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JoeL- For the sake of argument, lets say what Tom said was true. What he didn't say was that the FAA requires two pilots (redundancy). Bruic ----- Original Message ----- From: Joel Markwell <joeldm@mi*.co*> To: Mike Bruic <mikebruic@di*.co*>; <cavers@cavers.com> Sent: Friday, April 07, 2000 2:36 PM Subject: Re: Vote Tally > Mike, > > It's just common sense that someone who has had heart surgery is not a good > candidate for a sport like ours that is: > > --Stressful > --Dangerous > --Physically demanding > --Has moments of easy swimming and low stress punctuated by extreme > physical effort and high stress. > --Requires good flexibility. > --Requires good blood perfusion and low blood pressure. > --Requires a clear head at all times. > > I'm not here to specifically criticize Bill. I don't know enough about his > condition. He's devoted a lot of effort to cave diving and has done some > good things for cavers, like the steps at Peacock. However, I know that if I > required heart surgery in my 50s, that'd be it. It's very likely I'd give up > cave diving altogether, but I KNOW that were I an instructor, I'd give up > in-water teaching. > > Tom makes a point about airline pilots: > > >There are numerous airline pilots who have had heart attacks > >and have been returned to their jobs as Captains on airlines > >with a hell of a lot of responsibility. > > This may be true, I don't know. But I do know that at age 60, healthy or > not, no matter if the guy's running marathons in his off-hours, all > commercial pilots must retire--no exceptions. > > And flying an airliner is no where near as physically demanding as cave > diving routinely is. > > The point is that we all will have to stop someday. Some sooner than others. > We all die. But it's the responsibility of those who hold other's lives in > their hands to take a hard look at themselves every time they go out. To me, > overweight might be passable (though not really acceptable), but overweight, > advanced age and heart condition/surgery is not. > > This is why as cave divers we have a higher responsibility to keep fit if we > really want to pursue our sport responsibly. The problem is that the > physical demands are negotiable even to a totally out of shape diver until > the shit hits the fan. Then that diver just might die and take a buddy, > endanger a recovery diver and leave a family in grief and financial > hardship. Responsibility is something that maybe just doesn't get taught > enough in the cave course. And Responsibility is 99% of characterizes the > instructor's job. > > Later, > > JoeL > >
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