Giving somebody nitrox?

[stas]

I am interested in hearing people's opinion on the following topic.

Suppose you are going to go diving with a buddy who is not certified and knows nothing about nitrox. Suppose also that the site to which you are going to has a hard bottom (and you know what it is). Would you feel comfortable obtaining for that person a mix of appropriate MOD? The person would be diving with a nitrox capable computer.


If you would be OK doing this, would you even bother telling the person that they are diving with a non-standard mix or just set their computer and tell them to dive as they normally would?

Thanks, Stas

 

[underwasser bolt]

getting nitrox certified is no big deal; can be done in a day, or less. Using Nitrox is not without some risk, and I would want my buddy to be taking an informed risk based upon their own training, not mine.

not even telling them is over the top, and if anything does happen to them, probably criminal.

 

[stas]

Ok,
I know this is a hypothetical question, but I would still like to keep the rhetoric to a minimum if possible.
What are the risks in this particular situation?

 

[Diver Dennis]

Personally I would never give another diver Nitrox without telling them. I would never obtain air for them either if they weren't certified.

I know there have been a lot of divers on this board who started diving a long time ago with no certification but today things are different. I'm not sure about your liability laws but it seems to me you could be setting yourself up for a MAJOR lawsuit should anything go wrong and you were complicit in facilitating the dive.

If the diver had experience, even with no cert, they would have no problem if they could read their computer and knew the MOD. Hypothetically...

 

[ItMustBeJames]

I would want my buddy to be taking an informed risk based upon their own training, not mine.

I've got to agree with UB here ... if I were your buddy, I'd be pissed on principle if I found out you'd put me on Nitrox without telling me, assuming I was knowledgeable enough to realize the implications.

Is it possible that your buddy will make it down, have a pleasant dive, and make it back up? Sure, it's possible. But that's his risk to take, not yours. And that's why he can't waltz in to a dive shop and get anything other than EAN 21.

Have him take the course, understand the benefits and risks, and make his own decision. Or, just have him use air. If there's a hard floor shallow enough for Nitrox, air will work just as well and you won't have any added concerns.

Also, while I am not a lawyer (I don't even play one on TV!), I'd guess you'd be in some serious trouble if anything goes wrong on the dive ... nitrox related or otherwise.

 

[underwasser bolt]

I am not a lawyer, but i am a cop, and i can tell you for a fact that negligence as the state of mind can still lead to a serious felony charge if someone dies or is seriously injured because of YOUR negligence. Diving under these circumstances is probably Knowingly, which may bring an even higher charge. If you told your uncertified buddy what you were doing and they made the dive anyways, you are probably in the clear, criminally.

You do not know your buddies physiology for one thing; your buddy may not know either, but that is their problem, not yours.

 

[Diver Dennis]

UB, would just obtaining air for an uncertified buddy constitute negligence if something went wrong? What about knowingly diving with an uncertified person?

Thanks.

 

[don Francisco]

You've qualified this so carefully that you must be looking for a qualified yes. The most you'll get from me is a highly qualified maybe. Wife, brother, best known all my life friend who dives with me all the time & I know is a solid diver with good air management, maybe.

Without telling them, no way. If all the above are true, certainly they could understand a quick explanation of what it's about & why to do it. But having gotten this far there's no reason that they couldn't go the rest of the way with an online Nitrox cert.

The way you've framed it, let me reverse the question, why Nitrox? Most new divers run low on air long before the NDL, so would have little, if anything, to gain from Nitrox. If their air use is good enough to benefit, do the right thing & talk them into a Nitrox certification.

addition- I reread your post & just to clarify. I assumed your friend is certified, but not nitrox certified. If your friend is without any certification, no reason to think about it. No way do I enable him, not even air.

 

[underwasser bolt]

UB, would just obtaining air for an uncertified buddy constitute negligence if something went wrong? What about knowingly diving with an uncertified person?

Thanks.

Negligence, probaby. BUT probably not criminal negligence. If a person straps on tanks willingly and jumps in knowing they are not certified, criminally that is probably their problem. The idea of controlling breathing gas is purely an industrial decision as the sell of air is not restriced by any law I am aware of. Any industrial gas shop will sell you gas and could care less what you do with it.

Civil liability due to the negligence is possible, which means someone could probably still seek a remedy by suing you.

I would say knowingly diving with an uncertified diver and you supplied NONE of the equipment or air pretty much clears you across the board.

 

[Diver Dennis]

Thanks for that UB.