Diver death in FL- how can I be safer diver?

[deignor]

A diver died during the first day of the lobster mini-season in FL (Here is the link from The Miami Herald's story http://www.miami.com/mld/miami/3727462.htm). Then there was the diver who died in Cozumel.
All these deaths are having a profound effect on me. I was OW certified in May 2002 in a cold water quarry and now have 25 dives. I dive locally in the quarries on the weekends and did a 10 day dive trip to Cozumel. The death in Cozumel struck a chord in me because it was at Santa Rosa, my least favorite dive and location. The abyss you see from that wall was a little disconcerting to me. I was with a great group on the trip- several instructors, divemasters, experienced divers, a good buddy, and everyone was looking out for the newbees (3 of us). I think I improved over my 10 day trip and started to feel better about my skills. I still have a long way to go with my streamlining and buoyancy (it is embarassing what a photograph can catch!). I also need to improve my swimming kicks and strength (plan on taking some advanced swimming lessons and lots of pooltime).
So, right now -safety and being a safe diver and buddy are the most important issues for me. There is such a difference in opinion on the board about the timing for AOW and Rescue Diver. Some say it can’t hurt to do it right away, others say wait until you have more dives, while others say ask an instructor. I bet I could put several instructors together, dive with them, and they may all have a different opinion about whether I should do AOW now. My thoughts were to do AOW now. I thought learning more theory and doing more advanced dives under the watchful eyes of an instructor could only help me be a safer diver. The next step, Rescue Diver, could only help me become a safer and better buddy.
Finding a good instructor? I am going to choose based on referrals and whether the person is patient. Hope that works. Safety on trips? Plan on going with trips with LDS for now. But how do I know if the DM in the tropical paradise is good or bad? Safe or reckless?
I need to make these important decisions with a limited knowledge base. For all I know, the instructor I chose could be horrible with bad skills, bad form, and even dangerous. I hope reading the boards will help me with these issues. Thanks for letting me express my concerns.

Diana

 

[CincyBengalsFan]

Your concerns are very good. Always strive to be a better and safer diver. The statistics do prove that bowling is still more dangerous than diving. The wall in Cozumel can be a dangerous place to dive if you did not have good training in your O/W class. Sorry to hear about the diver in Fla. that died. Just remember to dive smart and stay within your limits.

 

[jbd]

that this may NOT be a diving death. He might well have had a heart attack while mowing his lawn or gardening or golfing or bowling.

It is, from the newspaper account, pure specualtion as to the diver running out of air.

The lessons for divers to take from these events are;

1. Polish your diving skills ie bouyancy control and trim. This makes moving through the water easier and less strenuous.

2. Improve your level of physical fitness. You will use your air much more efficiently and not tire out easily.

3. Pay attention to your health as the years go by. Watch your weight. Eat healthy. Quit smoking.

4. Get the training you need for the diving you want to do and do the dives you have training for.

5. If you're a quarry or small lake diver then get some guided experience in diving currents in saltwater before venturing off on your own in activities like lobstering etc etc that draw your focus away from the actual diving techniques.


For you specifically, from your post, I would recommend getting with an experinced and competent dive buddy and spend time working on your bouyancy control and trim while you are completely motionless. This will enhance your personal safety quite a bit and you will enjoy your diving even more than you do now.

Good luck & have fun!!

 

[Padipro]

Diana,

Well, it sounds like you've got a lot of common sence and have thought this through so I'd say you're on the right track to becoming the "Safe Diver" you want to be. The most important thing to remember when you read the horror stories in the papers is that it seems most of the divers that die while diving do so because of stupid mistakes on their part. Being in poor phyiscal condition and participating in a stressful activitay, running out of air when you have a pressure gauge to tell you exactly how much you have left, etc, etc. Use these stories as a learning tool of what not to do you will become a safe diver, but don't let them scare you into stopping. If you take the number of people diving around the world everyday and the number of dives they do and compare that to the number of people involved in accidents you'll see that you have a better chance of getting injured playing Tennis then you do diving. This is a fact that came from DAN that I used to use while teaching my OW classes to give the students a sence of the level of danger involved in diving. Don't get me wrong, diving is dangerous but only if one doesn't follow the rules or does something stupid.

You're probably right about 10 different opinions from 10 different Instrutors but here's my 2 cents worth. Taking AOW and Rescue Diver as soon as possible after OW is a good thing. The Advanced class is NOT ment to make you an "Advanced Diver". It's ment to introduce you to more advanced types of diving in a controlled stiutation with an Instructor or Divemaster there to lend assistance. The Rescue Diver course is going to be a very difficult class, if done right. It's ment to be that way so you will gain the confidence you need to handle a bad situtation. If you take the information and skills learned in both of these classes and gradually increase the level of difficulty in diving, ie. going deeper, diving in current, and night diving, you will eventually become an Advanced Diver and a very safe one at the same time.

Dive Safe,

Scott

 

[Walter]

We disagree, but it's usually a friendly disagreement. I think after approximately 25 dives you're ready for an advanced course. Since you have those under your belt, we all agree you should be looking toward advanced training.

Advanced training means different things to different folks. I'll compare two YMCA courses (so I can't be accused of bashing another agency) to illustrate my point.

YMCA has AOW which has very limited academics and a paltry 5 dives. Navigation, Night and Deep dives are required. The other two dives are picked from a list which includes: Boat, Environmental, Drift, Search & Recovery, Photography, Computer assisted or Wreck (no penetration).

Bottom line is this is an inadequate course. I do not recommend YMCA AOW nor any similar course from any agency. I refuse to teach this class.

What I teach instead is the YMCA Silver Advanced class. This course requires much more extensive academics in several (6) areas. All Silver Advanced divers are required to complete a CPR course. A minimum of ten dives are required. Required dives are: Search and recovery, Night or limited visibility (I personally require both), Navigation and Deep. Students are required to make at least one dive wearing a wet suit. At least four of the dives must exceed 50 ft. I always include at least one Wreck dive and I try to incorporate one float dive into the class. My navigation dive will be in limited visibility as will my search and recovery dive.

Advanced training should contain those elements. If the course at which you are looking doesn't, I recommend continuing your search.

 

[scuba-sass]

Where can I sign up?

(Sigh.... if only the commute weren't so long...)

Scuba-sass

 

[MikeFerrara]

Walter do you think that additional experience under supervision immediately following OW isn't good? Or...is it the name of the course (AOW) you object to? I would prefer a different name but would raher a student gain the 5 dives of additional experience with me before heading off to cozumel. PADI used to have the advanced plus. This course included all the acedemics of the DM program and a minimum of nine dives. The course was discontinued because nobody took the class. In my experience more dives (not more reading and tests)are what a new diver wants to do. I think supervision is a good thing at this stage of a divers career. Put the two together and you have the advanced OW course. The only thing I don't like about it is the name. Why will you not teach this course?

 

[jfo56]

Diana, Diving is a great sport by its nature it is risky. When we read about death and injury in this sport we should take the time to learn what happened then honestly evaluate our own skills to see if they match the type diving ( tek, cave, hunting etc ) that interests us. Most importantly continue to upgrade your skills with on going education and always respect the water. jfo56

 

[socaldiver]

What has been posted above is very true. First off I don't think we can jump to the conclusion that the diver's death was because of diving, if he did have a heart attack I would suspect the physical exertion from diving could have aided in the attack, but as JBD stated, this could also have happened by doing household chores or some other physical activity just as well.

I also have to agree with Walter (no way! Way!). AOW certifications as we have discussed to great extents in the past are for the most part a joke. Most of the dives are specialty dives as should be left as such. Read the material do the dives required to get your "patch" and keep diving. When it comes to being AOW there should be a criteria more difficult and the number of dives increased. I have seen and heard too many people gloat about being AOW and they don't know didly squat besides still being wet behind the ears in diving.

Diving is a risky sport but walking across the street can be just as harrowing. Best thing to do is plan your dive, dive your plan, stay safe and most of all stay wet.

I'm out!!

 

[MikeFerrara]

Originally posted by socaldiver
When it comes to being AOW there should be a criteria more difficult and the number of dives increased.
I'm out!!

Why?

Some like patches and have fun getting them. Why shouldn't they?

I'll ask you what I asked walter. Do you think additional instructor supervised dives immediately after OW is a bad thing?

If they changed the name of the course would your opinion change?

I think the logic here is flawed you guys seem to be saying that since there should be 10 dives we shouldn't do the five that are in the class.

We had a long book heavy advanced course. It was discontinued. Nobody took the course.

The purpose of AOW is to provide additional supervised experience and an introduction to different activities and environments. I think you guys can't get past the name.