You guys are brutal. She has been tried, convicted and ready for execution all on hearsay! If she is on ScubaBoard, she's probably in tears right now. No one expects the Scuba Inquisition!
Let's face it: ALL of us make mistakes. Many of these mistakes are from trying to be too helpful. When my air was turned off recently, you can bet that the boat DM and I had a short discussion about it. You can be sure that it was a very respectful and gentle discussion about how valves can be right or left, and that if you feel that a diver's air is off, it's best to communicate that to him before you help him to death.
For all we know, the lady offered the weight to the boy and he eagerly took it, only he was confused as to where to put it. She might have then shoved it into his pocket for him, solving problem #2.
It seems that many of you think that she should just let the boy struggle. Possibly her intervention kept him from actually surfacing. Could she do it better? Only with experience. Unfortunately, you guys think she should not get more experience until she has more experience. Shenanigans. 125 dives is PLENTY for a dive master to be able to help those. Heck, I have had former students with less than 20 dives helping others on a dive.
What I am truly afraid of is that we are going to DISCOURAGE divers helping other divers. THAT would be tragic. Let's cut the anonymous Lady DM some slack and assume the BEST rather that the WORST.
I'll disagree with you on a couple points, Pete.
First off, anyone who's been on Scubaboard for more than about a day
should expect the Scuba Inquisition ... for better or worse, it's been an increasing part of our culture as the board has grown, and I think that's what happens in any human endeavor as it gets larger and less "personal". And, frankly, I don't think anyone's been particularly mean-spirited about it. There's a thread currently ongoing in another forum where you've been subjected to the Scuba Inquisition ... and while I think the inquisitors mean well, I cringe just reading it.
Second, it sounds as though the boy was being watched, and in the judgment of the OP he was handling his situation quite well. It's common for a newer diver to sometimes struggle with buoyancy issues ... as Lynne observed, it's often because something caused him to change his breathing pattern and he didn't anticipate the changes that would make to buoyancy in time to stay on top of it. I've observed the same effect in some of my students from time to time, and will often just kick back and say to myself "let's see how they handle it". Granted this was a 10-year old kid, but kids generally learn and adapt rather quickly. So if I were there, I'd probably have let the kid work it out too if it appeared he was recovering. Many ... most, I think ... people learn best by working through problems on their own. It helps them develop a better understanding of the nature of the problem than jumping in and helping them "fix" it would.
By getting involved, at her level of training, this young woman was assuming a duty of care that could have opened her to a massive liability if something had gone wrong and the kid got hurt. It would be interesting to know what kind of insurance she was carrying ... because if it was a shop policy, it may not have covered her to act in the manner she did while not on the job as a shop employee ... particularly after announcing to all on the boat that she was a dive professional. She needs to consider that as a professional, she works under a different set of rules than your basic recreational divers do, and with additional layers of responsibility and liability. If she is a member of ScubaBoard, and reading this thread, I hope she understands this isn't a criticism, but a caution to consider her actions in light of her training.
In this case, both parties could have handled it better ... the dive buddy and/or DM in charge of the group should have been closer to the boy ... within reaching distance or possibly above him ... to render aid if needed. She did the right thing by being there. I would argue that putting a weight in the kid's pocket wasn't the right thing to do ... well-intentioned, perhaps, but if you're going to do that to someone you should ALWAYS let them know what you're doing. In my case, I will take the weight out, show it to them, and point to where I am going to put it. Only after the diver knows what you're doing, and can anticipate the consequences, should you proceed to put it in their pocket.
Acting without a diver's knowledge builds dependent divers. Communicating before acting builds thinking divers. If the young DM is reading this, I hope she considers the difference ...
... Bob (Grateful Diver)
