Should I report this and to whom?

I am a noob PADI Open Water diver... just qualified last week actually.

I did my closed sessions and academic work at home and then went to a warmer location fro the open water dives.

Arrived Sunday; dives 1 and 2 Monday; dives 3 and 4 Tuesday... passed.

Prior to these dives, I had never dived in the sea at all, nor had I dived in a wetsuit.

The sea where I dived was extremely salty (tasted like battery acid!!) and I was using a shorty for the first time...

So ... what's the beef? Well, firstly, I had to use 12 kg of weight to descend and I was made to feel like a freak by the instructor (although subsequent conversations with divers has led me to believe taht the amount of weight needed varies enormously depending on variables such as body mass, salinity, experience etc...).

Next, and more significant, on dive 2, the instructor felt it would be helpful to pull me down, so he grabbed my leg and pulled me down to 6 metres. I had difficulty equalising and felt as if a knife had been stuck in my left ear... but with enough huffing and puffing I cleared the ear...

Next day was more straightforward, but I was getting a bit dehydrated (air temp 45 deg centigrade, water temp 27).

By Wednesday, I was dehydrated and suffering from vertigo and severe congestion (along with diarrhoea). Spent the whole day on a boat lying on the cabin.

Day 4, I went to see a doctor - extremely experienced in dive medicine and with a hyperbaric chamber etc in his office. Told me that I had sustained some damage to my middle ear and this was effecting the inner ear and causing the vertigo. The other symtoms were mainly due to the dehydration.

I visited him for the next 3 days and he was satisfied with progress and response to treatment.

I am now back at home, one week after completing the course and the vertigo has nearly gone (as well as the other symptoms).

My question is this: Should the Instructor be held responsible in any way for this occurence and should I therefore report him (and to whom?)? Or should I chalk it up to experience and forget about it?

Just as an afternote, I nearly gave up everything after day 1, but I persevered and now am resolute to continue diving... but a little wary of who to trust.

I look forward to hearing your opinions... Thanks...

Write a letter explaining exactly what happened and name names. Send it to PADI QA.

You might also have a cause of action for negligence.

Perhaps you'd want to see your local doctor and an attorney.

not only should you report him - (PADI USA sends out a QA form for about 1/3 the OW certs i can't say about the UK ), but write a letter to PADI also. it depends on where you were as to whom to complain to padi is slit into regions - but i'd send one to PADI International ( the main office) as well.

You should never force anybody down ANY distance, let alone to 20ft. ( not that i haven't want to on occasion :whack: )

you also have a case for the lawyers to chew on. and That far more than the letter will get padi's attention :mean:

you're right about factors varying the weight needed but the weight used is a little much for a shorty - at least for an experianced diver, but it is common to over weight students so that they Can get down - not that it's right to do so , it's just quicker than actualy spending the time (read money) to get them truely ready and comfortable enough.

scubasean once bubbled...
You might also have a cause of action for negligence.

Perhaps you'd want to see ... an attorney.

Click to expand...

Sigh - only in the America.

Marc

Just a couple of questions, crabbi (that name chosen for a reason?)

"the instructor felt it would be helpful to pull me down, so he grabbed my leg and pulled me down to 6 metres".

Are you being sarcastic? Did the Instructor brief you with the signal for ear equalization problems? Were you taking an extraordinary amount of time to get below the surface? Did you give the signal to the Instructor? Did the Instructor say to you, listen, I am going to help you get down but make sure to equalize and stop me if I you feel any pain? Did you remember that you are supposed to equalize continuously before and while descending? Not to absolve the instructor, just clear up the story.

"I had to use 12 kg of weight to descend and I was made to feel like a freak by the instructor".

Neither Instructors (nor anyone else) can control how students feel. What did the Instructor actually do? I assume you are a fairly big person with that much weight. I am also pretty big and am the first to joke "Get to the other side of the Boat" to everybody when I get in. Did the Instructor call you some names? Good empathetic instructors can read nervous open water students and try to offset their (normal) feelings of inadequacy, insecurity, confusion, even alarm, etc. But they are not mind-readers nor Gods.

"The sea where I dived was extremely salty (tasted like battery acid!!) and I was using a shorty for the first time...dehydrated (air temp 45 deg centigrade, water temp 27)"

Obviously you can't blame the weather or conditions on the Instructor.

You experienced dehydration because you did not drink enough fluids for such a hot country in the Summer (Spain, Italy, Canary Islands?). The congestion is because you had sinus equalization problems along with the ear problems. Did you fill out a medical questionnaire showing a history of ENT problems before the open water trip?

Listen, if the Instructor was negligent, I am the first to say go get a QA filled out. But it seems these questions should be asked. Did others in the class also have a bad time, or were they pretty satisfied with their Instructor? Or is this really a Dive bozo?! So I think I have made my point. Ask yourself these questions before you start running off to damage someone's career and maybe find out it was partly your fault.

As with everything, not only diving, if someone is acting negligent and`possibily caused you harm, and may cause others harm, you have a responsibility to alert the people responsible (ie. instructor, the dive shop, PADI etc). As far as retaining an attorney, well, don`t just sue to sue. If you incurred damages that are a direct result of the instructor's negligence...than by all means...but don't sue just cause you're "an american and it's your right"! Lastly, if you're going to write a letter to PADI and/or impose legal action, MAKE SURE THAT YOUR FACTS ARE STRAIGHT! AND WELL FOUNDED!! Wrongly accusing the instructor may not only ruin his/her diving career, but may also cause problems for his or her family. Best of luck and I hope you have no more problems with you're ears.

Thanks for all the responses...

Many of the issues raised are at the very heart of my asking the original question...

I will take them in turn... but first of all, I am not USA based (UK in fact) and the dives took place in the Red Sea.
First, CRISPOS:

"the instructor felt it would be helpful to pull me down, so he grabbed my leg and pulled me down to 6 metres".

- Are you being sarcastic? Crabbi:NO
- Did the Instructor brief you with the signal for ear equalization problems? Crabbi:NO, although I am familiar with this.
- Were you taking an extraordinary amount of time to get below the surface? Crabbi:YES, in fact I thought I would never get down. In dive 1 I used the line to get me down. I was very nervous and this meant that my breathing was not helping matters at all.
- Did you give the signal to the Instructor? Crabbi:NO, I was fully pre-occupied with trying to equalise and he was below me ...
- Did the Instructor say to you, listen, I am going to help you get down but make sure to equalize and stop me if I you feel any pain? Crabbi:YES to the first part and No to the part about the pain.
- Did you remember that you are supposed to equalize continuously before and while descending? Crabbi:YES, it had my full attention.


"I had to use 12 kg of weight to descend and I was made to feel like a freak by the instructor".

What did the Instructor actually do? I assume you are a fairly big person with that much weight. I am also pretty big and am the first to joke "Get to the other side of the Boat" to everybody when I get in. Did the Instructor call you some names? Good empathetic instructors can read nervous open water students and try to offset their (normal) feelings of inadequacy, insecurity, confusion, even alarm, etc. But they are not mind-readers nor Gods. Crabbi: This instructor told me that nobody uses 12kg with a shorty (a fact which I later found to be untrue). He led me to believe that having difficulty descending was extremely unusual (a fact which I later found to be untrue). I felt that his demeanour was that of a bully out to prove a point. He constantly made derogatory remarks regarding the teaching standards of the school I had used in the UK... I am large, and he is a similar build so there was no weight-erlated comment.

"The sea where I dived was extremely salty (tasted like battery acid!!) and I was using a shorty for the first time...dehydrated (air temp 45 deg centigrade, water temp 27)"

Obviously you can't blame the weather or conditions on the Instructor. Crabbi: Although he thought he was God, I realise that he (probably!) had no control over these factors, I just put tem in as additional info for completeness.

You experienced dehydration because you did not drink enough fluids for such a hot country in the Summer (Spain, Italy, Canary Islands?). The congestion is because you had sinus equalization problems along with the ear problems. Did you fill out a medical questionnaire showing a history of ENT problems before the open water trip? Crabbi: I have never had any such problems before.

Thanks CRISPOS for your questions and observations, they made me think about the incident from a different perspective. My wife was also on the course and suffered a burst capilliary in her left ear. I don't think that I am alone in this. I heard other complaints about this instructor from other students and instructors, but nobody does anything. I have no intention of taking legal action but I don't want others to have to suffer the dangerous mood swings of a power-crazed bully.

Walter, Scubasean, James Connell, FLL Diver, divemed06 - thanks for your observations... much appreciated...

...and divemed06, your point concerning "MAKE SURE THAT YOUR FACTS ARE STRAIGHT! AND WELL FOUNDED!! Wrongly accusing the instructor may not only ruin his/her diving career, but may also cause problems for his or her family." is absolutely why I am not sending a knee-jerk response, but taking the considered advice of others who are much more experienced than I am.

Thanks again all...

A couple of questions,
did your instructor pull you down a whole 18 feet ( that seems a bit too much)? As a divemaster I have pulled down students after notifying them of course but only 3 or 4 feet wich is usually all the help they need. As for your ear problems sorry to hear about that but if you hurt you ear on the 2nd dive why did you do the other dives, you probably worsened your situation by continuing to dive wich would be your fault if you did not inform your instructor prior to the dives( he cant read your mind) If it is a whole 18 feet he's negligent and should be held reponsible

As for making you feel uncomfortable about your weight how exactly did this happenm ?

If you felt dehydrated why did you not drink? I dont think its the instrutors role to make you drink of feed you....

As for sueing well you are americain and i guess its one of your national hobbies but seems to me more of a case that you and the instructor didn't get along than him being an inompetent( allthough I wil admit that i am judging this by the fact that you don't provide much details about his incompetence other than the fact that he pulled you down and you felt lousy and sick after the dives.

Hwever i am the first to say that there are always incompetents out there and they should be held responsible for their actions. Get all the story strait (dont leave out anything) get more opinions (this board is a good place) and then take the appropriate action (letter to QA or sue..) I'm just personnaly feeling that this is more a case of a bad experience than negligence.

Good luck , dont give up diving is one of the best thing in life

DM PDIC 51089

If you had such problems, report this instructor to the certifying organization (in this case, PADI) and let THEM sort it out.

Our LDS owner would be offering a last cigarette and blindfold to any of his employees that pulled a student down for any reason, if you catch my drift.

Maybe we don't have the correct information, but if the certifying agency has no idea that this even happened they can't do anything about it. Help them police themselves first. We can't bash anybody for lack of QA if we don't help them know about the complaints before sending in the lawyers.