The dangers of sharing gear and not seeking proper dive training for every dive.
By Eric Douglas
It was a great day out on the lake. Scott went for a short dive off his boat and then returned to the surface and explained to Joey how the equipment worked. Joey was nervous as he took Scott’s dive gear from him and put it on, but he was sort of excited too. He loved the feeling of breathing underwater for the first time. He hesitated for a second when he first put his face in the water, but then he relaxed and slowly moved away from the boat. All the gear had him feeling awkward and ungainly, but he knew he could get used to it. As he began his decent, he was beginning to enjoy himself and was already imagining himself going diving with Scott around the world. And then he kicked his feet and nothing happened. He looked down and saw one of his fins falling away. He began clawing his way to the surface.
The Divers
Joey and
Scott had been friends since
childhood and loved hanging out
together. Jobs and work had
taken them in different
directions, but they got
together in the summer whenever
they could. Scott had learned to
dive on vacation and loved it.
He bought a full set of gear
that he kept on his personal
boat on the lake. Scott was a
swimmer and very confident,
while Joey was always a little
nervous about the water. Still,
he had allowed Scott to talk him
into going diving, just to get a
feel for breathing underwater.
Scott was hoping his best friend
would get certified and then
they could dive together too.
That way, they would always have
each other as dive buddies.
The Dives
Scott
donned his dive equipment and
explained each piece to his
friend as he put it on. He told
him how the regulator worked and
how to clear his ears. From
there he jumped into the water
and swam around near the surface
so Joey could watch him.
Joey hadn’t taken a training course. He wasn’t a strong swimmer or very comfortable in the water. But he trusted his friend, and after watching Scott from the boat he felt he could do it. Joey and Scott were about the same size and the water was warm, so Joey simply strapped on Scott’s BC with its integrated weights, took his mask and fins and swam away from the boat. At first he stayed close, but then he slowly began swimming along the rock wall where they were anchored. Scott had taught Joey how to clear his ears and Joey was getting comfortable with this new feeling as he dropped down to about 20 feet.
The Accident
Joey was
doing fine, moving through the
water slowly. Since he had never
learned how to swim properly
with fins, he was using his
hands as much as he used his
legs to move around. He was
breathing hard from the
exertion, but he didn’t realize
that he wasn’t supposed to feel
that way. He noticed he wasn’t
moving as smoothly as his friend
had, but he knew that would come
with time and practice.
When the fin strap slipped off Joey’s foot and the fin floated away, he didn’t notice it at first. After a moment, he realized he wasn’t moving through the water and then looked down to realize his fin was gone. He panicked, not knowing what to do. He could think only that he needed to get back to the boat — Scott could help. He clawed his way toward the surface and immediately dropped the regulator from his mouth and screamed to Scott for help. He was about 20 yards away from the boat and it took Scott a moment to realize what was happening. Joey had no idea how to make himself positively buoyant, and he sank back underwater. This time, though, he didn’t have the regulator in his mouth. Panic set in as he suddenly couldn’t breathe or swim.
Scott didn’t have any gear, not even a mask or fins. He jumped into the water, but by the time he reached the spot where his friend had surfaced, Joey was gone and Scott didn’t have any way to find him. He swam around for a few minutes looking, but then remembered that the lake dropped off more than 100 feet where they were anchored. When Scott got back into the boat, he had no way to call for help, so he had to flag down another boater and wait for that boater to reach shore to call for help. It took nearly an hour for help to arrive.
Analysis
This type
of accident is rare, but it does
happen. A diver persuades a
friend to try diving, but the
untrained diver has no idea how
to handle a problem underwater.
In this case, Joey could have
made himself positively buoyant
using his BC and ditched his
weights so he could relax on the
surface. If he had been trained,
he wouldn’t have dropped his
regulator when he hit the
surface, or he at least would
have known how to find it when
he slid back underwater. At any
point, basic scuba diving
training would have taken over
and kept Joey from drowning.
If they’d had two sets of dive gear, Scott would have been beside Joey all along and could have helped him out, calming him and helping him to the surface. He also would have been able to find Joey after he descended back below the surface.
In short, Joey had no business being in the water. He was untrained and had no buddy to dive with, and there was no emergency backup should trouble arise, as it did. Scott wasn’t trained as a dive instructor and never should have taken his friend diving. Worse, he didn’t actually take his friend diving; rather, he gave him the tools to go diving by himself.
The last mistake Scott made was not having an emergency plan and a way to call for help. Divers make dives every day from private boats on lakes and in the ocean. Having a marine radio to call for help, and knowing how to use it, should be part of every emergency plan. Divers who aren’t prepared for an emergency lose valuable time that could be spent searching for a missing diver.
Lessons for Life
- Seek professional training before attempting to learn to dive.
- Do not take untrained divers diving with your gear unless you both have gear and unless you are trained as an instructor.
- Do not make solo dives without proper training and experience.
- Have an emergency assistance plan in case a diver from your private boat gets in trouble.
Eric Douglas is the director of training for Divers Alert Network. He also co-authored the book Scuba Diving Safety and has written a series of dive adventure novels and short stories. Check out his website at www.booksbyeric.com .
