Cave diving dangerous?
http://www.cdnn.info/news/safety/s100210a.html
I feel bad for the central person in this article,but my post is related to the list that follows of diving accidents for this given period of time. The one thing I notice frequently in the list is the number of people who were hit by boats. So I am thankful I am in a cave where boats are not a primary issue. There isn't a lot of data on these accidents,but what ever happened to respecting dive flags?
"Not all change is improvement...but all improvement is change" Donald Berwick
Given those numbers, in that article, one could argue that lobster hunting is far more dangerous than cave diving.
It's bad luck to be superstitious.
Agreed!Originally Posted by mmcauliffe
"Not all change is improvement...but all improvement is change" Donald Berwick
Man! It was an emergency room doctor who did the hit and run accident that resulted in the loss of the diver's legs!
It makes me think of the doctor in CA who passed two cyclists, then stopped short in front of them "to teach them a lesson." One of the cyclists hit his car and busted his nose when breaking out a face-shaped hole in the window. That doc got 5 years for road rage. The "lesson" comment to the 1st police officer on the scene didn't help him any during the trial.
http://velonews.competitor.com/2010/...e-years_102274
What is it with these doctors who, besides the participants of the sports themselves, should be the most careful?????
Land of Enchantment -- not so great for cave diving, but mighty scenic!
The medical profession at one point paid really well so it started attracting people interested in / driven by money and prestige, not helping people.
One thing that has been noted in countries with socialized medicine over the last 30-40 years is a higher percentage of women doctors. That is because the pay is generally lower, making it a lower status profession more open to women as the good ol' boy network is less interested in limiting access.
The irony here of course is that the US has become such a litigious society that malpractice insurance is now extremely expensive, so after the insurance premiums are paid the medical profession does not pay all that well when you consider the hours and lifestyle.
The old argument has always been that a high paying profession attracts the best and the brightest, ensuring good health care. However, we now have a health care system that is so large and expensive that it struggles to maintain itself. (The major source of resistance to health care reform.) So what we have are company policies such as requiring doctors to refer so many dollars worth of tests or procedures per month to the hospital to maintain physician privledges. That results in a large percentage of uneccesary procedures and a great deal of extra expense - but that is now where physician income is generated.
The sad part of it all is that many doctors (and health care administrators) have very shady ethics and are motivated by money, not concern for patients or their fellow man. Add in the prestige factor and an over inflated ego to go with and what matters from that perspective is not whether he ran down a diver, but rather that he had a boat to run down a diver with.
I think if we had a similar number of cave divers who showed up one week per year to cave dive, we'd see a similar fatality rate. Apparently, lobster hunting, like cave diving, makes a poor one or two week per year sport.
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What bothered me most about the article is some of the wording. For example references to the Vandenberg and Oriskany being sunk to "lure" divers to the area. It sounds much more sinister than "attract". What is worse, I suspect it is not CDNN, but rather CDNN just inserting quotes from other newspaper articles and in effect reflecting a larger public impression.
Last edited by DA Aquamaster; 02-11-2010 at 07:03 AM.
Yes, it was pretty ugly. The guy would not stop claiming he did not notice anything, but when the cops/CG met him at the dock his lawyer was already on the way there.
I knew of Rob, but did not know him personally until after the incident. He was a good friend of my neighbor. He was an avid spearo and Florida Sportsman, (ie us locals) had a huge fundraiser for him. The good thing is that he was back in the water as soon as he got his new legs.
"Is this thing on?"
Oh, I'm so sorry. Its tough when you lose a friend. That's amazing that he was able to go diving again. Its an inspiration.Yes, it was pretty ugly. The guy would not stop claiming he did not notice anything, but when the cops/CG met him at the dock his lawyer was already on the way there.
I knew of Rob, but did not know him personally until after the incident. He was a good friend of my neighbor. He was an avid spearo and Florida Sportsman, (ie us locals) had a huge fundraiser for him. The good thing is that he was back in the water as soon as he got his new legs.
Land of Enchantment -- not so great for cave diving, but mighty scenic!
respecting dive flags
I have an incident to share, that could have easily resulted with me being one of those statistics, and illustrates the utter lack of respect from many of the boats in south Florida.
I was driving off a 6 pack in Deerfield on a well known wreck that sits at about 80 feet (don’t remember which wreck, but this wreck has an adjoining reef). I was diving solo with a dive flag, and the other divers off my boat were close by with dive flags, but they had drifted off the wreck and down the adjacent reef. So my flag was the only one left close to the wreck.
A large private fishing boat pulled up, and dropped a very large anchor that landed about 30 feet from me. My flag was clearly visible, with calm seas and calm wind. My dive boat captain, who had a large dive flag clearly displayed on his boat and was close by, informed the fishing boat that he had a diver down. The person with the anchor ignored the warning, dropped the anchor, and then responded “what?” to my boat captain.
I’m not suggesting all fishing boats are filled with such disrespectful people. I have also been helped by fishing boats many times while drifting off a deep wreck on the surface with 3 knots of current and my dive boat nowhere in sight.
Some people are polite and respectful, some are not.
The most dangerous part of a deep (200 fsw) dive is the last (shallowest) 10 feet. I prefer to wait at 15 feet for my dive boat to motor up before coming to the surface.
dean
I do a bit of shore diving or kayak diving from time to time in Florida, with a dive flag. It mostly attracts boats coming over to see what's going on - they buzz by without slowing down at all and often come within ten feet of the dive flag. We are very careful surfacing! Jet skis are the worst offenders - I've had them try to take the flag and once had to surface to tell them to back off!
-skip
"Learning the techniques of others does not interfere with the discovery of techniques of one's own." B.F. Skinner, 1970.
Agreed, most boaters don't know the rules. I know it would piss alot of people off, but I don't understand why a state with so much boating available, doesn't make it manditory for a boaters license to be issued... Neighboring states already do it.
I've had my flag run down on several occassions in both AL and FL.
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