Amazz
Contributor
I think there may be a tendency to assume that a divemaster is expected to control the fate of a diver at all costs. First of all, a diver who required Mrs. Wood's level of assistance should never have been taken on a bottomless dive. That responsibility lies with the shop. However, if you don't know what the conversation was between the Woods and the staff before the dive, you can't speculate over what the shop knew or didn't know about their level of previous experience. "I haven't been in the water in a few months and would really like an instructor with me" could mean a diver is just being cautious or the diver has no business doing a dive with a 3,000 foot floor.
Don't assume that a diver will follow the divemaster's instructions. I have seen it many times and sometimes it's blatant. How did the diver get 20 ft. below the DM without her noticing? Maybe it was deliberate and quick, maybe the DM was careless. Maybe the diver thought she was inflating and was really dumping. I have seen that many times.
Here is what happened to me, here is how I handled it, and here is what went through my mind. Maybe some of it applies to Mrs. Wood's tragedy and why it may have ended the way it did.
I am an active divemaster in Jupiter. I have around 1500 dives. We used to take divers out to the Hole in the Wall which starts at about 130 ft. and bottoms out at 160 plus in certain areas. There are frequently very strong currents and large, sometimes aggressive sharks. An advanced C-card was required (which means nothing imho as far as experience goes.) After one particularly eventful dive, I decided NEVER EVER to divemaster that dive again. A diver not only put himself in a dangerous situation, but his potential rescuer (me) as well. There were two of us working. We gave a full briefing that stressed for all divers to stay with us the entire time. Bruce led the dive and I trailed at the end. The divers were all between us. After we descended I noticed that a young man and women hit the bottom at 130 ft. and started to go the wrong way. They were headed away from the ledge. I quickly gathered them and we proceeded toward the wall. I noticed we were about to fly over the Hole in the Wall, which is a big cavern swim through and the highlight of the dive. The current was SCREAMING that day. I grabbed the top of the cavern and motioned for the two divers to do the same. He started to have difficulty and I could tell he was either narced, overbreathing and CO2 building, or both. He gave me the ascend signal and I knew we had to get out of there quickly. I motioned for his girlfriend to ascend. She shook her head no. I vigorously motioned again and so did he. She proceeded to "argue" underwater with both of us. I grabbed his BCD and let go of the reef and we drifted away, starting a slow and controlled ascent. She followed. We stopped at about about 60-70 ft. for a minute or so. I was still holding his BCD. He motioned that he was ok and I let go. They started "arguing" again. I motioned for them to continue their ascent with me. He gave me the ok again. I glanced at my guage and noticed a bull shark coming toward us. It veered away and I noticed the two divers started sinking. I don't think I looked away for more than two seconds. I honked and got their attention and signaled for them to ascend. They shook their heads no, gave me the ok sign, and pointed that they were headed back to the bottom. I went with them as they seemed in control. I "told" them to stop at 100 ft. and continue the dive from there. The visibility was fantastic and there were schools of fish all through the water column. It would still be a great dive. They complied, briefly. Then they saw a diver below at 140 ft. with doubles. They descended to join him. I grabbed her tank valve and motioned for her to ascend again. She pushed me away and they continued to descend. What was I thinking? These two people have no regard for rules or safety and aren't doing a damn thing I'm telling them. I'm not going to die at 140 ft. by getting into a fight with two combative divers. They drifted along at 140 ft. for a few minutes. I watched from about 120 ft. Then they started ascending toward me. He showed me his guage and it read 300 psi!!!! Holy Sh........! I motioned for them to ascend with me. This time they were both compliant. He has 300 psi in his tank at 120 ft. I held his arm the entire ascent. The entire time I was thinking about what would happen if and when he took his last breath from the ever shrinking tank. I hoped it would at least happen at a shallow depth so I wouldn't have to share air with a panicked diver at a dangerous depth. We made it to the safety stop and spent almost three minutes there. I still held his arm until we reached the surface. However, the two of them once again started "arguing" during the safety stop. That's why I stopped working that dive. I know first hand how dangerous it can be to rescue somebody who is uncooperative at an unsafe depth. It's very easy to speculate that Mrs. Wood's divemaster was completely negligent in allowing her to sink 20 ft. below her. Maybe she was having bouyancy issues and inflated and dumped and dumped. Maybe she was a little overweighted and dumped too much. All it takes is a quick distraction. I found it shocking that my two divers started descending so quickly. You can all say I was wrong too. A lot can happen in two seconds. I would be much more willing to get into a rescue fight with a diver at 80 ft. than at 140 ft. I think a responsible divemaster thinks about the possibility of becoming a victim when the situation gets dangerous. I don't do that dive anymore so don't worry about me NOT rescuing any of you on it. What's a divemaster to do when divers don't follow instructions and deliberately go against what the dm says? We certainly don't know if that's the case with Mrs. Woods. It's only one piece of the speculation. There is so much that could have happened that it's unfair to blame it all on the dm.
Don't assume that a diver will follow the divemaster's instructions. I have seen it many times and sometimes it's blatant. How did the diver get 20 ft. below the DM without her noticing? Maybe it was deliberate and quick, maybe the DM was careless. Maybe the diver thought she was inflating and was really dumping. I have seen that many times.
Here is what happened to me, here is how I handled it, and here is what went through my mind. Maybe some of it applies to Mrs. Wood's tragedy and why it may have ended the way it did.
I am an active divemaster in Jupiter. I have around 1500 dives. We used to take divers out to the Hole in the Wall which starts at about 130 ft. and bottoms out at 160 plus in certain areas. There are frequently very strong currents and large, sometimes aggressive sharks. An advanced C-card was required (which means nothing imho as far as experience goes.) After one particularly eventful dive, I decided NEVER EVER to divemaster that dive again. A diver not only put himself in a dangerous situation, but his potential rescuer (me) as well. There were two of us working. We gave a full briefing that stressed for all divers to stay with us the entire time. Bruce led the dive and I trailed at the end. The divers were all between us. After we descended I noticed that a young man and women hit the bottom at 130 ft. and started to go the wrong way. They were headed away from the ledge. I quickly gathered them and we proceeded toward the wall. I noticed we were about to fly over the Hole in the Wall, which is a big cavern swim through and the highlight of the dive. The current was SCREAMING that day. I grabbed the top of the cavern and motioned for the two divers to do the same. He started to have difficulty and I could tell he was either narced, overbreathing and CO2 building, or both. He gave me the ascend signal and I knew we had to get out of there quickly. I motioned for his girlfriend to ascend. She shook her head no. I vigorously motioned again and so did he. She proceeded to "argue" underwater with both of us. I grabbed his BCD and let go of the reef and we drifted away, starting a slow and controlled ascent. She followed. We stopped at about about 60-70 ft. for a minute or so. I was still holding his BCD. He motioned that he was ok and I let go. They started "arguing" again. I motioned for them to continue their ascent with me. He gave me the ok again. I glanced at my guage and noticed a bull shark coming toward us. It veered away and I noticed the two divers started sinking. I don't think I looked away for more than two seconds. I honked and got their attention and signaled for them to ascend. They shook their heads no, gave me the ok sign, and pointed that they were headed back to the bottom. I went with them as they seemed in control. I "told" them to stop at 100 ft. and continue the dive from there. The visibility was fantastic and there were schools of fish all through the water column. It would still be a great dive. They complied, briefly. Then they saw a diver below at 140 ft. with doubles. They descended to join him. I grabbed her tank valve and motioned for her to ascend again. She pushed me away and they continued to descend. What was I thinking? These two people have no regard for rules or safety and aren't doing a damn thing I'm telling them. I'm not going to die at 140 ft. by getting into a fight with two combative divers. They drifted along at 140 ft. for a few minutes. I watched from about 120 ft. Then they started ascending toward me. He showed me his guage and it read 300 psi!!!! Holy Sh........! I motioned for them to ascend with me. This time they were both compliant. He has 300 psi in his tank at 120 ft. I held his arm the entire ascent. The entire time I was thinking about what would happen if and when he took his last breath from the ever shrinking tank. I hoped it would at least happen at a shallow depth so I wouldn't have to share air with a panicked diver at a dangerous depth. We made it to the safety stop and spent almost three minutes there. I still held his arm until we reached the surface. However, the two of them once again started "arguing" during the safety stop. That's why I stopped working that dive. I know first hand how dangerous it can be to rescue somebody who is uncooperative at an unsafe depth. It's very easy to speculate that Mrs. Wood's divemaster was completely negligent in allowing her to sink 20 ft. below her. Maybe she was having bouyancy issues and inflated and dumped and dumped. Maybe she was a little overweighted and dumped too much. All it takes is a quick distraction. I found it shocking that my two divers started descending so quickly. You can all say I was wrong too. A lot can happen in two seconds. I would be much more willing to get into a rescue fight with a diver at 80 ft. than at 140 ft. I think a responsible divemaster thinks about the possibility of becoming a victim when the situation gets dangerous. I don't do that dive anymore so don't worry about me NOT rescuing any of you on it. What's a divemaster to do when divers don't follow instructions and deliberately go against what the dm says? We certainly don't know if that's the case with Mrs. Woods. It's only one piece of the speculation. There is so much that could have happened that it's unfair to blame it all on the dm.
