Incident with a new diver

[ECD143]

the only thing I can think of ... you should have taken the newbie with you .... although he/ she was panicking .. they had enough sense to swim to the only diver they could see and share air . it most likely wasn`t bad equipment ... NEW DIVERS ARE AIR PIGS REMEMBER YOUR FIRST DIVE ?

Redundant air is very good idea( a pony bottle or spare air )do not rely on it as more air = more bottom time cause you`ll just die . I dive with a Steel 100 pounded to 4200 psi I will get a 70 minute dive and surface with 2200 or better. that extra air is for you BUT you need to see me to get it .... your third buddy was low on air you should have ascended and from the very beginning there should never have been three in a group .

thank god the other diver was there to share life giving air to your other buddy.

no bad news phone calls on that one but not from anything you did... I may seem like an arsehole but ... from the very beginning (your list ) you blame everyone but yourself ...

 

[TSandM]

It isn't clear to me why you didn't take the new diver with you to search for your buddy. I think a lot of new divers would be pretty stressed to be left alone at the bottom of the upline. By leaving him there, you converted a lost buddy situation to three solo divers.

I don't think 19 meters is an excessively deep dive for a new diver. We take OW students to 60 feet on their last certification dives, to prepare them for dives to that depth. You knew he was going to use air fast, and he did; the problem was either that you didn't realize how low he was when you left him, or the anxiety of being left made him blow through what he had.

I'll admit that I have been surprised a time or two at just HOW fast a new diver can go through gas. But I've just learned you have to stay super vigilant.

If the reg was drawing hard at 35 bar, then the gauge was wrong. Even an unbalanced reg should be fine at 500 psi, since intermediate pressure is generally 140.

 

[Ardy]

I think for a guy with 50 dives you did OK but do not take on this responsibility until you have a lot more experience ie 100+ dives and feel comfortable doing it. As you are fairly new in your dive career try to find a regular dive buddy and stick together. Looking after brand new divers is dangerous to YOU as well as them so priority #1 is to look after yourself.

I have had many bad incidents with brand new divers and I watch them like a hawk because you just don't know what they will do next.

With your level of experience I think you cannot be criticised for what you did.

Dive instructors and Dive Guides are professionals who do this job and they are welcome to it.

 

[emoreira]

To all the fellow divers that read this post and specially to all those that gave their advice or thoughts, I want to thank for sharing your knowledge and experience which allows me to be a better and safer diver, not only for me, but to all those other divers that trust me as buddy.