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>Brian,
>Wholeheartedly agree that people should take responsibility for their 
>actions.  However, with an instructor/student - mentor/neophyte - 
>sempai/kohai relationship, there is a dynamic that requires extra 
>diligence and prudence by the person in the superior position.  He often 
>has the unquestioning trust of the person who he is training or 
>advising.  The student doesn't have the knowledge or experience to make an 
>intelligent decision, or, if he has a clue, his belief in his teacher is 
>such he puts aside any doubts he may have.  When some unethical scumbag 
>violates this relationship for monetary gain, he deserves more than our 
>condemnation.  When his student is then injured or killed, we should think 
>about renovating the torture chambers.
>
>Do not agree that IANTD instructors are the biggest idiots in the diving 
>business, but I think they are a close second or third.  My wife 
>complained to IANTD HQ about a year and a half ago about Drager 
>Dolphin/Ray training that was conducted by one of the their regional 
>luminaries who came to this small island.  One of the certified students 
>who subsequently enrolled in her Master Scuba Diver course (the old NAUI 
>Advanced course) expressed his anxiety about diving these 
>rebreathers.  When pressed for details, he volunteered that he had had 
>only one dive on each unit, spending about 50 minutes on one and 30 
>minutes on the other.  He also was unfamiliar with terms like "hypoxia" 
>and "hypercapnia."  My wife was understandably appalled and fired off an 
>e-mail to Tom Mount.  Mount did direct Joe Dituri to investigate, but he 
>also suggested that the reason for her complaint was typical jealousy 
>found in the dive industry, which was an incredible insult.  The facts 
>were indisputable and IANTD did force the offending instructor to return 
>and complete the training.  However, several of the students had already 
>left the island.  In addition, the dive shop that had hosted this travesty 
>was made an IANTD facility and it's owner, who had been forced to resign 
>from PADI several years before, was made an IANTD instructor.  So goes the 
>dive industry soap opera.
>
>How can you certify someone to dive any rebreather with one dive?  How can 
>you certify someone to dive a rebreather with four dives, which seems to 
>be the standard among agencies for the Drager units?
>
>Mr. Aboitiz's death was preventable, but not by those he put his trust 
>in.  On a local Philippine list, Alex Santos, IANTD's representative in 
>that country, although expressing deepest regret about the death of his 
>friend and protege, demands that his procedures not be questioned.  But 
>how can you not question the decision to leave someone alone in the water, 
>especially when that person is on something as risky as a 
>rebreather.  Basically, these folks have no procedures other than to make 
>them up as you go.  In what is an incredible coincidence, on the same day, 
>April 24th, 2003, a diver died diving an Azimuth rebreather in Willow 
>Springs Quarry in Pennsylvania.  He had stayed in the water after all 
>other divers exited to apparently continue his decompression at 15 feet.
>
>I had the opportunity to dive Tubbataha in 1980.  The beauty of the reefs 
>there were unsurpassed by any other location I've seen in the 
>Pacific.  The lush coral extended beyond 100 feet and the numerous free 
>swimming animals, large and small, were abundant beyond all 
>expectations.  I thought I was in Heaven.  If Mr. Aboitiz's soul is still 
>lingering there, I understand why.
>Gary Hagland
>Okinawa, Japan
>
>
>
>At 10:47 PM 7/12/03 -0400, you wrote:
>>  Sounds to me like the diver should have took some responsibility and
>>not participate in the dive, if he read the owners manual.
>>  Of course we all (SHOULD) know that IANTD is the biggest group of
>>idiots in the training business.
>>  I hate to hear of anyone dieing but come on use some common sense, if
>>the manual says not to take the unit past 130fsw don't do it! 99% of
>>YOUR safety is common sense.
>>  Brian Hunter


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