Real diving mishaps please

[SmithDiving]

As with most diving skils it is essential to discuss contingiency plans during the dive briefing and buddy checks.  Most divers gloss over this either because they've become complacent or because they're not really sure of themselves and are willing to let the buddy (who ever it is) take the lead and set the tone for the dive procedures. 

One thing that would really help is if divers took a few minutes on every dive to actually practice a simple skill with their buddy.  Not only would this create a safer situation for the buddy team, but other divers may see this and emulate some good behavior. 

There are lots of divers who say "I already know how to dive" and think they don't have to practice anything again.

I tell my students this; Imagine you learn to drive a car when your 16 years old and then don't drive again till your 40 years old when soemone puts you in a car in the middle of downtown Minneapolis during rush hour and you have to get yourself home.  No matter how good a driver you were when you were 16, the stress and lack of practice are going to make you much more likely to have an accident or cause unsafe situations for other drivers.

There are lots of 40 year old divers out there who were certified at 16.

We address these things in all our cert. classes.  During our NAUI Master Diver Course we create a "blind, out of air" situation where one buddy needs to follow along a line through the trees at Crosby till they come to their "out of air" buddy.
At this point they need to give the buddy their alt. air source and lead him/her back to shore, following the line, while blind.  This session is a real eye-opener for even the most experienced students.