I just got through reading DAN's accident case reports for 2001 and had my eyes opened wide! It seems to me if these were required reading for new students, the casual ones might not go through with it, and the determined ones would take their training VERY seriously! The importance of a close, attentive buddy stood out as key factor in preventing deaths. Most of the diving deaths were from drowning! I thought, how could somebody drown with an air source on their back? In a large percentage of those deaths, the decedant was seperated from their buddy, or made a solo ascent. Either a cardiac event or an arterial-gas-embolism would cause the diver to drop their regulator and/or they would not get their BC inflated. If a buddy was within reach both these problems could be circumvented. I guess I'm lucky that my dive buddy is my wife, and if I'm not watching her, I can hold her hand and know that there's nothing wrong. If that wasn't the case, I'ld still want to be within reaching distance of my buddy at all times. If you can grab your buddy, you might prevent a runaway ascent or descent, as happened in a few of the deaths. If you ascend with your buddy, when you get to the surface and he's struggling, your there to fill his BC. The whole process of getting into recreational diving seems so casual until you find out the realities of diving accidents. I really think case reports should be "required reading"!