I'm the Pariah again

[htiger]

FPMattDoc,

Lots of discussions about the details; lots of you-shoulds, you-should-nots; lots of dissection.

Bottom line for me: I'll dive with you anytime. And I promise I won't leave you looking for me.

The buddy system relies on two responsible divers communicating. Skills, protocols, strong opinions, etc., do not take the place of sound judgement and responsibility to your buddy.

- Jim

 

[redacted]

.... He got more of it right then his dive buddy did.

I'm not so sure of that. What do you think his dive buddy did wrong? I am not assuming his dive buddy had the gas or the inclination to go chasing after some pick-up buddy who lost him. and then apparently ignored him when he signaled. And I don't know how long the buddy waited for Matt on the surface before he swam to and boarded the boat.

 

[diverrex]

It seems as though some of you missed this part:

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Good point, I really hand't considered this. But what if for whatever reason you need immediate help from a boat FAR away for someone else who is under the surface, what would you do?

Unfortunately if the boat is far away and my buddy needs immediate help whatever help I can provide is probably all he gets. The first thing is not to get in trouble underwater. Second is to get your buddy to the surface. I don't believe there are really many situations where someone truly gets stuck underwater. The few I am aware of did not end well.

 

[diversteve]

And I don't know how long the buddy waited for Matt on the surface before he swam to and boarded the boat.

Or whether he told them Matt was still out there when he did.

 

[redacted]

And without knowing an appropriate signal, how exactly do you communicate this from 200 yards away?

I believe Matt reported he was 50 yards from the boat at that point. Clearly Matt could hear what the boat was saying and how loudly they said it. The boat was asking if he was in trouble and he did not answer. I am not sure why the Captain did not rescue him, but I suspect the Captain was confident that rescue was not required.

 

[diverrex]

Thinking about dive accident analysis I think more divers have surfaced with issues and then died than a diver becoming truly trapped underwater and then dying. Hence the boat's immediate concern with wanting to know if a diver on the surface is okay. Very few search and rescues underwater turn out to be rescues but rather are only recoveries. Surface rescue on the other hand happens often. Like it or not the boat crew is well aware of this which is also why their attention is to those divers on the surface.

 

[AaronRiot]

I honestly can't make sense of this. Was the first sentence an effort at sarcasm? Yes.. A lost buddy is what it is, Matt's over-reaction is on par with some of the under-reactionary comments in this thread. I think I made clear that we can't "ignore the lost buddy scenario." It just doesn't require you to go into a near-panic as if your buddy is dying, just because he's separated. Agreed, very poorly handled, however still a lost buddy scenario nonetheless.

I'm not sure I understand your equation there, either. I misunderstood your second paragraph I think. All I was saying was that once the boat knows a diver is missing they do what they do.. The actions that Matt took included a second descent—solo—to look for his buddy, and his refusal to give the okay sign, which had the potential to initiate emergency procedures on board the boat, including sending a swimmer to rescue him. He wouldn't be changing the boat's protocols, but perhaps initiating an emergency protocol that was unnecessary. I agree 100%.

For example, if a crewman has to swim to Matt, that guy puts himself at some small risk of drowning. And while he is in the water there is one less man on the boat to help the other divers board safely, to start a search for a missing diver, to track bubbles, etc. So responding inappropriately to the miniscule risk of Matt's imaginary scenario can create real risks of far greater magnitude. Totally agree.

Hopefully that clears up my thoughts a little...

 

[MaxBottomtime]

I'd choose Matt as my dive buddy before I'd chose the guy who was his buddy on this dive.

If I ran into a problem it's obvious Matt would take actions to try to help me, as opposed to the other guy, who'd just go get on the boat and have a soda.

We've only heard Matt's side of the story. Based on his version of the Devil's Throat dive, I'd take it with a grain of salt.
Which is more likely? His buddy is trapped and drowning on the bottom, or as he told Matt, he saw him, used his noise maker only to see Matt go the wrong way. Knowing they needed to get back up-current to the boat, his buddy makes it, then informs the Captain that Matt went the wrong way. The Captain goes to the bow, spots Matt at the surface and asks repeatedly if he is OK. Matt refuses to answer. I believe I would rather dive with Matt's buddy.

 

[jmneill]

I believe I would rather dive with Matt's buddy.

Things would one hell of lot less likely to get dramatic on you.

 

[Mike]

Could be. However, I can only comment based on what Matt has posted, which isn't the scenario you are hypothesizing. What's the link to his Devil's Throat saga?