Do not ever say you are a rescue diver

[Dody]

There has been a lot of threads about how a diver should introduce herself or himself to a new DS. I have a DM C- Card but I never claim I am a DM as I have never worked as such. I always say I am a Rescue Diver. 90% of the time, I dive with my wife as a buddy. I jump first, tell her I am ok and watch her jumping. I am more experienced than her and I want to be there if she has a problem (overweighted, valve problem,…).
Last week, diving in the Philippines, the DS decided that we would be three in a group. Two groups of 2 including the guide or DM and our group at the back. To make a long story short, the third « buddy » jumped without inflating his BCD and was probably overweighted. He immediately sunk. He was AOW, and should have been able to correct that rapidly but he was not. I saw it, went down in a rush but I could not equalize fast enough so had to slow down.
Eventually, the diver managed to to inflate his BCD and get back to the surface. A bit too fast though so we aborted the dive. Then, one Dive Director blamed me for not helping him and said I thought you were a rescue diver. I think he will never say that again after the sh*** I gave him but the point is:
1- If it was my wife, I would have risked rupturing my inner ear. I won’t do it for an insta-buddy.
2- I was a customer and not a guardian. Of course, you care for your buddy (even in a 3 guys team) but there are limits.
3- I should never have said that I am a rescue diver. Those folks believe that I would help them protecting their customers. From now on, I am just AOW with a 40 meters clearance.

 

[tursiops]

The Dive Director was an A$$H***.
Don't let someone else -- especially an A$$H*** -- decide if you were having a good day or a bad day.
You ARE a RD. Suck it up. Be proud of it.
If, in checking into a DS, they comment something like, "Hey! You are a RD! You can help if we have a problem!" Just tell them your fee is $100 per dive to be on duty, and free diving and gas.

 

[happy-diver]

You could practice this

went down in a rush but I could not equalize fast enough so had to slow down.

to avoid this

If it was my wife, I would have risked rupturing my inner ear.

 

[tursiops]

If it was my wife, I would have risked rupturing my inner ear.

It is the ear drum -- between the outer ear and the middle ear -- that ruptures, not the inner ear.

 

[Ana]

Last week, diving in the Philippines, the DS decided that we would be three in a group. .......... To make a long story short, ......... He .....He w.............. I saw it, went down in a rush but ...... .......

So you traveled to the Philippines to dive with your wife, but from the get-go, you followed someone else.

The problem I see has nothing to do with anything you said to the DS. Heroes don't get to complain about being heroes.

Unless you are getting paid, your wife has an issue, or something real happens you're supposed to mind your own business. You can't fix stupid. Besides, maybe he never meant to be on the surface when he jumped in, I never do.

 

[Edward3c]

The Dive Director was an A$$H***.
Don't let someone else -- especially an A$$H*** -- decide if you were having a good day or a bad day.
You ARE a RD. Suck it up. Be proud of it.
If, in checking into a DS, they comment something like, "Hey! You are a RD! You can help if we have a problem!" Just tell them your fee is $100 per dive to be on duty, and free diving and gas.

When I have been asked the US$2500 fee kills any further investment.

 

[Searcaigh]

I was a customer and not a guardian.

Key point.

Of course I will help but not at the expense of my health etc., plus I avoid diving in certain group scenarios whenever I can.

I show a Trimix card, works for both advanced + Nitrox

 

[johndiver999]

A strong diver can equalize very fast and effortlessly- on most days anyway. You were the guys buddy and allowed him to apparently plummet in an uncontrolled manner and were unable to provide assistance. If that were me, I would feel bad about that.

On the other hand you are a paying customer, and I would have told the guide to F off, for sure. Witnessing similar incidents has caused me to try to be very aware of the amount of lead a buddy is using. If it looks stupid, I would rather say something on the boat, and look like a dick, rather than be presented with an eardrum challenging incident in the water. Perhaps that is a good lesson from this situation?

However, with the popularity of integrated weights, it is not so simple as just looking at the skinny guy’s weight belt.

 

[J-Vo]

The first rule of rescue is to not create another victim. If you couldn't clear for what ever reason, you made the correct choice. As stated above, the DD is an A$$H***.

 

[-JD-]

A strong diver can equalize very fast and effortlessly- on most days anyway. You were the guys buddy and allowed him to apparently plummet in an uncontrolled manner and were unable to provide assistance. If that were me, I would feel bad about that.

IMO (re:Equalization) An overly broad statement that is misguided.

People can equalize as fast as they can equalize, subject to the interactions of anatomy, techniques/skill, and current constitutional status (congestion, recent traumas, etc.) Shaming someone who can't equalize fast enough to match someone in an uncontrolled descent is mean and, frankly, pretty arrogant.

As to "allowed him to apparently plummet in an uncontrolled manner". We simply don't have sufficient facts about the evolution of the entry and the "culture" of buddy-group interaction in the environment. On a recent live-aboard, it wasn't infrequent to have buddies gear up and drop off on opposite sides of the boat, meeting at the anchor line for descent. Hell, OP was aware enough to pay atention, and attempt prompt assistance. Frankly, that is way better than my (admittedly meager) expectation about assigned insta-buddies. Why didn't the paid (legally and ethically responsible) crew who was likely standing with the hapless diver at the entry notice that he was overweighted and/or not inflated.