pnw_diver
Contributor
Good grief! Give new divers a break. You don't have to take CPR, Jaws of Life instruction and fire management when you get your drivers license. And that's a sport where you *might* take out a crowd of third graders waiting for the bus!
Let's look at a few realistic scenarios.
* Your buddy panics for whatever reason (e.g. OOA) and starts to bolt for the surface.
* Your buddy is panicking at the surface, is negatively buoyant, flailing about, and rapidly finning to stay at the surface.
These are two scenarios that don't require CPR or other first aid/first responder skills, and are reasonably likely to result in the injury or death of your buddy if you don't know what to do. In the second case, do the wrong thing, and your buddy may take you with him.
Teaching the basic skills needed to handle these two situations takes little time, and could easily change what might be a fatal accident into a manageable situation.