Do not ever say you are a rescue diver

[Nemrod]

I have never splashed with a deflated wing, except in a few cases when we were doing a "hot drop" - somethign I don't care for. Otherwise, it always seems safer to make the final decision to descend when you are actually in the water, rather than on the boat deck.

I am never so over weighted that it matters. I usually have to kick down until my suit compresses and dumps the trapped air. If I were in my drysuit, RIP old feller, it was plenty buoyant on it's own.

I have over and over watched people drop in with current and by the time they get negative to descend they are off the ledge or reef. I try to avoid all of the cf that goes on with all of that fuss.

 

[Alaskan Scuba Dude]

Were you momentarily distracted during the briefing and buddy checks?

 

[kinoons]

As a former Fire Dept. rescue diver for 30 years, we were always told to never mention our certification level when recreational diving due to legal repercussions, (thank you lawyers). Better to dig out the old AOW card keep your mouth shut and smile. You better believe that if someone dies on the boat the lawyers will investigate everyone's cert level and you will be grilled on why you didn't save their life since you had the training, (again, thank you lawyers ).

This is a commonly held belief that I’ve never seen come true in my 10+ years of EMS experience or 20+ years total of emergency medicine experience.

If you’re not on the clock you have no duty to act (5ish states have laws saying bystanders must help, know your state laws)

Blood Pressure | TheEMTSpot

The science of pressure might be too complicated, but when it comes to your blood pressure, it is too easy to understand because, on this page, we have everything you need to understand about your heart and blood pressure

www.theemtspot.com

If you’re not on the clock you don’t have a large malpractice insurance policy covering you.

Both of those facts make the trained bystander a very unappealing target for a lawyer. Yes you can get sued. Anyone can sue anyone for just about anything.

None the less, you don’t even need a lawyer to fight that one. If you’re not on the clock you have no duty to act. Even if your state has a law requiring action I don’t believe any require you to place yourself in peril, like trying to rescue a drowning diver.

And since you don’t have a several hundred thousand to million dollar insurance policy covering you, lawyers know they won’t get any large settlement from the average Joe (if your a million dollar diver then YMMV), the lawyers will go after the parties with large insurance coverage.

I’ve been through malpractice suits, and I’ve been the Good Samaritan. I’ve never seen a Good Samaritan get sued, and I’ve never seen or heard of someone not responding getting dragged into the case.

With all of that in mind, operate however makes you comfortable. If I’m in a situation I don’t want to deal with the medical questions and someone asks what I do, I fix computers.

If I see a crash in town without EMS responders yet I drive right by. (If I witness the crash I may stop to be a witness, not render aid). EMS will be there soon enough.

If I’m driving cross country and see a crash, I’ll likely stop, as I know aid may be some time a way.

Thankfully as of yet I haven’t needed to intervene on a dive boat. If I did or not would likely revolve around how sick someone was and how far away help is.

(All of this applies in the United States. I have no knowledge of international duty to act requirements)

 

[Centrals]

Interesting incidence!
What would you do if you were there?
I would have dived in if I was properly gear up.
As for being asked the highest qualification by the dive operator? Only a few operators I came across have asked such a question on their registration form. I put down AOW but show the IANTD Tec Nitrox card in case Nitrox is available.

 

[Searcaigh]

and I got a discount on the dive.

Only a discount? It should have been free.

 

[Trace Malinowski]

If great minds think alike, I'm sure others here remember the Tina Watson death in Australia in which her husband was accused of murdering her because he failed to act as a rescue diver. Death of Tina Watson - Wikipedia

New evidence​

Colin McKenzie, a key diving expert in the original investigation who had maintained that "a diver with Watson's training should have been able to bring Tina up", subsequently retracted much of his testimony after being provided with Tina and Watson's diver logs, certificates and medical histories, to which he had not previously had access. McKenzie claimed Watson should not have been allowed in the water and never as a dive buddy for his wife, who had no open water scuba experience. Tina had heart surgery to correct an irregular heartbeat two years earlier but on her dive application had stated that she had never had heart problems or surgery. Professor Michael "Mike" Bennett, a leading expert in dive medicine, stated that Tina was unfit to dive without clearance from a cardiologist. Watson had received his rescue certification, normally a four-day course, after completing a two-day course in an Alabama quarry. He had no rescue experience and little open water experience.

According to McKenzie, "He had no hope of being competent, he could barely save himself [that day] let alone his wife; I don't believe he intended to kill her." Revelations that Watson needed help to don his diving equipment that day underscored that he was a "dangerous amateur" who showed "a complete lack of courage" when he abandoned his wife. The dive company had offered an orientation and guided dive with a dive master, which both Tina and Watson had refused. Company head Mike Ball said his people took Watson at his word, believing he was an experienced and certified rescue diver. The company later pleaded guilty to contravening safety standards (their code of conduct said both Watson and Tina must be supervised by at least a divemaster on the dive in question) and was fined $6,500, plus costs of $1,500.

While a very unusual and dramatic case, it gives us a little peek into how typical industry behavior all comes together if divers lie on medical forms, corners are cut in certification courses, and operators don't follow their codes of conduct or safety standards. A wise operator won't take divers at their word, certification cards aren't worth the plastic they're printed on but they are CYA for a business (which they've always been), and any behavior or evidence that a diver isn't as healthy, trained or experienced as he claims may become a liability.

It is folly for an operator not to handle all safety responsibilities in-house by delegating that responsibility to strangers.

 

[scubaozy]

If a dive op is asking me my cert level, don't I have the duty to tell the truth? Say, I told them I am AOWD and later after an incident, I was forced to reveal I was an instructor. Would that not be even greater problem?
Point of RD diver course is rather prevent an incident before it occurs. Neither OP nor dive director checked whether bcd was inflated, prior entry. Nobody is expected to risk their own health to help others. But you are expected to check your buddy and talk to him if you feel the has too much weight. This is your duty as an OWD as well.
It is an interesting question, whether operator is responsible to check whether you did your buddy check correctly.

 

[SlugLife]

If a dive op is asking me my cert level, don't I have the duty to tell the truth? Say, I told them I am AOWD and later after an incident, I was forced to reveal I was an instructor. Would that not be even greater problem?
Point of RD diver course is rather prevent an incident before it occurs. Neither OP nor dive director checked whether bcd was inflated, prior entry. Nobody is expected to risk their own health to help others. But you are expected to check your buddy and talk to him if you feel the has too much weight. This is your duty as an OWD as well.
It is an interesting question, whether operator is responsible to check whether you did your buddy check correctly.

You never have to answer an inappropriate question, or a question you don't wish to answer.

A better thing to do, is just answer the question they should have asked. "What's your highest certification level?" "This is a 100ft dive? I've taken Advanced Open Water."

Now, if they're really insistent, which would be weird, "No, that's not what I asked, what's your highest certification?" To which you ask, "why do you need that information?"

 

[Searcaigh]

From what I recall having only filled out a form about a month ago in Bali, the three main questions are:

1. What is your certification level?
2. How many dives have you done?
3. When was your last dive?

With that information the dive op can assess who is diving with who etc.

 

[Centrals]

Last week, diving in the Philippines, the DS decided that we would be three in a group. Two groups of 2 including the

Where in Philippines?