What are the responsibilities of a DM/Guide

[BertStevens]

Over on the A&I forum, there is a discussion about Diver Master responsibilities in the Cozumel Diving Fatality thread

Feb 19 2017 Cozumel diving fatality​

I thought it would make for a great separate discussion, so here we are...

So just what is the responsibility of an in-water DM or Guide?

And go!

 

[Steve_C]

I think it varies a lot with the dive site and the arrangements. Consider the following all of which I have seen.

1. Personal DM. Here I expect an experienced buddy who knows the site, will chat some pre and post dive, and will tailor the dive to the type of dive I want to do. Will also provide some assistance topside.

2. In the water. Boat is anchored on a wreck. DM is in the water sort of looking over things but not helping anybody or assigned to anybody. Boat probably has a number of newer divers. DM also assists with rigging up and entry into the water.

3. There is a DM in the water towing a float. Buddies in pairs and may follow the DM or not as they choose. DM goes up with the last diver. Think drift diving off west palm.

4. DM has a small group. He is the guide. Group is to follow the DM. Cozumel was like this. DM cannot adjust the dive to what everybody wants.

5. DM has a small group of experienced divers. DM hangs up in the water column. Group spreads out doing their own thing keeping DM in sight. Viz is 100ft. My (very) slow drift dives off the east side of Grand Cayman were like this. When we get back to the vicinity of the anchored boat DM went up. We were to stay in site of boat and come up based on our air.

6. DM stays on boat unless there is an emergency. Helps divers on and off, answers questions. Solos and buddy divers told when to return. Time = 1 hour in the Keys, Time = air/NDL limited in NC.

7. DM involved in a class. That is another matter.

Most of my dives are 6 or 1. The only one I try and avoid is 4. I like to look under stuff, take a few pictures, and mosey along. 4 guides tend to go faster than I prefer. I have no trouble "keeping up" but I find doing so takes some of the zen out of the dive.

Clearly the "duties" and how the DM's priorities are arranged vary greatly. I think that if conducting a trust me dive DM should live up to that trust if possible.

 

[t-mac]

On the other forum, I think the debate was over the degree to which the DM (I prefer the term "guide" in this case to distinguish a training situation) is responsible for the safety of an individual diver. So much of this forum and diving culture is centered on personal responsibility and so I am always surprised by the level to which we sometimes go to assign responsibility for safety to our guide. At the end of the day if you are injured or killed, it is little consolation that it was someone else's fault so my personal attitude is that the guide is there to show me the site and where the critters are hiding, but not for safety any more than an other non-buddy on the dive. This is especially true on a group dive. It is impossible for the guide to capably take the responsibility for everyone. To say otherwise is simply waiting for a bad outcome and hoping there is someone to blame.

If you hire a guide, then they are there to be your buddy, not a super-human savior. I think most of us agree that they have a heightened responsibility to you personally and the reality of it is that they are more likely to be capable of helping you in this case because they aren't being tasked with responsibility for another dozen or more people. I think this situation is not typically problematic and not the source of controversy that brought this subject up.

All of that said, the point that was made on the A&I forum that I thought was an excellent one, but that I've never seen done, is that dive ops should make it clear what the role of the guide is. This doesn't have to be a don't-expect-me-to-try-and-save-you talk, but put into a safety briefing concerning the importance of your buddy, it could be effective. The guide does not have to abdicate all responsibility (and shouldn't because they do have a responsibility -- I just choose not to rely on it), but they can easily articulate the reality of the situation. You need a buddy because if you get in trouble, I still have a dozen other people I have to deal with and as much as I may try and want to help you, there are times that I may not be able. The only solution is to push personal responsibility for safety as far as possible and I think there is a gap here. Dive ops should not be complicit in the delusion that the guide will save you and I think withholding this (obvious to some of us) information does just that. And I don't think this hurts business (can't believe this is a factor, but who knows) -- I go to Largo a lot and even without putting guides in the water business is booming. I think all this approach would do is to clarify something every certified diver should already know and it might make some people who would not otherwise, clearly buddy up.

 

[boulderjohn]

Steve listed 7 different ways in which DMs perform their duties. I am sure others have experienced others they could add to the list.

A DM is a dive professional hired by a dive operator (or individual) to do what that dive operator or individual believes is best for the circumstances.

 

[boulderjohn]

Regardless of what you may say about DMs having no responsibility for safety, there is indeed an expectation that they will act at a level of responsibility commonly associated with that position. I have never acted as a DM, but I have been thoroughly warned over the years that if I accept any sort of payment (a beer, for example) in exchange for providing any sort of service on a dive (guiding, showing critters, etc.), then I can be held liable in case of an accident.

This depends largely upon local law, but there have been cases in which this has indeed happened.

• In the case of Gabe Watson, he pled guilty to manslaughter under a local Australian law that required him to provide effective assistance to his dive buddy, and he was not even a professional (rescue diver only). He spent a year in jail.
• In a recent case in Malta, an instructor was charged with murder for not performing an effective rescue during a dive in which he was just another diver in the group. (The charges were eventually dropped.)
• In one of the most famous cases, a DM was convicted after he led a dive group to a depth beyond recreational depths and then refused to share air with an OOA diver who later drowned.
• A DM (on boat only, supposedly) in the San Diego area jumped into the water to help a struggling diver at the surface and foolishly removed the BCD of the diver, who was wearing a heavy weight belt. The diver sank and died. The DM had let his certification lapse and was uninsured. He committed suicide before the lawsuit.
• Two DMs were successfully sued because they missed the fact that a diver was missing when they called the roll at the end of a dive.

 

[sheeper]

With us, DMs and instructors share duties. Though I am an instructor, i'll work as crew/DM as often as not.

So here is what we expect of our DMs.
1) Assist instructors with classes. specific duties depends on the instructor and class
2) conduct private guided dives with customers (common at Blue Heron Bridge)
3) Work as crew on one of our boats. We have 2 crew and they split guide/deckhand duty
4) most of our instructors also work as DMs. So DMs and non-teaching instructors will load/unload the boat, assist customers with setup, cleanup the boat, etc
5) We put a DM in the water on EVERY dive. Though the first job is safety, the DM carries the flag. Divers don't have to stay with the DM.
6) private DMs are hired for specific customers to assist them, dive with them and provide extra safety
7) with all that, our DMs are expected to have perfect skills and perfect knowledge.

 

[Buliwyf]

Feel bad about the San Diego story. Weight belt should never drag someone down. I though it was basic beginner class stuff that the weight belt is to get the diver neutral without the scuba unit only. Or less as many people put some of that weight into the scuba unit with SS plates or steel tanks. The belts not to weigh everything down. Unless he put the weights on the diver incorrectly, I don't see how it's his fault.


My DM is an underwater tour guide. Not responsible for my safety. But like any other diver or person, they can be liable if they accidentally ruin my safety. If a tour guide walks a bunch of elderly people across a busy freeway and they get hit be a car, he can get into trouble for that.

And many countries, or states, have laws that you can't sit back and watch people die. You have to try to help, if you can. That could apply to DM's, even divers.

The headcount was the boat captains problem last time I heard about it. At least per our Coast Guard. He can't pass that off to the DM. But I would expect a DM to have his own redundant count.

One of the boats I was on didn't count heads until we were back at the docks. Oops. Then again it was only a 30 min ride, and the site was a 5 min swim from a little island.

 

[Macan]

So just what is the responsibility of an in-water DM or Guide?

Three words. Duty-Of-Care.

As an Instructor and at times, DM/Guide, if I feel I cannot execute that responsibility effectively, then I will restructure/abort the dive, seek additional help or recuse myself if needed.

 

[boulderjohn]

Feel bad about the San Diego story. Weight belt should never drag someone down. I though it was basic beginner class stuff that the weight belt is to get the diver neutral without the scuba unit only. Or less as many people put some of that weight into the scuba unit with SS plates or steel tanks. The belts not to weigh everything down. Unless he put the weights on the diver incorrectly, I don't see how it's his fault.

When I taught classroom teachers how to teach, I told them it was their job to do what was necessary to reach the students they actually have in class, not the ideal students they wish they had instead.

It is the same with scuba professionals--we need to work with the divers/students we have, not the ideal ones we wish we had. We need to help the ones who need help, not the ones who don't need help. I would guess that about 98% of all divers--maybe more--are overweighted to some degree. Almost no one is perfectly weighted, and that includes me. Many are very much overweighted. That's the reality we face on dives. If I removed an inflated BCD from a diver at the surface while that diver was wearing a weight belt, I would expect that diver to sink, and if that diver died as a result, I would expect a jury to find me liable.

 

[Steve_C]

-we need to work with the xxxx we have, not the ideal xxx we wish we had.

A good philosophy for all activities and all walks of life.