If I should die while diving.

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Uncle Pug

Swims with Orca
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I received this email from my daughter recently:

*************
I love you. I read your post online. I didn't check when you wrote it but it was interesting. Almost poetic….

*************

I had posted *If I should die while diving* on another board several years ago and my daughter found it while Googling my name. My wife though I should post it here on Scuba Board as well.

If I should die while diving.

If I should die while diving please do not hesitate to discuss the incident and assess every element with a view to furthering your understanding of how to enhance diver safety.

If I should die while diving get the facts. They won't be readily available and will definitely not be correct as reported by the media. But get the facts as best you can.

If I should die while diving understand, as I already do, that it will most likely involve fault on my part to some degree or another so do not hesitate to point that out.

If I should die while diving some of the fault will probably belong to my buddy and that needs to be honestly assessed as well though I must admit this is one area where I hope that compassion will be in the mix.

If I should die while diving there might be those who try to squelch discussion out of a misplaced notion of respect for the deceased, family and friends. They can say nice things about me at my funeral... but in the scuba community I want the incident discussed.

If I should die while diving at least I didn't die in bed.
 
Very simply stated. I've copied this for inclusion in my "what if" file. It will be the first note my family sees before dealing with the will and other final requests upon my demise.
 
strangely I was talking about almost the same thing with someone the other day and I must say your post has motivated me to write something down in case the worst should happen, thanks for sharing
 
I think it's called 'Making the best of a bad situation'. :wink:

Unfortunately, when speculation surpasses fact, conclusions are prone to error. What is the point of informally analysing an incident when relevant facts are so scarce?

I'd be happy to think someone will gain from my death. Have a kidney, my heart should be good and I'd highly recommend my eyes (just had Lasik!). If I die diving, it's likely to be defined as a confirming, rather than a learning experience. What difference does it make for you to know how I died? The rules are laid out; do we need to constantly validate them? Are we looking for a new way to die?

I've read a lot of incident reports/discussions and will continue to do so. I don't expect to learn anything more than I already have. What I take away is a reminder of what will happen if I break the rules. I'm reminded that it can happen on any dive, under any condition, with or without a buddy, with a chamber near or far, on a reef or off a bar.....

I'm not sure an open list is the most productive means for accurately assessing dive accidents. Great for offering condolences or putting the beast out there for all to see, but effective accident analysis? I'm not so sure.


I'm glad you posted the link
 
Good stuff, UP. With your permission, I'm going to print it out, maybe make a few minor modifications, sign it & put it with my papers- just in case.
 
dherbman, I like to address some of the points you make, not for arguments sake, but as a way to help others understand the other prevalent perspective on these issues.

dherbman:
I think it's called 'Making the best of a bad situation'.

Any positive is better than none.

Unfortunately, when speculation surpasses fact, conclusions are prone to error. What is the point of informally analysing an incident when relevant facts are so scarce?

Speculation postulates possible scenarios in the absence of known facts. Often narrowing a multitude of possible circumstances down to a few high probability ones. While this will not provide a precise determination of cause of accident, which is not the purpose of this forum, the view afforded by speculative analysis into possible and probable causes, along with the insight on how they occur and how to prevent them - does serve the purpose of this forum.

I'd be happy to think someone will gain from my death. Have a kidney, my heart should be good and I'd highly recommend my eyes (just had Lasik!).

If someone learned something they didn't know or became more careful about doing something, it could well prove to be the one, or one of the learning experiences that may very well save their life in the future. I suspect this less obvious, though not less real gift of life, would equally make you happy.

If I die diving, it's likely to be defined as a confirming, rather than a learning experience.

Confirmation and learning are two separate issues. There are divers reading this of all skill levels and knowledge, and except for a few who know it all, the rest of us are all susceptable to learning something new here. The vast number of individual personal experiences, along with the diverse circumstances encountered and related here, make these forums unique and unmatched by any one's personal experiences. No matter how much they may personally know and have experienced.

What difference does it make for you to know how I died?

I see your point. What difference does it make when a stranger dies if their passing does not have a direct significant impact on us? It is the possible lessons we can learn through an examination of a real life experience. There are useful lessons and reminders that may be necessary for many to keep complacency away and correct and improve errant and deficient ways, that may keep us away from a similar experience. Not all the accidents here are fatal. The fatal ones do have a way to make a sometimes necessary poignant impression.


The rules are laid out; do we need to constantly validate them?

Absolutely. Isn't that a form of practice? An apple a day keeps the doctor away!

Are we looking for a new way to die?

No. The objective is to keep others from unnecessarily dying the same old way. Over and over again. And when once in a while something new comes along, that's a bonus.

I've read a lot of incident reports/discussions and will continue to do so. I don't expect to learn anything more than I already have. What I take away is a reminder of what will happen if I break the rules. I'm reminded that it can happen on any dive, under any condition, with or without a buddy, with a chamber near or far, on a reef or off a bar.....

Not expecting to learn something new is alright, as long as you remain receptive to learning something new. I suppose that's part of the reason you continue reading these discussions. Reminders will always prove more useful for some than for others, given the reality of ever present risk of accident in life.

I'm not sure an open list is the most productive means for accurately assessing dive accidents. Great for offering condolences or putting the beast out there for all to see, but effective accident analysis? I'm not so sure.

Given the information available, and the diversity and scale of participants knowledge, the reasonable speculative analysis that takes place here is very effective and productive in fulfiling the purpose of this forum - which is to provide a learning avenue for some or for all, sometimes or always, through analysis of possible causes of accidents.

I have said this before and will continue to say it. There is enough difference of opinion on this subject to warrant the creation of a condolences forum designed to pay tribute to a lost life, devoid of undesireable issues that must by necessity be raised during accident analysis. This is the only way to accomodate these two seperate legitimate issues which both appear to be in high demand, that do not lend themselves to peaceful co-existence in one forum. Then there is the desire, by a not insignificant number, to restrict reasonable discussion because it violates their personal standards - not at my expense, unless a more convincing yet to be made case is presented.

Uncle Pug, I like to commend you on your moderating skills. At least from a couple of instances I have noticed. Can't speak about what I may not know. LOL Thanks for a job well done and for this thread which sheds explanations and hopefully understanding on this matter.
 
I just copied UP's post and put it with my things.

And for everyone on SB, if I die while diving, refer to UP's post.

I'd like to see dive operators offer a copy of this with their liability release.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/perdix-ai/

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