Posted by Ken Kurtis on November 19, 2000 at 21:38:44:
In Reply to: Re: Florida scuba fatality. posted by AADIVER on November 19, 2000 at 13:31:21:
Although the article doesn't state the level of experience of the buddy, I'm willing to bet that he was fairly experienced, given the apparent quickness of his actions. But your overall point is well-taken, Frank.
My first thought when I read through this (both as an instructor and someone who routinely sees divers over-estimate their skills and readiness for a dive) was, "What the hell was she doing making a 87-foot dive onto a wreck no less, as her re-introduction to diving?"
To toot our own horn a bit, that's why at Reef Seekers we try to have 3 Instr/DMs on every boat, so we have staff available to make a dive with people whose skills might not quite but up to snuff. Given the choice between pissing someone off because I didn't let them make a dive they thought they could handle but I didn't, or having to explain to a greiving family why someone died and being asked, "Why didn't you stop them?", I'll take pissing someone off and having them dive another day over death explantions any day of the week.
Ken Kurtis
NAUI Instr. #5936
Co-owner, Reef Seekers Dive Co.
Beverly Hills, Ca.