this case in another thread and it appears PADI has no inclination to change the standard for instructor/participant ratio. Until they do, or instructors do on their own, I am afraid we will read this type of report from time to time.
RichH
 
..... do any if the internet court participants have any further observations?....

Below is just "In My Humble Opinion = IMHO"

I'm guessing that PADI's settlement agreement has clauses for information that is released by ANY method and possibly recovery for funds or zero payment of funds to the family now. I read the entire 60+ page transcript and IMHO terms of that settlement are definitely public knowledge now. IMHO PADI could walk clean from that settlement agreement. Again, this is just my humble opinion.
 
Below is just "In My Humble Opinion = IMHO"

I'm guessing that PADI's settlement agreement has clauses for information that is released by ANY method and possibly recovery for funds or zero payment of funds to the family now. I read the entire 60+ page transcript and IMHO terms of that settlement are definitely public knowledge now. IMHO PADI could walk clean from that settlement agreement. Again, this is just my humble opinion.

Would they want to if the settlement agreement gives them separation? If they cannot be found further liable, $800k might be a cheap price to pay for having standards that cannot be met. I'm not a lawyer, not did I stay at the Holiday Inn Express last night, I just don't know.
 
What is the typical viz in Bear Lake?
 
What is the typical viz in Bear Lake?

On a really good day maybe 10-15 feet.

There was a discussion on this topic a year or two ago in the Instructor to Instructor forum on ScubaBoard. PADI has a video about low visibility instruction, and a link to that was included in the discussion. In addition, I conferred with PADI about the topic and reported on those conversations. The topic was important to me because that is the kind of visibility I usually instruct in. I am talking about OW instruction, not DSD.

In that kind of visibility, you are not allowed to leave OW students unattended at any time. Someone has to be close enough to provide help immediately in case of a problem. Here are some examples of how that impacts OW instruction. You can use your judgment to determine how it would impact a DSD.

One of the skills required for the OW class is to share air and ascend to the surface. If you have more than two students, you have to plan for the ones you are not with when you ascend with that pair. You must either have an assistant with the others at all times, or the rest must be on shore.

When you do the CESA, you must ascend with the individual student. If you have more than one student, then you must either have assistants near them (up or down), have the rest on shore, or have the student(s) not doing the CESA at that time ascend and descend next to you with the student dong the CESA.

If you are the only instructor with several students at depth, and one of them ascends, you must bring the others with you.​
 
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