AOW/Rescue Diver Not Respected

[scubadada]

I recently did a Red Sea liveaboard. On the first dive, my experienced, but 1st time buddy did a "check out' dive. We swam down the reef without the DM and came back to the boat on time. I guess we passed.

 

[Lorenzoid]

You pose some good questions.

. . . So many people on this forum like to say that we are all responsible for our own safety and dive profile that I am somewhat amazed that this issue has been so positive regarding check out dives. Is personal responsibility now really the responsibility of the dive op? If they say I am good to go and something untoward happens is it then the dive ops fault for not observing the behavior that led to the problem? It seems to me that the more a dive op checks out divers abilities the more responsibility and liability they assume since they are the ones that approved my skills.

I think there's an assumption among dive ops--right or wrong--that there are a lot of unsafe divers out there. A dive op that takes such a hands-off approach might spend a lot of time and money defending lawsuits, even if their strategy makes sense from a legal perspective. I think it would be less costly to do everything they can to avoid injuries in the first place.

 

[DevonDiver]

I think there's an assumption among dive ops... that there are a lot of unsafe divers out there.

Why would dive operators need to assume, when they are in a position to directly observe and know?

 

[EarlJonesIII]

At the dive shop here in town you can be a OW diver, AOW diver, Nitrox Certified, and Rescue Diver all in one month if you wanted to spend the money and had the time. You can even be a "Master SCUBA Diver" in a couple of months, again, if you have the money and time. That's why PADI certs don't mean very much. They are sort of like the Doctorate Degrees you can buy online for $59.00

That's why all the caution from dive shops that don't know you. They don't want to be sued because they took a "30-day wonder" out on a charter and he died. If you can demonstrate the skills and answer some hands-on questions there's less chance you just memorized all the answers from the Knowledge Reviews in the manual.

I took the Open Water refresher course earlier this year. I swear, we had one guy in the class who took the exam 6 times before he passed it that day. We were all done about 2 pm so all the other students left. I came back about 6 pm to buy some gear and he was just leaving.

 

[Lorenzoid]

Why would dive operators need to assume, when they are in a position to directly observe and know?

What I meant was that an individual dive op may observe some divers who appear to dive safely and others who don't, but in deciding whether to impose check-out dives as a policy they probably look further than just their own experiences and try to take a more statistical view. For instance, they probably hear from other dive ops in the area about the frequency of unsafe divers. Maybe "assume" was the wrong choice of word.

Then again, if a dive op is seeing unsafe divers day in and day out, they don't need to look any further. Is it really that bad out there? You sure wouldn't know it from us FIGJAMers here on SB

 

[DevonDiver]

Out of curiosity...

Of the divers in this thread who are opposed to check out dives:

1. How many practice air-share ascents did you practice in the last 6 months / 50 fun dives?

2. How many practice mask remove/replaces did you practice in the last 6 months / 50 fun dives?

3. How many dives did you practice LPI oral inflation buoyancy control on in the last 6 months / 50 fun dives?

4. How many practice dives did you have sole responsibility for navigating in the last 6 months / 50 fun dives?

5. How many practice recoveries of unresponsive divers did you practice in the last 6 months / 50 fun dives?

Just asking...

 

[tursiops]

Out of curiosity...

Of the divers in this thread who are opposed to check out dives:

1. How many practice air-share ascents did you practice in the last 6 months / 50 fun dives?

2. How many practice mask remove/replaces did you practice in the last 6 months / 50 fun dives?

3. How many dives did you practice LPI oral inflation buoyancy control on in the last 6 months / 50 fun dives?

4. How many practice dives did you have sole responsibility for navigating in the last 6 months / 50 fun dives?

5. How many practice recoveries of unresponsive divers did you practice in the last 6 months / 50 fun dives?

Just asking...

And how many have dived at all in the last 6 months?
And how many months has it taken you to do your last 50 dives?

 

[Storker]

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A ScubaBoard Staff Message...

Just a reminder that this thread is in Basic Scuba Discussions, which has its own special rules:

This forum is intended to be a very friendly, "flame free zone" where divers of any skill level may ask questions about basic scuba topics without fear of being accosted. Please show respect and courtesy at all times. Remember that the inquirer is looking for answers that they can understand. This is a learning zone and consequently, any off-topic or overly harsh responses will be removed.

So let's keep it respectful and courteous, OK?

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[dumpsterDiver]

Out of curiosity...

Of the divers in this thread who are opposed to check out dives:

1. How many practice air-share ascents did you practice in the last 6 months / 50 fun dives?

2. How many practice mask remove/replaces did you practice in the last 6 months / 50 fun dives?

3. How many dives did you practice LPI oral inflation buoyancy control on in the last 6 months / 50 fun dives?

4. How many practice dives did you have sole responsibility for navigating in the last 6 months / 50 fun dives?

5. How many practice recoveries of unresponsive divers did you practice in the last 6 months / 50 fun dives?

Just asking...

Your questions are blatantly irrelevant if the check out dives don't include all of those activities... which is extremely unlikely. That is why the check out dive is potentially so distasteful...because it does not really allow demonstration of advanced skills,.. more likely...just minimal ow competence

 

[tursiops]

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A ScubaBoard Staff Message...

Just a reminder that this thread is in Basic Scuba Discussions, which has its own special rules:



So let's keep it respectful and courteous, OK?

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LOL.
The thread is in the wrong forum, for both its intent and its content.