Thanks all for the info,
Technical dives are currently out of scope in my project. That's an added layer of complexity. Will follow shortly after probably, as there are recreational dives that get pretty close to the edge, so half of the work will probably be done.
I assume that a "safer" process would consist in capturing basic info like cert obtained, last dive date and a statement re known medical problems that could affect the dive (that just for "compliance", checkbox style).
Then issue warnings based on these.
Certs could be checked online procedurally with most of the associations, but that is a bit of a mess to deal with, so I keep that for later. On top of that, as reported the certificate have no much value in terms of "certifying". Probably can skip checks if the level is DM+, but not much additional use.
This will still require more manual checks from the diving center than I was hoping to achieve, but a balance must be found.
Not as much damage to others as driving a car into a busy pedestrian area, for one example. I think you will agree that a driving test does not prepare one for, say, the highway scene from the final destination 2 either, so all those horrible scenarios that might happen... at some point you just have to come out and say it: s*it happens, people die, others will be blamed.
Yeah, but no. Let me state once again that my experience as a scuba diver has been non-existent to date (sadly), so I can speak only out of common sense and the little technical knowledge I've collected during the years of peeking from the outside into this passion of mine.
I am happy to be corrected here, but I believe your argument is fallacious.
Reason being that if a car crashes in a crowd (many examples in the recent months) everybody will know instinctively that it is a dangerous situation and will be able to react. If appropriately or not is an entirely different subject, but I would say that the "average joe" knows better how to deal with a car mowing people than with his or someone else's narcosis while underwater. Panic on a street = possible to instinctively do the right thing. Panic underwater = possible to instinctively do the worst possible thing.
Rescuers action would likely be prompt too and certainly less difficult than extracting a case of DCI from a remote location.
On top of that with this example we risk to get into the realms not only of accidents, but of deliberate acts. I can tell you that if I could write a software to prevent deliberate acts of violence I would be twisting the Nobel Prize for Peace between my fingers right now. Spoiler: I'm not.
I start from the assumption that no diving center can afford to assign a dive master/instructor to each diver. One accident in a group and you find yourself short-handed, but can cope. Two simultaneously and things start to snowball quickly and here it goes the beautiful dive for the entire group.
Let's assume that I empower your diving center to obtain a s***load of bookings for a more or less complex dive. You specify the restrictions to join and, in an ideal world, everything will be fine just checking the certifications. But since we're not in an ideal world I see really no way of cutting all bureaucracy for this scenario. I can help and streamline, reduce the load, but I still see the need of actual checks from your part. This limits somewhat my most hopeful vision, but it was expected.
Thanks for the awesome inputs guys, keep them coming if you feel something is missing