Posted by MHK on August 13, 2001 at 15:56:50:
In Reply to: Re: Picking and choosing which *rules* apply posted by seahunt on August 13, 2001 at 14:50:34:
Seahunt,
I think part of my frustration with you is that you cling to mindset that has moved on.. I don't want that to seem inflamatory inasmuch as I've concluded that we just don't see eye to eye..
If you put aside our history and take a look at the numbers perhaps you'll see what I'm talking about, and why I don't think it's productive to discuss *subjective* issues since we could go round and round and never get anywhere..
Ken Kurtis posted some DAN numbers a few weeks ago.. It basically said that in the entire state of California we had 8 fatalities in 1999.. Fast forward to 2000 we had 13 that I'm aware of and that solely related from Los Angeles to San Diego, I'm unaware of what went on up north.. That's an increase of over 50% just in So Cal.. 2001 we have had 7 already, and it's only mid-August.. Once again I'm speaking specifically from L.A. to San Diego, and I'm not up to speed on what is going on up north, nor do I represent that I'm aware of every fatality.
To that end we have a trend.. You guys can differentiate each specific fatality and distinguish your particular diving habits from the decedants all day long.. But at some point you've got to stop and take a look and say what the hell is going on, why has the fatality rate increased so dramatically and what can be done to reduce it..
Based solely on what I've read from you, you do not have the requisite mindset that I would require to be on our team. I resognize that that doesn't mean anything to you since our diving habits are diametrically opposite.
However, in response to an alarming increas in fatalities DIR has adopted a proven system that works.. It seems to me that part of the reluctance of some of the more experience diver's to adopt, or even investigate, DIR is because diving never had any such thing.. A system wasn't what diving was suppose to be about back when you started. And perhaps if they still had the *limited* number of hard core diver's that you had back then, maybe you'd be right. But the fact of the matter is that the industry needs to constantly reinvent itself and needs to constantly feed itself. So the result isn't that you get hard core divers anymore that are willing to put up with the rigorous training of days gone by. Today you have 8 year olds, you have weekend certifications, you have discover scuba, the physical fitness tests are a joke and convience has replaced quality training... It's not implausible that you could have an 18 year old with one month experience in Cayman teaching diver's here in SoCal how to dive and certifying them for life..
In response to that, what is wrong with advancing a system??? I've dove in just about every environment that you could imagine and it seems to me once the *myth* about DIR is burst, or perhaps offered in a more PC, sensitive way, I'll bet many will adopt the system and wonder what took so long..
Have you ever wondered why the military issues everyone the same gear??? It's because if something happens in battle everyone is configured in like kind.. All parts are interchangeable, all bullets work in each gun and so on and so forth.. What is so wrong with applying that same logic once you get 100' underwater???
I was hoping that this thread would take a different direction, but it doesn't appear as though it will go where I had hoped..
Oh well, such is life on the diver.net bbs...
Later