In the medical field, the sort of issue you are struggling with is the conflict between 2 ethical principles, autonomy (free willed adults make their own decisions) and beneficence (doing good to others).
SCUBA Diving is a self-policing industry. I know this may stir the pot a bit, but I would like your honest opinion.....what does this mean to you? Do you agree with it? If you could change anything, what might it be?
Dive shops often won't provide tank fills without proof of certification, or allow access to dive quarries, or take divers out on dive boats diving without same. I'm okay with all that. Waivers often aim for informed consent, which is very important.
Screening medical questionnaires prior to classes and trips often pressure divers to disclose personal confidential health information and often try to force follow up clearance by a health care professional as a condition of providing services. I strongly dislike this, and it is a topic of strong contention in a number of threads on ScubaBoard. People very commonly fill it out, don't disclose, and hand it in so they can go diving without being bothered, some people morally object to that, lots of arguing later, the thread finally dies.
No one has an issue with educating divers about possible health risks of medical conditions and diving, or a recommendation to see a physician or nurse practitioner. Mandating those things regards to adults is another story.
& you can literally enter a deadly cave system and nobody will stop you. Nobody, including other cave divers, will check you.
Not always true. Years ago we had a contentious thread where it was indicated there are cave divers with a willingness to bodily haul obviously unprepared (e.g.: recreationally equipped divers who look unprepared and presumably unqualified) divers out of caves. Another SB member indicated if anything tried that with him, he's use his, IIRC, 'pig sticker' (dive knife) on the assailant in self-defense.
A number of caves are on private property, and owners don't wish to risk lawsuits from letting undercertified people dive there.
To be clear, I don't think anyone who owns a water body with a cave should be held legally liable if someone independently chooses to cave dive there and drowns.
But where/when do we consider someone who may be a danger to themselves?
If it's a minor, oh, yes. For an adult, well, advising in the most blatantly obvious cases. It would take a lot for me to advocate refusing services to someone.
But someone with no tech. diving cert.s trying to pay someone to take him on a cave tour? Someone extremely obese in terrible physical shape aiming for a dive with a lot of fighting current? Someone who just spilled fish blood on himself and wants to do the tiger shark dive anyway?
It's not inconceivable I would advocate staff refusing to provide service, but I'm pretty strongly in favor of autonomy.
If you witnessed truly uninformed (or worse, negligent) behavior by another diver in your vicinity, what is your course of action?
First off, I don't pay much attention to what others are doing most of the time, so I might not notice. Secondly, if I did notice, maybe try to politely say something non-confrontational, hope for the best and get out of Darwin's way.
OR...do you consider allowing an individual to make their own decisions and perform their own risk assessment, to be of high moral standing?
Yes.
the regulators tend to say "welp" and file it under "played stupid games, won stupid prizes".
As it should be.
P.S.: Where I favor some regulation, such as requiring dive certifications, it is because to consider informed decision-making important, you don't know what you don't know, and risks such as breathing pressurized air at changing depths are not something untrained people are expected to know about.
