What I've learned from the Accidents/Incidents report forum

[A&I Mod]

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A ScubaBoard Staff Message...

I have moved this thread to the Basic Scuba forum.
It does not belong in the A&I forum. That forum is for discussing mishaps, and lessons learned from those mishaps.
The discussion of the lessons learned sans the mishap is grist for the basic scuba mill.

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[mselenaous]

I prefer reading and participating in the A&I forum to being the subject of one of its threads. And hope my loved ones never have to read one to figure out what happened to me.

...and remember, "there but by the grace of God go I"... that I am neither invincible nor infallible.

 

[redacted]

I prefer reading and participating in the A&I forum to being the subject of one of its threads. And hope my loved ones never have to read one to figure out what happened to me.

...and remember, "there but by the grace of God go I"... that I am neither invincible nor infallible.

But I do hope that if the grim reaper's search engine (no offense Don - I appreciate what you do) ever picks up my last dive, that my loved ones will oppose the attempts to hush things up and will help others learn as much as possible from my accident.

 

[Bubbletrubble]

Good thread. Most of the stuff I've learned from reading A&I and the Near Misses forums has already been mentioned.

Over the years, I've been surprised by a few things, though:

• How quick people are to blame an "unexplained" DCS hit on dehydration...when no evidence for it exists. It appears to be the default cause cited when there are no obvious computer violations or causative medical issues.
• How often people forget (or don't know how) to do a comprehensive functional pre-dive test on their dive gear. They blame equipment malfunctions on shoddy rental gear when the gear issues should have been picked up by pre-dive checks. Instructional agencies need to do a better job to ensure that instructors are teaching this stuff to students.

 

[DiveNav]

my 2 cents: Respect the Ocean .... it is much bigger and stronger than You.

 

[DandyDon]

WEIGHTS KILL...

Goodthread. Jax mentioned practicing skills and dropping weights, but maybe this should be emphasized more? Most bodies are found with weights still secured I think. Can you dump yours without looking, quickly, while distracted or maybe panicked? My home bud & I have learned because of A&I to drill on this the first dive of any outing or trip.

Can your buddy dump your weights for you easily & quickly? Review yours with every bud you dive with as so many pockets and releases are different.

Would you pull some weight on a CESA? Good idea to pull at least one pocket and hold it while ascending, so if it goes to caca and you pass out or drown, at least you'll drop that one and float to the top. There is always a chance you might be revived if found quickly; none if they have to search the floor for hours.

 

[Jax]

Ah Ha!!!

There's another I learned.

Take a CO tester just like you take an O₂ tester.

 

[DandyDon]

Ah Ha!!!

There's another I learned.

Take a CO tester just like you take an O₂ tester.

Well, most only check their Nitrox tanks for O2 - and expect the Op to provide an analyzer, but after some confusion I witnessed on my last trip - I think I will start checking my air tanks before deeper dives.

The CO risk is still all too commonly ignored, with so many counting on their trusted sources - but it's out there. You feel different after you get some readings, especially if you get a high reading on the way to a 130 ft dive.

 

[dumpsterDiver]

Every time I read the Accidents/Incidents forum I'm frustrated by how many posts are spent on discussing a member's qualifications for their opinion or their reason for posting the incident. On a recent post someone posited the question 'what are we learning from this forum?' (paraphrased). So I started reflecting on what I have learned from reading these reports. Honestly, most of the stuff I've read about are things I was taught in my OW classes. I come here to see if there are new or unexpected events that I can learn from - and maybe to remind myself how to protect myself and my buddy from tragedy. We love our sport and sometimes feel invincible - so maybe this is one way to maintain respect for the very real risks we are taking and insure that we use the appropriate amount of caution. So here are some things I've learned - feel free to add to it - I'm sure I missed something obvious.

Yeah you missed a big one.....Don't dive if you are an obese, out of shape, out of practice diver with cardiac problems...that is what probably kills most of the people.

 

[Hatul]

Yeah you missed a big one.....Don't dive if you are obese...

The would take out half the diving community.