Bahamas: Missing Female Diver

[ScooterSouthFlorida]

I know that when I dive, I want to enjoy it. If I have to watch a buddy like a hawk and am a babysitter, I'm not going to enjoy the dive. I expect a buddy will feel the same way.

Why does this thread take turns into entirely different dive scenarios???

I don't believe anyone has implied here or even stated that a BUDDY has to watch his other buddy like a hawk or babysit; this is not a story of a buddy completely failing to be a good dive buddy, but of how a DM was 'in charge' of another diver and assigned to be a buddy, then failed to use any sort of diligence which resulted in a divers death. This was PREVENTABLE had the DM done her job, which is to not have this diver get into this situation in the first place! You wanna hold the DM certification, you are then accepting you will be held to a higher standard then 'Joe Resort-Course diver' on every dive you make in the future, no matter for fun or work.

 

[mrlipis]

but of how a DM was 'in charge' of another diver and assigned to be a buddy, then failed to use any sort of diligence which resulted in a divers death.

While I don't know if you have been following this thread, how and why this DM ended up on this dive has been unsubstantiated. If we are trying to find culpability this is an important piece of information. She may very well have been added to the boat because of the amount of divers. Her primary role may have been simply an additional DM regardless of whether or not she was "buddied" with Mrs. Wood. If she was an additional DM she had other responsibilities, which could explain Mrs. Wood getting separated as far as she did. Hopefully Onlyhalcyon is able to get that information.

 

[Only halcyon]

While I don't know if you have been following this thread, how and why this DM ended up on this dive has been unsubstantiated. If we are trying to find culpability this is an important piece of information. She may very well have been added to the boat because of the amount of divers. Her primary role may have been simply an additional DM regardless of whether or not she was "buddied" with Mrs. Wood. If she was an additional DM she had other responsibilities, which could explain Mrs. Wood getting separated as far as she did. Hopefully Onlyhalcyon is able to get that information.

From what I understand the DM in question was part of the crew and not a DM hired only to take care of Ms Wood, but after reading other posts it seems that may not have been the case. I emailed the dive invest guys only moments ago who were requesting the download from my dive computer that morning so hopefully we will know the true answer to this question soon.

 

[Only halcyon]

If she was an additional DM she had other responsibilities, which could explain Mrs. Wood getting separated as far as she did. Hopefully Onlyhalcyon is able to get that information.

After reading your post again I can say that the DM was not performing any other duties at the time when Ms Wood seperated. My wife and I were to my knowledge almost at the back of the group and there were very few if any other divers behind us, with the exception of those two. It would be highly likely that they were the last 2 divers since in this position the DM would be able to perform two tasks, DM to Ms Wood, and look out for any divers who may have been left behind by the group. I will be able to confirm this once I receive the reply from the Dive Invst's.

 

[Thalassamania]

The only real way to comfirm this is by looking at the bill and checking past SOP.

 

[Only halcyon]

Who are the dive investigators and whom do they work for? My past experience with Bahamian cases (and that was a long time about, things may well have changed) would lead me to expect that they are local police, poorly trained, with more interest in glossing thinks over and keeping local businesses and tourist board happy than in actually getting at the truth.

The dive investigators are not form the Bahamas. They are based in Boca Raton FL, I am not sure who hired their services.

 

[Thalassamania]

In that case I really must ask:

who are they?
whom do they work for?
what are their qualifications?

I'm now really curious, in all my years I've never heard of such a thing.

 

[mrlipis]

My wife and I were to my knowledge almost at the back of the group and there were very few if any other divers behind us, with the exception of those two.

I am not challenging this statement but I thought you and your wife were the last ones in the group, do to her equalization problems.
There have been many insinuations that the DM should have never let Mrs. Wood get separated. Unless the DM had Mrs. Wood had an agreement, whether written or verbal, the DM got on that boat and became an even number. She and Mrs. Wood "buddied up" just like the hundreds of other times a single diver needed a buddy. I do believe that the DM was the last one to get on the boat and while I am speculating it seems to me she was simply a last minute addition.

I would also be curious if Onlyhalcyon remembers any interaction between the DM and Mrs. Wood on the trip to the dive site. If I am hired as a personal DM, I can assure you, I am going to find out as much as I can about my clients experience and why they feel it necessary to hire me. If she was a hired DM, I would expect there was a great deal of pre dive conversation.

Bruce

 

[cappyjon431]

In that case I really must ask:

who are they?
whom do they work for?
what are their qualifications?

I'm now really curious, in all my years I've never heard of such a thing.

Sounds strange to me too. I was involved with a couple of fatalities in the Bahamas (both later determined to be heart attacks) and it was just the Bahamian police investigating. Perhaps they are investigators for an insurance company (for either Stuart Cove's or Mr. Wood)?

 

[CDNScubaMoose]

Its taken me 3 days to get through this thread. To be honest, my thoughts and opinions have danced all over the place - both from additional information coming forward and from the opinions of the various thread participants. I would like to thank both groups since this thread has caused me to ask questions of myself and force me to think outside of my usual viewpoints.

I was before, and still am a firm believer in that you are ultimately responsible for your own actions. I think it is fool hardy to put your safety in someone else's hands (especially someone you just met). The one analogy that I came up with would be that if I got in an accident due to excessive speed and then being pissed off at the cops (who's salary I pay via taxes ) for not catching me in the first place.

However, as an instructor I also train my DMC's to be ready for just about anything and expect the worst. At the very least they will be prepared for just about anything and most likely won't have to resort to their preperations for the worst case scenerio. So with this in mind, I initially had some serious concerns about the DM in question ... I realize there is some missing holes about just what her role was but I think it was pretty clear that at some point she realized there was an issue and attempted to address it. Several posters commented on their belief that it would be next to impossible to get an unwilling diver to the surface - my first thought was that a) these posters hadn't taken a rescue course or b) their rescue course had some serious lapses. But, as I thought about it I realized, that I had never really attempted to get a diver who was unwilling to ascend to the surface - panic diver on the surface (yep), non-responsive or diver unable to ascend (in training), a panic diver at depth that most definitely wanted to get to the surface (and fast) but the thought of a diver "who didn't want to ascend", was something I hadn't thought of before.

So I am now planning on doing a little experiment - I have a couple DMC's right now that are pretty fit in the 30-40 range. I am going to set up a rescue scenerio at a local site (25' max depth) and have one of the DMC's attempt to fend me off/prevent me from bringing them to the surface. Guidelines will be that they can't lay on their back (I have to be able to get at the tank valve), and no weapons. I also plan on having a safety diver in the water with me. I realize that the victim in this case was an elderly woman but I am a bit bigger then the DM in question was so I hope that this equates a bit. The one question that I have about bringing an unwilling diver to the surface that this won't cover is what effect the narcosis might have played on the DM ... I have experience that narcosis can start in the 80' range and it doesn't take a huge leap of faith for me to believe that if I saw my insta-buddy at 80' not responding to my communication to come shallower and in fact attempted to impede my efforts ... I could definitely have a ***??? moment or two and can not for 100% certainity say I would know how to handle that situation.

I am curious if it was ever established what the victim's dive experience was? I remember some speculation that she, her husband and his buddy/friend were relatively new since they didn't interact much on the boat with other divers and from my own speculation, the fact that she was in rental gear would suggest she wasn't as immersed into the sport as some of us have become. I also seem to remember a poster mentioning (and I believe s/he) was an instructor that they knew the victim outside of diving and the victim had told them they were getting into the sport - if this poster is still reading this, can you tell us how long ago this was?

I am also a bit of a photog and although I try to avoid the stereotypical "poor buddy" skills that can be common, I do expect my buddy to not wander off either. I will admit to having experience where buddy contact wasn't the best and have had 10-15' seperation, 20' is a bit much but not unbelievable (especially in good vis conditions). I struggle with a DM allowing that much of a gap but I can appreciate that if the victim didn't have good buddy skills then it could happen pretty easily (say if the victim saw a shark or something else that was speculated about). It doesn't take long to cover 20' ... I guess what I am saying is that I can see how the victim could have gotten away. To the posters that suggested stronger buddy contact by the DM was in order ... I was on a trip where my insta-buddy was determined to get into my BCD with me (or at least it seemed). After the first dive I asked her to just give me a little more space so that we didn't keep running into each other which made my diving a lot more enjoyable. I believe it is a bit much to expect DM's to hold the hand or tank valve of a certified diver ... there has to be some expectation that a certified diver can function on their own.