Student lost - Seattle, Washington

[OrcasC205]

Apparently the pattern of student deaths with the shop in question has not gone unnoticed. I am not affiliated with the site below, but as a former student of Seattle Scuba am concerned with their safety record.

Home | Seattle Scuba Info

An alarming number of accidents and deaths have been associated with Seattle Scuba School, founded by Craig Gillespie. Whether you are diving with Seattle Scuba School or a different school, please stay safe!

www.seattlescubainfo.com

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

Apparently the pattern of student deaths with the shop in question has not gone unnoticed. I am not affiliated with the site below, but as a former student of Seattle Scuba am concerned with their safety record.

Home | Seattle Scuba Info

An alarming number of accidents and deaths have been associated with Seattle Scuba School, founded by Craig Gillespie. Whether you are diving with Seattle Scuba School or a different school, please stay safe!

www.seattlescubainfo.com

I take exception at this attack at my dear friend Craig. Here I am supporting his program in the Moss Bay Diver / PNW Scuba group on Facebook.

When you have friends like me......

 

[OrcasC205]

I take exception at this attack at my dear friend Craig. Here I am supporting his program in the Moss Bay Diver / PNW Scuba group on Facebook.
View attachment 709951
When you have friends like me......

Tareq Saade. That's right, I thought there was a fourth death that the site was missing. 2011 wasn't it?

Edited to add: 2012 actually.

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

Tareq Saade. That's right, I thought there was a fourth death that the site was missing. 2011 wasn't it?

Edited to add: 2012 actually.

I believe he was in an AOW course, but I can't say for certain now as the links providing to greater details are no longer online. It was a decade ago after all. I guess the internet isn't forever after all.

I'm surprised to see this website (so Craig, if you are reading this, it wasn't me as I wasn't aware of two of those people). This is serious, but this is the business of diving. I do believe this industry allows some deaths to occur in order to maximize profit. I know QA is hard but the bar needs to be raised to improve safety. I hear crickets for DAN's 2016 report that I cite ad nauseum with the exception of agencies like RAID (and NASE which I believe also requires skills to be performed neutrally buoyant).

There's just so much resistance to improving safety, it baffles me. How can we as human beings be so indifferent?

 

[OrcasC205]

It's very interesting that Craig's solution to the problem is "Maybe had they taken some of the specialties more seriously they would be better divers" instead of training them correctly from the start. I know first hand that I was overweighted and taught skills on my knees in my Seattle Scuba open water class in 2018.

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

West Seattle diving-accident victim: Award-winning volunteer

Thanks to Diane for sharing the word that the American Red Cross's local Facebook page had featured 29-year-old Tareq Saade, who died in a diving accident Sunday off Seacrest. We published his name and a little bit about him yesterday, after the King County Medical Examiner's Office publicly...

westseattleblog.com

SLIDESHOW: UPDATE: Diver who died diving off Seacrest has been identified | Westside Seattle

www.westsideseattle.com

Edit: it was for an AOW course, deep dive per the article. School isn't named.

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

I know first hand that I was overweighted and taught skills on my knees in my Seattle Scuba open water class in 2018.

Your instructor wasn't Sean Rapsen, was it?

 

[OrcasC205]

Your instructor wasn't Sean Rapsen, was it?

No. Eddie Kwon under Cathy's supervision. He no longer teaches for them as far as I know.

 

[explore_DMC]

I have not personally taken a class with them but two of my former coworkers did a few years ago. I was shocked when they told me they were certified with 45lbs. (male) and 38 lbs. (female) in wetsuits.

I don’t think I know any of their instructors. Anecdotally, grossly overweighting students appears to be a common theme from talking to former students.

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

I have not personally taken a class with them but two of my former coworkers did a few years ago. I was shocked when they told me they were certified with 45lbs. (male) and 38 lbs. (female) in wetsuits.

I don’t think I know any of their instructors. Anecdotally, grossly overweighting students appears to be a common theme from talking to former students.

One of the guys in my IDC wound up there. He was actually pretty good candidate. Probably the best of us. He disappeared from social media altogether after the death of patricia. He wasn't the instructor but he was there. I haven't seen him in years so I wonder if he's still teaching but it wouldn't surprise me if he wasn't. I don't think I would be if someone's needless death happened so close to me.

That school teaches a resort style course of confined water on Friday night, open water dives on Saturday and Sunday. There is a demand for getting it over quickly. People just don't know the risks involved.