Diving Death Reports

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gcbryan

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Since there are some concerns, when diving deaths are reported, that it's inappropriate to discuss or it's unfair to the family or whatever the concerns may be what about simply editing the name out of all reports?

I don't know if this is necessary and if it concerns someone from this board we would want to know anyway but I think there is already a "condolences" section so that would remain the same. The death report would just not mention the name.

This is how it's done with the NTSB reports on aviation accidents. It's not quite the same here since there isn't anyone investigating scuba deaths in the same way as the NTSB so this is just a thought (actually I guess DAN does do something similar at least in the compiling sense).

I don't have a problem with discussing things the way we currently do but some do have a problem. I'm just wondering if this idea would help take some of the personal aspects out of it?

When we continue to speculate on a particular accident it rubs some the wrong way. Yet, discussing accidents in the abstract is harmless enough and can be beneficial if it keeps the subject of safety and some of the "what it's" on everyones mind.

I guess what I don't understand is the current approach...

A diving death occurs and is reported on this site. Initial information is never complete. If there are investigations involved nothing will be reported for months. If we can't discuss what may have happened then what is the point of the thread in the first place? Just have all such reports go to a moderator to post in a running no response allowed thread.

Otherwise, post the accident, take the names out and allow it to be discussed fully.

Good or bad idea?
 
You would have to strip more than the name to address the family concerns. If there's a description of the place, approximate time, and circumstances, then there's a fair chance that someone connected will find the discussion if they are surfing for info. In such a case, do you really think they wouldn't recognize the souce of the discussion and feel any differently? For anyone who wants to connect such an incident to a name, a web search with a few of the details should turn one up. If it wouldn't, then ScubaBoard policy would prohibit posting the name here anyway.
 
Well, it isn't the board administration that comes on and remonstrates with people for hypothesizing and discussing -- it's board members.

I agree with gcbryan. The ONLY purpose for an A&I forum is to hold discussions of diving accidents that might inform and educate people who haven't faced the relevant issues, or haven't thought them through. Even if the information is incomplete, or even sometimes dead wrong, the basic outline of the accident can be enough to serve as a springboard for useful discussion. Some of that discussion inevitably brings up the diver's own responsibility for his or her accident, as many accidents could have been avoided by better planning or execution on the part of the victim.

There are, and always will be, people who feel that, by dying, we become too delicate for criticism; that the good to be derived from discussions, even those which imply the diver was at fault, doesn't equal the pain to family members of hearing people say their loved one contributed to his own death. I disagree. I'm with Uncle Pug. If I die diving, have at it.

I don't think removing names will help. Removing ALL identifying information might help (location, date, conditions, name) but would also probably remove a lot of information that's useful for people in proposing ways the accident could have been avoided.
 
Yeah, I realize that just taking the name out isn't "fooling" anyone but it does make it a bit less personal not having the name in print in the same post as possible criticism.

I agree it's probably not enough for those who take issue with this sort of discussion in the first place.

I just don't see a point in having an accident forum if it is simply used as a place to post an announcement.

I fluctuate both ways on the usefulness of talking about accidents. Frequently, what happened was so obviously avoidable with little question of what happened that it simply becomes a thread where people lecture others to ...be careful and train or whatever. Repeating this over and over is not especially useful in my opinion.

If someone has a heart attack in the water it's not really a diving death or at least there's not much to discuss. If someone goes from OW class with dive number 4 to 200 fsw on dive number 5 there isn't much to discuss there either as it so obvious that it shouldn't be done.

However, when the issues don't seem so clear cut those are the ones that make you think and where discussion would seem to be a useful process to go through.

Anyway, I'm sure some share the same point of view as I do and some don't and that's never going to change and that why we have this issue:)
 
I do agree the name of the deceased isn't required, the problem I see with trying to prevent it appearing in a discussion is usually the deceased name is published by the media and these reports are linked to on this site. I do find these discussions useful, they certainly make me think about my diving and I've taken a lot on board based on reading about accidents here and in books like "Diver Down" or DAN reports.
 
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