pilot fish:
Good, logical question, Gratefull. We, as OW and AOW divers, are taught some basic skills to put into use if we need to help ourselves. It is my contention that Dive Ops need to have the same thing in place to get to the distressed diver quickly. I'm saying it needs to be looked at, studied, and a plan in place for that contingentcy, especailly at a site like the Grove. If a Dive Op cannot extend MINIMUM care to the divers on the boat they should not be taking divers to that site.
When you get around to taking a Rescue class you will learn the following:
- Every decision you will make as a rescuer will involve trade-offs.
- You cannot anticipate and plan for every contingency.
- Those you do anticipate and plan for will most often not happen the way you expect them to.
- Your first priority is to maintain your own safety. You cannot help someone else by jeopardizing yourself. Creating a second victim (yourself) will only complicate matters.
- When affecting a rescue, you stop, think, then act. One of the things you are stopping to think about is how your actions will affect other divers.
- Distressed divers are often a danger not only to themselves, but also to anyone who might be trying to rescue them.
- Sometimes your best option is to not attempt the rescue at all.
These are often hard decisions ... they are also reality.
I have to believe that this boat captain considered all of these things. He had a responsibility not only to this diver, but to the other divers. In the case where these two responsibilities conflict, he has to decide to act in a way that will produce the best potential outcome ... keeping in mind that he probably left his crystal ball on shore that day and could not predict the outcome of any decision.
Now, if this diver were the only customer on the boat that day, then I would say that you have a legitimate concern ... but the captain had an equal duty to not take any action that might place the divers remaining in the water in jeopardy.
I'll repeat ... this diver was ON THE SURFACE! Had the diver followed his basic training, as the captain has a right to expect him to ... chances are that the worst that would've happened is that he'd have floated away from the wreck for some distance until he could be safely pulled from the water. It is possible that he could not do that, for some reason ... but from the news stories he was conscious and coherent, so the captain had a reasonable expectation that the guy was capable of dumping his weights to maintain flotation.
To my concern, an expectation of minimum care extends to assessing the diving conditions, making a reasonable judgment as to whether or not to do the dive, and responding to unforeseen circumstances in a responsible manner. It's a bit unreasonable to expect the captain to anticipate every possible thing that can go wrong (inclusive of divers not doing as they are trained to do), and jeopardize his boat and the other divers in order to run to the aid of someone who is in a position to help himself.
... Bob (Grateful Diver)
