Buddy system flaw?

[jcfahy]

I just returned from a great week at a small dive resort in Bali with my non-diver wife. On several occasions I was "buddied" with th dive master as all of the other divers had their partners. I was often less experienced than the other divers (AOW with 55 dives) who had a superior air consumption rate than I (mine is about 15 slm). On a few occasions I approached my 50 bar limit first and signaled to the DM that I needed to begin my ascent and safety stop. He motioned to me to begin my ascent alone and pointed in the general direction of the dive boat. I am a confident and reasonably competent diver and decided that the solo ascent was the superior option to running low on air but I felt the solo ascent violates the safety protocol inherent in the buddy system. The unexpected may occur. I am responsible for my own gas management and dive plan and I did not feel particularly nervous about a solo ascent other than it runs counter to the buddy system that was meant to be in operation. I would welcome the comments / advice of others about how to handle such situations. Thank you all for taking the time to comment.

 

[vladimir]

I disagree that it's a flaw in the buddy system; I'd consider it a violation of the buddy system.

 

[DevonDiver]

That's a nice example of a Divemaster who should be dragged into an alley and kicked ruthlessly and repeatedly by those members of the dive industry who care about applying professional standards to their work and maintaining the health and safety of customers....

Care to name and shame the individual and/or operation that employs him?

The lesson for novice divers is... JUST SAY NO!!!

You are taught on OW course that you must stay with your buddy. You are also taught that you must also end the dive with a reserve of air (typically 50bar/500psi). Stick to basic rules like those and you will be safe when scuba diving.

If someone, even a so-called 'professional' asks you to do something on a dive, that you feel is inherently unsafe or that compromises the basic safety procedures you have been taught, then the correct procedure is to give them the following signal....

International Scuba Signal meaning;
'I do not concur with your recommendation, please re-evaluate immediately.'

 

[MauiScubaSteve]

The boats I have worked as guide from have all "allowed" solo ascents. It's up to the buddy members to make this decision. I tell my solo group members that if they are not OK with a solo ascent I will join them until they surface.

If a boat or guide "allows" solo ascents, it is likely they also allow "ascent teams" to be formed when one member each of two buddy teams reaches ascent pressures at around the same time. By waiting until the last minute the team members will at least have had a dive or two to size up their potential teammate.

If the guide tells you they are your buddy, just like with any insta-buddy it's up to you to communicate before the dive what you expect from your buddy. I carry a large slate, so I explain to my charges that we can converse during the dive if they need.

I have had a couple new "my buddy" divers ask me to be their ascent buddy and I have had buddy teams ascend with lots of air in one tank, probably just because the "other" low tank was attached to a moron.

For 3 of the dive boats I'm talking about that is the company policy for their guides. On the 7 other dive boats I have guided either my personal groups or an employers groups from, the Captains are familiar with and allow this practice.

Here in Hawaii I get the feeling this is SOP for the vast majority of dive boats.

 

[RJP]

That's a nice example of a Divemaster who should be dragged into an alley and kicked ruthlessly and repeatedly...

Forgetting for the moment that the buddy was a DM, I'd ask the OP what he and his buddy discussed as protocol for turning the dive during the pre-dive briefing. If nothing, then the OP is as almost as responsible for the "surprise ending" of the dive as the DM.

It takes TWO divers to be a buddy pair.

 

[bs63366]

If he tried that I think that your best course minus the "I do not concur with your recommendation, please re-evaluate immediately" signal would be to thumb the dive in which case that should have got him to come up with you. I have been on a few dives where the DM was buddies with someone with a SAC rate and the DM would get the buddy on the boat and then go back in solo to check on everyone else. I think that would have been the best way to handle this situation.

 

[TSandM]

As with so many things in diving, good communication before getting in the water will prevent hard feelings later. Protocol for handling a low on air diver should have been established before the dive began -- that way you could have objected to a strategy with which you didn't agree, before all you had was a middle finger to deal with it

 

[danvolker]

I just returned from a great week at a small dive resort in Bali with my non-diver wife. On several occasions I was "buddied" with th dive master as all of the other divers had their partners. I was often less experienced than the other divers (AOW with 55 dives) who had a superior air consumption rate than I (mine is about 15 slm). On a few occasions I approached my 50 bar limit first and signaled to the DM that I needed to begin my ascent and safety stop. He motioned to me to begin my ascent alone and pointed in the general direction of the dive boat. I am a confident and reasonably competent diver and decided that the solo ascent was the superior option to running low on air but I felt the solo ascent violates the safety protocol inherent in the buddy system. The unexpected may occur. I am responsible for my own gas management and dive plan and I did not feel particularly nervous about a solo ascent other than it runs counter to the buddy system that was meant to be in operation. I would welcome the comments / advice of others about how to handle such situations. Thank you all for taking the time to comment.

JC,
Here in Palm Beach, Fl essentially the same boat practices occur...dive operators on relatively easy recreational dives, do not want to have the DM/Tour Guide come up early to spoil the rest of the dive for the larger group left with plenty of air. This would not be the case if you were already in trouble/ not ok....but if they think you are ok on your own, they would send you up to the dive boat following the float above you.

If you want to use the buddy system (which you SHOULD) , then you need to create the buddy relationship yourself, with a diver that is not playing tour guide to the whole group....or, have clear agreements prior to the dive, that you will likely need to come up early due to sac rate, and you will want your buddy with you....

My recommendation is work on your cardiovascular fitness with bicycling, AND, work on lowering your heart rate during scuba dives....this is accomplished by making yourself as slick as possible in the water, optimizing your efficiency at kicking, and try to relax every muscle not involved in propulsion. If you don't know how to slow down your heart rate, you can get a $75 heart rate monitor by Polar, and practice slowing your HR in the pool...basically just relaxing everything until you see HR falling. With slower HR, you will get slower breathing without causing headaches( as experienced by the "skip-breathers" )...this translates to you becoming one of the divers who will not be needing to come up early

Regards,
DanV

 

[danvolker]

Also...getting slick in the water means being able to kick, and then have a glide....a coast...if your are swimming head up and feet down, with too much lead and lots of air in your bc, you will have no glide, you will work much harder to swim than you should be, and keeping up with others will always mean breathing too much in the process.
DanV

 

[DevonDiver]

Forgetting for the moment that the buddy was a DM, I'd ask the OP what he and his buddy discussed as protocol for turning the dive during the pre-dive briefing. If nothing, then the OP is as almost as responsible for the "surprise ending" of the dive as the DM.

Absolutely. It is a joint responsibility. However, the simple fact is that some novice divers will just assume that the DM/Instructor knows best...and follow their direction against their own good judgement and what they learnt in training.

When dealing with Dive masters/guides:

1) Remember you are a paying customer.
2) If in a buddy team with the guide, the buddy (your) safety comes before customer service/satisfaction issues with the group.
3) Ascents and descents are the most dangerous part of a dive. Solo ascent is reckless and contrary to safe diving rules, unless the diver/s concerned are experienced, trained and equiped for solo diving.

The boats I have worked as guide from have all "allowed" solo ascents. It's up to the buddy members to make this decision. I tell my solo group members that if they are not OK with a solo ascent I will join them until they surface.

It's fine that the boat allows this. The boat has no liability for the procedures used by certified divers. It is the responsibility of the dive buddy team to ensure their own safety. For me, the dive does not end until the buddy team are back on the boat. I wouldn't ever be happy to leave my buddy unattended on the surface.

Morality aside, I can't imagine the success of admiting "I then left him alone on the surface and returned underwater to rejoin the group" at the inquest and tribunal for a fatal dive accident.

If a boat or guide "allows" solo ascents, it is likely they also allow "ascent teams" to be formed when one member each of two buddy teams reaches ascent pressures at around the same time. By waiting until the last minute the team members will at least have had a dive or two to size up their potential teammate.

These practices are common on 'insta-buddy' dive boats. I call it 'Gaggle Diving'. Personally, I think it flouts safe diving practices at the expense of proper planning and effort by both the divers and diveguides concerned.

During these dives nobody has any pre-designated responsibility for a buddy. Because of this, nobody can conduct a proper dive plan and maintain proper buddy awareness during the dive.

A lot of otherwise avoidable fatal dive accidents happen because of this.

At the very least it discourages divers from using proper buddy procedures and planning dives. It encourages divers to act like mindless sheep, just following a DM without taking any personal responsibility during the dive.

If the guide tells you they are your buddy, just like with any insta-buddy it's up to you to communicate before the dive what you expect from your buddy. I carry a large slate, so I explain to my charges that we can converse during the dive if they need.

The (qualified professional) dive guide shouldn't be expected to take responsibility for the less experienced buddy? They shouldn't be expected to role model safe diving practices for their customer?