His actions were incompetent. OK, then, so what about the questions I asked above? I'll try again.
1. How would anyone have known he was not competent to rescue his wife before that dive, and who would have required that his Rescue Diver credentials be revoked? (He was certified by NASDS, an organization that had folded into SSI, so there was no agency to revoke his credentials.)
2. Who would have had the authority to remove his credentials once they noticed his incompetence?
3. How would that have changed anything? Are people without Rescue Diver credentials not allowed to dive?
4. Wouldn't a checkout dive have revealed that neither Gabe nor his wife was ready for the dive they did have solved the problem? (BTW, the dive operator was fined for failing to do the checkout dive that was a part of their policy.)
5. How do you know a refresher course would not have solved his problem?
1. They wouldn't.
2. Under the present system, no one, since there is no authority to revoke, suspend, or anything, no matter what one does.
3. It wouldn't have changed the incident. But it might keep Congress of the sport's back if it kept on happening. They'd see that the sport polices itself so government intervention would be neither necessary not politically popular.
4. I don't know. Does a checkout dive test how you would respond real-time to a diver in distress? But a checkout dive might have shown incompetence, or might not have.
5. I don't.
You missed my point. I am not asking how it happens now. I know that. I want to know how you would like to see it done.