I just wanted to get word out to others who might think they may want to dive with her (and who knows??? There may be people who don't care, but at least they know ahead of time what they're getting into, and they'll be doing it with eyes wide open).
I think you have accomplished that simply by bringing up the matter and calling attention to the fact that she has had problems before.
Wise divers will now be wary about hooking up with her as a buddy, something they may have had no warning about before your post. That's really all you can do.
As for the unwise divers... well, there will always be those, and nothing you can do will protect people from themselves.
What's unfortunate is that all it takes is one irresponsible diver in the
area to cramp everyone's style. That is, a bad diver with serious problems doesn't just negatively impact their own buddy, but often everyone else on their dive boat - like in your situation. Or even sometimes people on other dive boats in the whole area.
For example, I was out on a dive boat off West Palm Beach one time when a diver on another boat came up suddenly with problems, and their boat had to rush them back to the dock while their other divers were still in the water. Back on our boat, we were just about to put in when the captain heard the call on the radio, so we had to pull up and go pick up their divers as they came out of the water since their own boat obviously wouldn't be there. Ultimately we were delayed about two hours before we could get our own diving in, but obviously it could have been much longer - or even cancelled.
Now, I don't know if in my situation the ailing diver was being irresponsible. But what it demonstrates is how, if a diver
is acting irresponsibly, it can negatively affect not just their own buddies, but the entire local diving community. So, for all our sakes... don't hesitate to call a recalcitrantly irresponsible diver out on it!
>*< Fritz
