dive professional responsibilities

[del_mo]

As I study my DM book and read over and over again the importance of using duty of care, I can't help think about an incident I witnessed not long ago when I was just a diver.

A diver aboard a liveaboard had an air-integrated computer. All good except the transducer wasn't working so he didn't know how much pressure he had. He chose to dive with the bad computer, saying that he uses less air than his buddy, so he'll just follow his buddies air consumption as he has before since his computer hadn't been working for some time. And that is how he dived.

Aboard the vessel was an instructor from an LDS as well as instructors and dive masters as part of the boats crew. I don't know if anyone said anything to him or not. But either way, at what point does a dive professional say, "it's you life (and maybe the life of your buddy)...good luck," or "you won't dive without proper working equipment" or "sign this ADDITIONAL waiver...."?

I don't seem to get a very clear answer from my LDS about how to handle such a situation.

 

[Dive-aholic]

If it's my boat, a boat I'm working on, or a trip I arranged, he isn't diving without knowing his air pressure. The liveaboard should have some extra equipment this diver could borrow. Knowingly letting this guy dive with that kind of malfunction is a law suit waiting to happen.

BTW, if I'm just a passenger on the trip, I'm telling the crew and demanding they do something. I don't want my trip to end halfway through because we have to get this guy's body back to port.

 

[ClayJar]

If it were a dive of which I was in charge, there's no way I'd let him dive. To me, that would seem to fall under "gross negligence" (as opposed to simple negligence), which would likely mean that if anything happened to him, I'd be up a creek, waivers be darned. (What if he set up on a tank with a short fill, for example?)

Of course, I have a spare SPG, and I'd be happy to rent it to him so he could dive, and as he knew about the problem earlier, he'd get the "idiot discount", making the rental price $50 (per dive). (Normally, people who have something break get the "Murphy's Special" rental rate, which happens to be $0 plus bring a snack next time.)

 

[Steve50]

I'm with ClayJar and Rob.

 

[wreckchick]

This situation happened to me recently only the diver in question was a fellow instructor. He asked what he should do and I sent him back to the boat only to have him show up on the dive a few minutes later. I gave him the "what's up?" signal and he pointed and gave it the OK so I carried on. At some point people are responsible for their own dives. I exercise care appropriate to the diver in question. I track newbies far more carefully than more experienced divers. I'm leading a dive not conducting a dive on other people's behalf.

Rachel

 

[fisherdvm]

From a legal point of view, if a diver told the DM or boat captain that his SPG was not working, you incurred the liability even if your waiver might say otherwise.

In this day and age, it is tougher to fight ambulance chasers than ever. They will sue even if they signed a waiver of liability. Waiver of liability is not always upheld in court.

I would not have let such a diver go under the water without additional waiver, witnesses, etc. I would probably not even let him get under the water - unless he had an pony ....

 

[Diveral]

That's why I try to carry spares of critical equipment.

 

[Gombessa]

In this day and age, it is tougher to fight ambulance chasers than ever. They will sue even if they signed a waiver of liability. Waiver of liability is not always upheld in court.

FYI, an ambulence chaser is a lawyer who actively solicits clients by seeking out people who are injured; the claims need not be frivolous. A lawyer who represents a diver who signs a waiver and then seeks representation to sue despite the waiver is not an ambulence chaser.

There are other things to call a lawyer takes a case knowing full well there is no legal basis for the claim But, there are also good reasons why courts in nearly every state have evolved to refuse to enforce a liability waiver for gross negligence (or maybe even mere neglience).

 

[namabiru]

Yeah, that guy sounds a bit asinine. Why would anyone fool around like that, going down without knowing your pressure, potentially putting yourself at risk and maybe ruining your buddy's dive when *you* magically realize that you're out of air...

 

[dk2943]

Almost every week we read about a diver, mostly experienced, who decided to skip a safety issue and then died. Forget the waiver, tell the DM! That diver should not dive!