Dont tell porky pies!

[cydiver]

Hi everyone,
thought i'd share an incident that happened to me (indirectly) some time ago.
I was on a pleasure boat dive at the time, so not working, but the boat skipper and instructors knew me, and so myself and buddy were told we could dive independently of the instructor-led dive. However, because we'd not dived the site before, we decided to take advantage of the instructors knowledge of the area, and decided to bimble along behind the other 4 relatively experienced divers in the group. The dive was great, 23 metres with excellent vis of 35m+, and went ahead with no problems whatsoever.
After a safety stop we all boarded the boat, discussing the dive and plans for later in the pub. It was at this point that i noticed the oldest diver in the group - mid-sixties - looked quite pale and wasn't talking. i asked if he was ok, and he responded by saying his vision was blurred and he was feeling nauseaus - after which he immediately vomited over the side of the boat. by now, the instructor was beside us, and we administered 100% oxygen from the boat kit immediately. The journey back to shore wasn't a long one, about 15 mins, but the diver got progressively worse in the short time it took us.
by the time we arrived back at shore transport was waiting for us (thanks to the skipper calling the dive centre on the way back), and the diver was diagnosed with suspected inner ear dcs (which did actually turned out to be a round window rupture). the diver was taken to the pot for a recompression as a precaution against any other problems, and made a recovery after a short time. However, it later transpired that this gentleman had previously had diving problems, and had paid a visit to the pot the previous year, but failed to disclose anything on his medical form saying as much. So ladies and gents, although this story has a (relatively) happy ending, if you do decide to tell a little white one on your green slip, bear in mind that you may not be as lucky.
safe diving.

[Dizzydiver]

Sounds like a very lucky escape for the person concerned.

Wise words from you though. Well posted (this might just stick in my mind if I ever have an issue I'm nervous to admit to in the future).

[Hickdive]

Oh yes. When I worked at Cydive (nearly 20 years ago now) we had a German couple turn up without any certs. They told us they had spent the previous 3 months diving round Thailand and had stopped off in Cyprus on the way home.

Mark (the boss) said he would let them dive without certs provided they completed a check out, fee of charge, with me, which shouldn't be a problem if they'd just spent so long diving in the far East.

I kitted them out and alarm bells began to ring when I asked them if they preferred a horse-collar or jacket BCD and they looked at either as if they'd never seen them before. They took the horse-collars and tried to put them on last, after their cylinder and weightbelts.

I sorted them out and asked them to do a buddy check. This consisted of rocking the 1st stage back and forth on its A-clamp. Satisfied, they pronounced themselves ready to dive.

We went out to do a few mask clears, fin pivots and the like. On the first mask clear (a partial one at that) he struggled but she bolted for the surface at her first attempt. I followed her up but her husband got between us and started shouting abuse at the poor woman who was floundering with her mask off and reg out trying not to drown. I popped her jacket CO2, towed her ashore and we all trooped back to the shop. I told Mark that the bloke need remedial training and that the woman needed training from scratch. They didn't come back to Cydive and went to the Dangerous Brothers instead.

So 1. Be very, very suspicious of people without certs.
2. If they look like sh*t kitting up they'll probably be sh*t under water, I should have held them in chest deep water when I saw how poor their skills were out of water and
3. Maintain a positive contact during mask skills so that you can control any bolt for the surface.

[Tonio Anastasi]

I remember a nurse, a while ago who wanted to go on a taster dive. I advised her that according to the local regulations, she had to undergo a medical.
She refused saying that she is a nurse and is medically qualified, and that she is perfectly fit never suffered any accident.
I insisted on the medical, and she was disqualified because a couple of years previously she was in an accident in which she had collapsed her lungs.

Facts that she had not disclosed, coast her injury or death, and caused me to live with a nightmare for a few months.
Tonio Anastasi
BSAC AI505
POWSI612103

[String]

We had a few incidents this summer where i worked due to people not being honest on the self cert form.

2 divers in total with ruptured ear drums (one DSD and one qualified).
Both had answered no to every single question on the form.


The DSD it transpired had done a try dive before and ruptured the ear drum and apparently had an existing weakness there. She knew this would preclude her from diving so lied on the form. (and then missed the flight home and other expenses as a result).

The qualified diver similar, had surgery in that area of the ear and had previously ruptured. Again, knowing a "yes" would mean no diving put no on the form and ruptured.

Through bad coincidence it was the same instructor that had both these incidents happen to him, no fault of his own though.

[msdkeith]

Unfortunately there is little we can do about people who put false information on the green sheets.

If divers were required to carry medical certs, regularly updated, that might address the problem but a) it would be a nightmare b) many casual divers would just quit c) such a scheme would never be global and d) medical problems can come up spontaneously.

We have to rely on people being fundamentally honest. If someone is daft enough to risk their health diving with a condition they know to be dodgy they have only themselves to blame. If they've signed a disclaimer. the dive leader should be covered. I won't dive with a cold, if someone else wants to dive with an inner ear problem or a heart condition, more fool them.

[Digger]

When I was working out there we had a giggle. I had been put on take it easy duties for the afternoon after being all but knocked out when someone kicked my head into a pillar valve (I was trying to help at the time!) - so I was waiter for the afternoon on the boat for a wedding party. Very nice. Easy ride, lots of tips. Yeah right.

After a couple of hours one woman was getting seasickness type smptoms. These developed into sun-stroke type symptoms. At this point someone pointed out that she had Labyrinthitis. I thought they were making some joke about getting lost in the middle of nowhere, but apparently causes problems with balance etc. - so what a great idea - a day out on the boat.

So we then had a problem, and needed to get this lady off our boat. We came in to the beach where our driver was ready to take her, but our boat wasn't going to get too close in - it was too shallow. Off came the tender, only to realise we'd got no fuel in the outboard. Oars? No chance. There was me, swimming in front of the boat, with a rope tied around my waist and a woman in the inflatable. It must have been half a mile, and it nearly killed me.

These things are sent to try us. Just keep seeing the solution, not the problem

There is very little you can do about someone who is determined to lie. The truth will out at some point, and if there was a serious incident you'd all be in the clear because they lied and that would be easy to prove.

Digs.