Article: Don't Worry - It Will Be OK

[Gdog]

Bob, I think you made a very strong point in that new divers have no idea when it is time to call a dive. They have no experience pool to draw from, and they are apprehensive and excited to just be diving.
I feel so sorry for Jennifer and John. The article reinforces the need us to be there for any and all of the "dumb" questions new divers ask, as they are just searching for some of the knowledge we have due to experience.

 

[John C. Ratliff]

I won't speak for Julie, but when she first spoke to me about helping her create this article I took the position that the focus should not be to blame, but to inform. For this reason, none of the businesses involved were named ... and the article was written intentionally in a way that would keep the analysis and conclusions focused toward helping divers make more informed choices and take more responsibility for their own safety.

The focus point isn't the choices made by the dive operation ... but about the choices that we, as divers, need to make for ourselves. Scuba diving is, for all intents, an unregulated activity. There are many excellent reasons why it's in all our best interest to keep it that way. The downside is that we each have to be responsible for our own safety. The best way for that to occur is to make ourselves as informed as possible.

This article is intended to help divers ... new divers in particular ... achieve that end ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

Bob, I agree with your decision on this. It will do no good to publicly identify the LDS, or the boat. It could also have unintended consequences.

When I was at Oregon State University diving, we used to use the NOAA diving manual, and I still have an old copy. But they have done some really nice revisions. Since I haven't dived from a boat for years, I don't feel qualified to say what should and should not be there. But NOAA is the "gold standard" for preparedness in diving operations. They have some really great information and checklists in the below links:

NOAA Diving Program Forms

NOAA Diving Program

This is the current NOAA Diving Manual, on-line:

http://www.ndc.noaa.gov/pdfs/NWDSSM_version 1.0.pdf

Paragraph 4.2 states their requirements for a support boat for training dives. It is worth going over.

John

 

[scubawitch]

What a sad incident.
Thank you for making it public, I agree that it would be a very useful scenario to recount during Open Water training, I am truly sorry that it is true , safe diving is the most wonderful experience in the world.
I am a buddyless diver myself and found that I was relying on strangers too much and so am now qualified to Rescue Diver but I will remember Jennifer and John (what a brave man to attempt a resecue)

 

[Cat276330]

Hi Bob,

Thanks for the story, its so sad when it could so easily have been avoided, although i myself have been in a very similar situation so it may happen more often than people think!

I was an OW and hadnt completed any dives since my training which was a year previously, i told this to the dive centre and they said they would watch me and it would be fine. I couldnt even remember how to put my equipment together, it was ill fitting and i had never dived off a RIB. I did voice my concerns but told not to worry. I was buddied with a DMT who couldnt speak much english and we we diving deeper than i was trained to do because everyone in the group was more qualified also there was a strong current at the surface and i had never dived in waters with a current. I couldnt descend and my buddy was already down with the group so the leader came back up for me and helped me down but by that point i was a little panicky.

The whole dive i wasnt comfortable and with the current and depth i obviously drained my air in about 20mins. So had another diver so the leader told us to ascend to our safety stop. When we got to about 15 metres we got stuck in a very strong current and me and one other diver got caught in it and dragged upwards straight to the surface from 15m. We got back on the RIB and i was sick and told it was because we had surfaced so quickly. The other diver was another DMT, although not my buddy, and he was told to not dive again for the rest of the day Neither of us were offered oxygen and i felt crappy but told as it was the only dive i had done i would be fine.

I felt crap for a few hours but then was fine but looking back now i can see exactly how dangerous it was and how lucky was as it could have easily turned out differently!

My sympathies to Julie but thankyou both for your story, hopefully it will make new divers realise they dont have to dive if they arent comfortable but also dive centres think about putting the new divers in that situation in the first place!

 

[HJeffreyM]

This article appears almost verbatim in this month's Altert Diver (DAN's official magazine). The piece is entitled "You'll be OK" and carries the byline "the mother of a deceased diver." I wonder why the mother opted to reveal her name and that of her daughter here, but not in the DAN piece. Also wondering why no one here seem to have noticed the reprint.

My wife and I did our OW, AOW and EAN training together and we almost always dive as a buddy team. It has always been understood beween us that if either feels uncomfortable about any dive, it's thumbed...no questions asked. However, neither of us can recall anything in our training where an instructor told us that. It should be part of all agencies OW course to have the instructor say specifically "if you feel uncomfortable about any aspect of a dive you are contemplating, DON'T GO."

 

[nimoh]

Bob,

how did your and Julie's dive go last weekend?

I was out on Lummi Island this past weekend, but after a discussion with my dive buddy, we decided that we were better off on a shallow shore dive than going out to Lummi Rocks.

 

[Crush]

This article appears almost verbatim in this month's Altert Diver (DAN's official magazine). The piece is entitled "You'll be OK" and carries the byline "the mother of a deceased diver." I wonder why the mother opted to reveal her name and that of her daughter here, but not in the DAN piece. Also wondering why no one here seem to have noticed the reprint.

I noticed it but didn't feel the need to comment.

Staff writers and PR officers are often constrained in the styles they can use. I assume the DAN writer reworked the supplied material to bring it into conformity with their personal media training and DAN guidelines.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

This article appears almost verbatim in this month's Altert Diver (DAN's official magazine). The piece is entitled "You'll be OK" and carries the byline "the mother of a deceased diver." I wonder why the mother opted to reveal her name and that of her daughter here, but not in the DAN piece. Also wondering why no one here seem to have noticed the reprint.

The article was submitted to DAN as it appears here. Due to their own internal policies, they decided to shorten it and change the names of the people involved. I can understand their reasons, but after reading their edited version I felt that the changes they made also changed the intended message of the article. For that reason, I contacted Julie and asked her if it would be OK for me to post the article ... as it was originally written ... here. With her permission, I did so.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

---------- Post Merged at 07:12 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 07:09 PM ----------

Bob,

how did your and Julie's dive go last weekend?

I was out on Lummi Island this past weekend, but after a discussion with my dive buddy, we decided that we were better off on a shallow shore dive than going out to Lummi Rocks.

I posted a thread about our memorial dive here ... http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/basic-scuba-discussions/431653-meaningful-dive.html

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[dive_indonesia]

Thank for sharing, this would always be a great reminder and learned experience.

 

[Peter69_56]

Bob & Julie,

I am so sorry for your unneccessary loss. My heart goes out to you both. Thank you for showing the commitment to help others.

I too have experienced bad dive companies here in Australia. One of them I put into the local DAN magazine and include it here for others to read;

I am writing to inform all the readers of our Best and Worst dives in mid November this year. We decided to drive up the east coast of
Australia from Melbourne to Bundaberg and dive in as many dive sites as we could on the way (dictated by time and commitments). Our first dive was at Byron Bay
and a well run dive, although not that eventful other than a Mako shark breaching near us just after the dive finished.

Then we went to Tweed Heads and booked a dive to 9 mile reef with a local dive company. The comedy of errors began there when we were given the wrong time by the young girl serving us she gave us Qld time when we assumed NSW time given the location. Luckily we arrived 1 hr early for the dive and just had to wait outside. Immediately I noticed that there was no one at the shop who took an interest in making sure the customers were up to speed with the plan for the day. We were not introduced to anyone (maybe at this point in time knowing the Dive master would have been good). After becoming concerned with all the activity around us with us being left out of all communication I again approached the young girl to see what had been organised. "What do we do" I asked, her response was "go to the jetty and wait for arrival of everyone". My next question being "what jetty and where". "Down around the corner" was the response.

Ok off we went and found what we thought might have been our vessel of the day. What now? We decided to get geared up and then waited some 30 min before people began arriving. We carried all our gear over to the vessel and loaded up, assisting them with cylinders and gear. So far so good. Boat ride out was professionally carried out and we reached the reef with no issue.

We geared up waiting to have a dive brief. No dive brief (even though we were told we had the Dive Master with us, but who he was I never established). People were ready to go and one gracious diver (a DM) seeing our obvious distress offered to dive with us seeing we had not dived there before. He was not associated with the dive company but had dived the site a number of times. The boat captains advice was, just go straight over down to about 18 metres and go off to your right. So over we went and enjoyed the dive although there was poor visibility. On our return with a medium current we ended up about 150 metres from the boat. After attempting to swim back we realised that the task was impossible so we waited for them to pick us up. They in turn waited for us to swim over. The situation was about to become ridiculous when they decided to come over and pick us up.

Ok out for the surface interval and the captain advises us that the next dive will be a drift dive and we will be picked up. Over the side again and a reasonable dive once again. On returning to the surface we were 150-180 metres from the boat. We let them know we were OK and popped our safety sausage and waited, watching the other divers climbing aboard. After some 30 min on the surface and no further activity from the vessel we realised they had no idea where we were and were not making any apparent effort to search. Luckily I had an EPIRB with me and was about to use it when they finally came over and picked us up. After climbing aboard, not one comment was made at all. back to the boat ramp and back to the shop we went. I was asked by a junior worker how I felt the dive went. I had to bite my tongue and simply said, "my worst dive ever". No other staff member was interested in our thoughts, or if we were satisfied with the dive.

Now my issues with this dive company were;
No welcome and initial chat to fill us in on the plan
No introduction to the staff (Dive Master)
No dive plan at all from the Dive Master
No professionalism show at all
No safety brief
No log to track divers in the water (thought this was law in Australia)
No effort to find us once missing
No check when finally aboard if we were ok

My feeling was "total and utter incompetence"

My partners comment was "If I were a novice diver I would not have ever dived again"