Dive ops & DM's

[cdiver2]

A friend that was diving in the red sea related this story to me. Now I know we have had a lot of threads on DM's duty's and What a dive op should require a diver has to have equipment wise but this to me borders on recklessness on the Diver, DM and dive op.
PS the diver in question had rental gear.





The comments on one photo about 42 metres deep is a reference to the guy shown on it, a Doctor, he was on the boat to do his PADI advanced course but as no one had advised the company there was no instructor on the boat so it was cancelled. He was therefore, under PADI Rules, only qualified to dive to 18 metres. During a wall dive I had just finished taking a photo of two 10ft congers getting friendly at 30 metres. I glanced down as I clipped my camera away and spotted him below me Solo, he was supposed to be buddied with the divemaster. I immediately did a vertical nose dive to get him, he was just over 41 Metres down. As we came up I checked his air and he was very low, then I went to check his computer! there wasn't one? There was also no depth guage. When I checked my computer I noted we were into deco already so I ended up doing a slow ascent and keeping him at 9 metres until the deco dropped off then did an extra 6 mins for safety at 6 metres before surfacing. I won't go into what I said to the boat divemaster, but he didn't get his tip from anyone on the boat at the end of the holiday, he couldn't argue with what I had said, as an active paid up PADI Divemaster I know the rules, he could have lost his job.

 

[Scubakevdm]

Somewhat less than clever but sadly, not suprising.

 

[Diver0001]

The comments on one photo about 42 metres deep is a reference to the guy shown on it, a Doctor, he was on the boat to do his PADI advanced course but as no one had advised the company there was no instructor on the boat so it was cancelled. He was therefore, under PADI Rules, only qualified to dive to 18 metres. During a wall dive I had just finished taking a photo of two 10ft congers getting friendly at 30 metres. I glanced down as I clipped my camera away and spotted him below me Solo, he was supposed to be buddied with the divemaster. I immediately did a vertical nose dive to get him, he was just over 41 Metres down. As we came up I checked his air and he was very low, then I went to check his computer! there wasn't one? There was also no depth guage. When I checked my computer I noted we were into deco already so I ended up doing a slow ascent and keeping him at 9 metres until the deco dropped off then did an extra 6 mins for safety at 6 metres before surfacing. I won't go into what I said to the boat divemaster, but he didn't get his tip from anyone on the boat at the end of the holiday, he couldn't argue with what I had said, as an active paid up PADI Divemaster I know the rules, he could have lost his job.

This is the reason DM's should never buddy up with the other divers on guided dives..... But the DM was *not* the one who drilled the hole in the Doctor's skull.

R..

 

[Al Mialkovsky]

This is the reason DM's should never buddy up with the other divers on guided dives..... But the DM was *not* the one who drilled the hole in the Doctor's skull.

R..

I recall a really really really long thread a few weeks back where a diver complained that he "thought" he was buddied up with the DM and then blasted the DM for swimiing away from him.

 

[cdiver2]

This is the reason DM's should never buddy up with the other divers on guided dives..... But the DM was *not* the one who drilled the hole in the Doctor's skull.

R..

I did not get the impression it was a guided tour just the Dr needed a buddy and the DM was it. This is not unusual on a recent trip to Yap I became sick and the a DM became my wife's buddy.

 

[cdiver2]

We have a thread running right now where it has been suggested that a dive op should make it mandatory to carry a SMB, here we have a dive op that not only doe's not make it mandatory to have a depth gauge but rents equipment without one !

 

[alcina]

Again, looks like enough different judgement calls to go around. The Doctor should never have left his buddy in the first place...and he shouldn't have forgotten the dive brief, which I'd guess didn't say wander off to 41m.

As I wasn't there, I don't know what the DM/buddy and the Doctor discussed about buddy procedures, but if the DM was also the guide, his buddy role was secondary.

As an aside: 18m is PADIs (and other agencies) standard maximum depth for Open Water Divers. It is not a rule or a law (in general) that dive operators have to follow. Dive operators will allow open water divers to dive beyond 18m in a great many cases, in a great many areas of the world. A lot will depend on the diver's experience, the location and local regulations and the dive operator. We need to remember that the standards training courses are run to are NOT what real world divers or operators are held to.

 

[daniel f aleman]

This is the reason DM's should never buddy up with the other divers on guided dives..... But the DM was *not* the one who drilled the hole in the Doctor's skull.

R..

You got it. Darwin was waiting...

I never buddy with divers of whom I am responsible. Two divers minimum (always as a buddy team), and up to 12 divers total, watched by two diving buddied-up divemasters (one of whom is the "lead" divemaster for that dive). We brief the dive profile extensively with new divers and/or divers who haven't dived the current location.

"Take 'em out, show 'em a good time, and bring 'em back alive."

 

[Web Monkey]

Everybody was just kicking Darwin in the b******, daring him to come take this guy.

As much as I'd like to dump on the DM and whoever did the rental (they certainly deserve it), ultimately it was the diver's responsibility to make sure he had everything he needed to dive safely.

It was very nice of you to go get him, since it's unlikely he was aware he was in deco, and probably would have just wandered around until he was OOA, then rocketed for the surface and died.

Most new divers are taught about various emergency ascents, but I don't think most understand that it's possible to have depth/time combinations that don't allow them to immediately surface, along with tank pressure that doesn't allow them to stay.

This guy owes you something along the lines of a new Ferrari, or maybe a vacation home in Hawaii.

Terry

A friend that was diving in the red sea related this story to me. Now I know we have had a lot of threads on DM's duty's and What a dive op should require a diver has to have equipment wise but this to me borders on recklessness on the Diver, DM and dive op.
PS the diver in question had rental gear.

The comments on one photo about 42 metres deep is a reference to the guy shown on it, a Doctor, he was on the boat to do his PADI advanced course but as no one have

 

[Jim Lapenta]

Let's see. No depth guage, no computer, no buddy, and just doing his aow. I really want this guy to treat me in the ER. Regardless of the DM and the boat. This is a certified diver you are talking about. The responsibility is his and his alone from the time he picked up the gear and should have seen it was not complete. After he got on the boat the DM should not have allowed him in the water until he started to make a fuss which he most likely would have done. At which point he should have been required to sign a release stating he was stupid and knew it and let him go.