Divemaster Responsibilities

[JCAT]

Pilot Fish,

My OW Check-out dives were in a cavern.
My first post OW dive was Solo off the Florida coast.
I routinely dive on a 175' deep vertical wall every other weekend in the summer.

None of this really matters, but I want you to know there is a vast range of diving experience in this thread. Don't be so quick to paint all divers the same.

 

[Web Monkey]

Well now that is a stretch. If you maintain a person on the boat, they do not necessarily need to be a DM, but they need to know how to operate a bopat safely, how to perform a surface rescue as well as many other things such as perform CPR, administer O2 etc.).

Freaked out Willie may or may not fit that bill.

Really? Why not? According to many in the thread the "DM"'s only responsibility is to swim around and find cool stuff.

If the DM is responsible for first aid and rescue skills, why isn't he responsible for trying to prevent the emergency in the first place?

Terry

 

[ScubaSteve]

Really? Why not? According to many in the thread the "DM"'s only responsibility is to swim around and find cool stuff.

If the DM is responsible for first aid and rescue skills, why isn't he responsible for trying to prevent the emergency in the first place?

Terry

Because in that scenario he was left on the boat.

 

[captain]

You don't need a Dive Master rating to do that? That could be done by freaked out Wille who last week was flipping burgers at Slims.

I would equate a recreational dive master to a commercial diving supervisor. He runs the dive from the surface and is responsible that the divers are knowledgeable of the procedures, conditions and safety considerations for the dive. The diving supervisor is usually the most experienced. I couldn't say that for all recreational DM's

 

[ScubaSteve]

I still believe that there are MANY people out there (New, Experienced, OW, DM, INST, PADI, NAUI, SSI.....) who have varying thoughts as to what their responsibilities are as compared to the beliefs of others.

Until those are aligned, I am afraid that this thread will NOT be last of its kind.


EDIT


And my personal belief is that NOBODY is correct in their thinking until it is very clearly spelled out and accepted by the other parties. Until that time, I see it as dodging responsibilities (but this may just be me).

 

[CDNScubaMoose]

Wow - I left for a couple of hours, came back to over a hundred posts and was hoping that some major insight had been found ... instead, it looks like I missed out on a part of the male anatomy measuring contest (although it does appear that it was a funny one)

But to answer Pilot Fish - for my first experience diving with a DM after certification looked a lot like white on rice. If I had been any closer to the DM I would have been inside the BCD with him. I recognized my limitations and realized that if something went wrong and I needed help then I wanted to be as close to that help as possible. I didn't expect them to follow me all over the dive.

Next - Why is that we see no issue with dive op's in the USA (and other locations) taking divers out and the DM staying on the surface and the divers seem to be safe in that situation. But as soon as that DM now goes in the water, these same divers are allowed to check their brains at the door?

After looking at the link about the poll on what are the expectations of a DM and seeing as that the majority of divers seem to be accepting of personal responsibility. I'm curious to those of you who believe the DM should be relied upon by the diver to a much higher level then I thought was reasonable (not saying my opinion is right - as this thread has been an eye opening exercise for me), what expectations should a DM have of those divers that he is leading? Should the DM be able to expect that a well trained diver can monitor their gas, can organize their own buddies, have enough situational awareness that they will stay with the group? Or should the expect the worst and then be pleasantly surprised?

 

[Riger]

Does anyone know if/where I could find the stats that would show number of scuba deaths relative to experience (number of dives)?

Also, the anatomy of accidents like this do intrigue me, is there a source of detailed scuba accident reports online in the public domain that anyone can link me to please?

Thanks in advance
Richard

PS : FBM, We are all friends now, no more fighting ... Any chance we can see that profile?

 

[captain]

I equate the recreational DM to a commercial diving supervisor. He runs the dive from the surface.
His job is to make the divers aware of conditions, dive procedures and safety procedures and follow the plan for the dive. He is usually the most experienced diver, something a can't say of all recreational DM's.
I can see a DM entering the water to check the anchor and water conditions and then reboard to brief the divers as to conditions underwater and site layout but not lead the divers like a seeing eye dog. If he is a sightseeing guide then lable him as such and expect nothing more.

 

[rsldonk]

Does anyone know if/where I could find the stats that would show number of scuba deaths relative to experience (number of dives)?

Also, the anatomy of accidents like this do intrigue me, is there a source of detailed scuba accident reports online in the public domain that anyone can link me to please?

Thanks in advance
Richard

PS : FBM, We are all friends now, no more fighting ... Any chance we can see that profile?

DAN has the most complete information, one of the benefits of DAN membership.

On interesting thing in their data is the number of incidents they have that are a result of what they term "fitness to dive." This would be things like MIs while diving stuff like that. Pretty interesting stuff, and great to plow through.

 

[Riger]

DAN has the most complete information, one of the benefits of DAN membership.

On interesting thing in their data is the number of incidents they have that are a result of what they term "fitness to dive." This would be things like MIs while diving stuff like that. Pretty interesting stuff, and great to plow through.

Thanks, one more thing, the DAN Europe and DAN North America sites look way different, is all the data available on both?


Thanks Again
Richard