No Diving on Meds!

[Blox]

Sounds like a comedy of errors to me. In fact, it sounds like the only one there who wasn't one of the comedians was you. Photog needs vastly improved buddy skills. Injured diver needs to not dive on pain meds or shortly after such a procedure. And I still maintain that the DM risked injuring a healthy diver and himself in order to perform a rescue on an already very likely injured diver. If she was already doing a rapid ascent from 25 ft, and the DM couldn't stop her, why would the DM also make a repid ascent, let alone grab another diver and take her along for the ride too? I am not saying he should have left you alone down there. I am saying that he shouldn't have been making a rapid ascent behind the injured diver himself. He should have gotten you, thumbed the dive, and made a safe ascent with you, then attended to the injured diver once on the surface. Keep in mind that even in this scenereo, the photog is still doing a solo night dive now because he wasn't paying any attention to his buddy. You did fine. I probably wouldn't dive with anyone you were in the water with that night, though.

That sums it up very nicely. Couldn't agree more.

 

[SadiesMom]

I don't know about you, Gangrel, but one of the things my DM instructor stressed during my DM training was that there's no "one correct way" to handle any situation. Every situation has a variety of options depending on the *specific* circumstances presented.

We really don't know the specific circumstances here. We know only one side of the story and from what we were presented, we know only limited facts - we don't know the whole dive profile - heck, we don't even know the *actual* depth, since she said she *thought* she was around 25 feet...heck, could've been 10 feet for all she knew. It's hard to tell sometimes at night, especially for a new night diver. We don't know what meds the other diver was on - we don't know a lot of things.

Again...it's easy to Monday morning quarterback. But like I've said and Wildcard has said...it's GREAT to use stories like this to think hard about what *you* as a DM might do under similar circumstances. But to make a judgement call as to the fact that the DM was "wrong" is a bit harsh, as we do NOT really know any of potentially mitigating facts. This is a good learning situation, but I personally wouldn't judge the DM quite as harshly as you seem to be....

I would suggest you talk to your DM instructor and ask about this - see if s/he suggest *options* rather than saying only *one* thing would've been "right" - especially only knowing what we know given this very limited information (without making the assumptions even I've made regaring the type of pain meds the diver was on....)

 

[my1ocean]

I don't know about you, Gangrel, but one of the things my DM instructor stressed during my DM training was that there's no "one correct way" to handle any situation. Every situation has a variety of options depending on the *specific* circumstances presented.

I wholeheartedly agree that there are many ways to handle a problem correctly. However, on the flip side of that theory... I'm sure you see where I'm going with this.

I think there are a lot of posters here that have expressed their oppinion, myself included, that this situation was handled poorly.

 

[gangrel441]

I agree that there are more than one right way to handle a situation. However, there are ways to handle a situation that are wrong.

I also understand that there are facts from this story which may be missing or incorrect. I have chosen to address the facts as they are presented. The number that was given in the original post was 25 ft. The term used was "yanked to the surface."

If you are saying that we need to take into consideration the possibility that the diver was shallower or that "yanked" was too harsh a term, then none of us can comment on anything because the other possibilities are unlimited. It could be that she was in 5 ft of water and the DM took har hand and had her stand on the bottom. But that's not the situation that was presented.

25 ft. One victim already. Another diver in water who is fine but may panic if you take it out of her hands. Panic could lead to held breath. Held breath from 25 ft could lead to what?

As PADI teaches, your various C cards are nothing more than a ticket to learn more. That might be a good idea before you again attack other peoples judgment calls.

Look back to my first post:

Definately the kind of lesson you are better off learning by seeing it happen, rather than it happening to you!

Was the other diver ok? Seems like the DM might have been a little overzealous. It is good that he went to the surface to check on the other diver, but it sounds like he put you at risk by yanking you with him. Good thing you remembered to exhale...

Where's the attack? Look at each one after that. Each post was a review and critique of the situation as it was presented. We all know that if the facts are different than was presented, that the situation changes.

(edited to include referenced post)

 

[SadiesMom]

Attack? :looking around, very confused: Did I say attack?

 

[Ber Rabbit]

The DM was my dive buddy... When this was going on, the injured diver swam over to the DM and left her buddy at the wall so I saw the DM and her ascending after a struggle.

Here's a tip that may help in the future. Whenever you see a diver from your "group" ascending go ahead and start your ascent at a rate that is safe for the situation and your degree of involvement in it. A good DM will give you the "down" sign if it is safe for you to continue your dive; you were new and lacking a buddy so surfacing would have been the safe option. When surfacing is involved you don't have to wait to be given permission to do it in an emergency especially when your buddy is going to be one of the ascending divers. Taking the initiative to start your ascent and staying out of the way but in a spot where the DM could easily see you during the ascent would have worked well here.

Ber :lilbunny:

 

[Shangrl]

Ber Rabbit....it was hard to see anything considering it was pitch black...even with lights..unless you are shining them directly on something..save for bioluminesense..there was no way you could see anyone signaling but I agree with you on being cognicent of what is going on around you. That is good advice. Really, I do feel like the DM handeled everything the best way all things considered. Hard to say what one would do given the situation unless you were there. Alot of things going on at once. Not going to give out Dive Op name as I dove with them most of the time I was there and had a great time and felt like I got incredible service. Going back for holidays as I have friends who live down there. If you were wanting to go there and want more info, PM me and I'll be glad to answer any ??. I know all the dive ops down there and they are all great guides and nice guys to boot.

 

[Ber Rabbit]

You caught the point of my post, situational awareness. What's done is done and you weren't injured so basically it's all good. Nobody died so somebody must have done something right; none of us were there and we only have one side of the story. It would be really interesting to see the other sides of the story but my guess is we will never get that chance.

My interest is in helping you develop a method for dealing with something similar happening. A night dive is a situation where the DM would probably not signal for the divers to continue their dive because, as you pointed out, you can't see the signals very well especially if he's dealing with an emergency.

Keeping an eye out when you're diving and responding to things when they are starting to go awry instead of after they go completely haywire will serve you well in your diving career
Ber :lilbunny:

 

[Shangrl]

Thanks for the sound advice. I miss the water, landlocked here in Dallas, can't wait to go back for the holidays! I left all my dive stuff except for my reg and computer at my friend's house in Grand Turk so i wouldn't have to lug it all the way back here. She's a DM.