OW Training accident

[abcitydiver]

Hi-
Please be patient as I set up the pre-accident scenario:

My partner and I were in Cozumel last January, ostensibly to get certified (and have a little topside vacation as well).
Friends who are very experienced rec divers and VERY familiar with Cozumel had arranged for a private instructor to take us through the entire process (He is a PADI instructor who certified their adult children and most of their other dive friends). We met him breifly Saturday evening and then the next morning on the beach for day one of instruction.

There are many twists that I think this thread could take re the advisability of quick 3 day courses, pool vs ocean etc...and I think they are valid conversations to have (here or otherwise), but I want to focus on the nature of this particular accident and get some reactions and opinions.

Day 1: Class work for two hours on the beach, then gear up (wearing bc's, weights, regs, etc...carrying fins)....stride into water. The day was beautiful, the water calm, clear and the beach....fairly ...simple. Sand, then a hard, smooth coral shelf at the waters edge. We stride into just enough water to float, don our fins and away we go.
We were in 20-30 feet of water for just over 40 minutes (I'm guessing here at the time). What I would think would be the usual set of aclimation issues, nothing too worrisome.
Then we come out of the water, walking to where we can stand/float so as to take off our fins.
I was out of the water and 25 feet ahead of my partner and the Dive Instructor when I heard her scream.
As I pivoted to see them behind me....my eyes took in the sight of her laying at the edge of the surf with her leg/foot in an ungodly position. I dropped my weight belt and BC instantly as I started to run back (really, I did..without even having the training to "know"...its pretty instinctive..dropping the weights).

As she and the instructor were walking up the coral shelf, she saw a depression/hole that she tried to step around, but her food hit a slippery spot and slid into the "hole". The hole seemingly locked around her ankle, and I believe the weight of the equipment coupled with her first time adjusting to land "Gravity" were complicit is taking her into the spin/fall that destroyed the bones in her leg (tib/fib..spiral fractures in smithereens).

My question(s) seem obvious to me, but I want to hear from you. For a first day diver, doing a surf entry, would it not seem more logical to first introduce the gear on land, and do a "dry" fitting, then take the BC/Tank and fins off, wade into the water, THEN put on the rest of this heavy gear....and reverse for exiting: take the bc/tank and fins off while still in the water, float them back, carry onto the beach?

I know there are inherent dangers in being at/in the water without your gear on/in place....but considering the adjustment to gear weight by new divers in conjunction with that sea leg feeling of just getting back on land.....
Obviously the question is complicated by the type of student, ie: physical condition, agility etc....
I'll look forward to hearing some thoughts!

Jane

[ertechsg]

For a first day with gear on you should have been in a pool not open water diving.
even after training I use a pool to check new gear out first

[sudnit5]

On the first day, I always thought a pool was in order. Then open water on the second.

[abcitydiver]

This dive outfit that our instructor worked with had no pool available to them.
I did see scores of classes (mostly small) taking place on the beaches of cozumel, especially at paradise reef, but even where we were staying, there was a dive operation and a small pool with the hotel - even they did not use the pool for any of their own classes.
I can certainly see where a day (or two or three) is smart in aclimating new divers to their equipment. But I watches scores of students get baptized by fire, so to speak. I, myself had no problem witih day one being in the water. And the water/surf was very "pool like" on that given day.
I also think there is a chance that i graduated a stronger newbie OW diver by spending ALL of my wet time in the ocean.
I'm not actually advocating one way or the other (I dont think) regarding day one being in a calm ocean, but more interrested in the issue of when equipment is put on, and taken off.

[tbuckalew]

There are some instructors that teach in calm/shallow areas of ocean without using a pool - it all comes down to who/where/when/how, etc. Now, I've only heard of a few and only met one myself.

However, the injury you mention could have happened to anyone - experienced or new. Unfortunate (and sounds like it wasn't pretty).

[abcitydiver]

I agree, the injury could have happened to anyone, and it could have happened to my partner by merely stepping off a sidewalk incorrectly.

But I do believe that it was more likely to happen because she was unacustomed to not only wearing weighty, but shifting gear (it was a bit loose) and by her not being acustomed to adjusting to weigiht in the water & out of the water.
So.....should new (or even more experienced divers) consider taking off equipment in the water and floating/carrying up onto dry land?

[Dark Coffee]

I have to agree with tbuckalew. While this is a terrible thing to have happen and I would think the instructor feels awful about it, that kind of accident can 'just happen'.

The shore dives I do are occasionally via a rocky path partially underwater. When the wind and waves start to kick up you try to be as careful as you can and I still manage to lose my footing the odd time.

I hope that your partner makes a full recovery!

[cummings66]

I tend to say that things happen, I don't think anything would have been different had your partner wore it the day before and got used to it. Think about this, you spend your entire life learning how to balance yourself without being back heavy, and for some they're still klutz's. Now take one day of experience with the new heavy backpack and ask this question. Do you think that's enough time to make a person relearn 20 or more years worth of inborn reactions?

A body is going to fall if you put it off balance, in fact many martial arts such as Judo take advantage of that fact. Push forward on somebody and they'll lean backwards and then push back at you at which time you pull and over they go. No amount of training will make a person immune to balance issues. I think it was an accident and would have happened had a diver with 1000 dives stepped there.

Confined water does not always mean a pool by the way.

Sorry about the accident, I'm sure it's going to be a long hard recovery and I hope you pass on my wishes to get better soon.

[abcitydiver]

Thank you, for your repsonses.....I'll go with the majority vote :-)