Posted by Ken Kurtis on August 27, 2001 at 13:04:29:
In Reply to: Just when I thought it was safe to get back into the water (kinda long) posted by msblucow on August 25, 2001 at 23:45:29:
Excellent post by Marta that really underscores not only the need for personal responsibility, but also the need for personal awareness.
The hardest thing to teach people is when not to dive and be willing to abort BEFORE things turns tragic. It's also hard for people to publicly admit problems so I salute Marta not only for having common sense to bail on the dive but also the willingness (and perhaps even courage given the sometimes mean-spirited nature that surfaces in this BBS) to go public so others can benefit from her experience.
I just finished writing the following for our September newsletter and offer it here as a sidebar/reinforcement of Marta's experience.
- Ken Kurtis
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USE GOOD JUDGMENT
There are always on-going discussions about diving safety and whether one agency is better than another or if a certain gear configuration makes you safer. In our opinion, none of that is going to matter much if you don’t use good judgment.
We feel the single most important piece of equipment you take with you on a dive is your brain. And it doesn’t matter who trained or what gear you’re wearing if you stop using your head when you dive. Every year, we hear stories of well-equipped and well-trained divers who make what, in hindsight, are stupid decisions that get them in trouble, sometimes with fatal results.
We have a favorite saying at Reef Seekers: You never get hurt on a dive you don’t make.
Talk to anyone who’s has a close call and they’ll invariably say something like, “I should have known better,” or “I just wasn’t listening to that little voice in the back of my head that was telling me not to do this.”
While good training and equipment are certainly important, they can easily be over-shadowed by bad judgment. Be a smart diver. Know your limits and dive within them. And don’t worry about what others will think if you choose to bail on a dive. It’s always much better to be around to dive another day.