or bloopers and bleepers?
Sort of in response to a question in the "Have You Ever Considered the Risk" thread. I thought I'd start another thread rather than take that one too far off topic.
Here, for your reading pleasure (or not) are the accounts of a couple of surface assists. Jump in with your own.
Once we were at Haigh Quarry and watched as a "certified" solo diver spent about an hour trying to figure out how to put his gear together. I say that because he'd get it part way set up, notice something wrong, tear it down, scratch his head some and start over. He finally got in the water with his rig, knelt down and started putting it on. It looked like he was having trouble so I asked my wife to go over and offer to help. He refused the help and almost seemed insulted. By the time my wife got back and sat down again, he had somehow managed to get himself chicken-winged in his bc and plopped over face down in the water. When it became obvious (at least to me) that he wasn't coming up I suggested to my wife that she go pull him out.
She said she thought that he must have a reg in his mouth as long as he had been under and that if not he was surely dead by now. I pointed out that his regs we all dangling in plain view and that he was still moving. She further protested by pointing out that she had already offered help and that he had made it quite clear that he would not be helped. I told her that it was my strong opinion that he would be much more receptive to the idea about now...and that whether that be the case or not he presently seemed unable to say so...one way or the other. My wife finally conceding that as the instructor in charge I generally know best about these sorts of things and pulled him out of the water.
Another solo diver...
I was teaching a rescue class at a local dive park and some guy snuck out solo...that was a no-no. When the DM on duty noticed, she asked me to go out and get him. Did you ever watch that old show "Wild Kingdom"? Marlin would say something like "Jim, go grab that cape buffalo by the tail and bring him over here so the good folks at home can see just how pissed one of those suckers can really get."...and poor Jim would go do it. Well, for some reason they always send me.
I got to his bubbles but before I could descend to meet him, I saw that he was coming up. He hit the surface coughing and choking with his reg half out of his mouth and his head being pulled backwards. His tank was falling off his bc. I grabbed his tank and he finally let the reg drop from his teeth. I should have never let that happen because he was then able to talk.
He insisted that I help him get his tank back on so he could continue his dive. I tried to explain that the park management wanted him out of the water but he would have none of that. He just told me that he was an expert diver and that he would dive as he pleased. This went on for a while and I couldn't help but commented that his way of diving was about the strangest I had ever witnessed as I had never seen anyone hold their tank in place with their teeth before. that wasn't entirely true because I had seen it once before out on Lake Michigan. It hadn't work well that time either but I wasn't sure how he would take the advice so any further thoughts on the matter to myself. About then, one of my DM's came out and asked if I needed help. I said, "Yes thanks. Hold this tank for a minute, please." When my DM took the tank, I made a bee-line back to my own class.
I know that sounds like a dirty trick to play on your own DM but I had my reasons. Having complete faith in his expertise, I thought it would make a perfect demonstration for my class. I supposed that I could do the most service by explaining to the class what was going on and answering any questions that they might have.
All the while, we heard the expert shouting orders to my DM. The DM, having become a bit stressed himself, yells to me "What do you want me to do with him?" I shouted back that he shouldn't concern himself with what I wanted because, clearly, the right thing to do would be to help the diver to shore if he could be put up with for that long. Being a highly trained, thinking DM he quickly shot back "What if I can't put up with him that long?" I explained that I really didn't feel comfortable advising him on that and strongly desired to disassociate myself from the whole unpleasant affair so that I could get back to teaching my class. I did briefly mention that the only thing that really came to mind was to let go of the diver's tank and allow him go back to diving in the way that, he insisted, would please him.
Some part of that exchange apparently prompted the park DM to finally get involved and make some suggestions. I can't really say exactly how it all ended because I did go back to teaching my class and was eye witness to nothing further. My class went well. The park DM has since retired. My former DM moved to LA, became a dive instructor, got his SAG card and now hangs with the rich and famous.
Sort of in response to a question in the "Have You Ever Considered the Risk" thread. I thought I'd start another thread rather than take that one too far off topic.
Here, for your reading pleasure (or not) are the accounts of a couple of surface assists. Jump in with your own.
Once we were at Haigh Quarry and watched as a "certified" solo diver spent about an hour trying to figure out how to put his gear together. I say that because he'd get it part way set up, notice something wrong, tear it down, scratch his head some and start over. He finally got in the water with his rig, knelt down and started putting it on. It looked like he was having trouble so I asked my wife to go over and offer to help. He refused the help and almost seemed insulted. By the time my wife got back and sat down again, he had somehow managed to get himself chicken-winged in his bc and plopped over face down in the water. When it became obvious (at least to me) that he wasn't coming up I suggested to my wife that she go pull him out.
She said she thought that he must have a reg in his mouth as long as he had been under and that if not he was surely dead by now. I pointed out that his regs we all dangling in plain view and that he was still moving. She further protested by pointing out that she had already offered help and that he had made it quite clear that he would not be helped. I told her that it was my strong opinion that he would be much more receptive to the idea about now...and that whether that be the case or not he presently seemed unable to say so...one way or the other. My wife finally conceding that as the instructor in charge I generally know best about these sorts of things and pulled him out of the water.
Another solo diver...
I was teaching a rescue class at a local dive park and some guy snuck out solo...that was a no-no. When the DM on duty noticed, she asked me to go out and get him. Did you ever watch that old show "Wild Kingdom"? Marlin would say something like "Jim, go grab that cape buffalo by the tail and bring him over here so the good folks at home can see just how pissed one of those suckers can really get."...and poor Jim would go do it. Well, for some reason they always send me.
I got to his bubbles but before I could descend to meet him, I saw that he was coming up. He hit the surface coughing and choking with his reg half out of his mouth and his head being pulled backwards. His tank was falling off his bc. I grabbed his tank and he finally let the reg drop from his teeth. I should have never let that happen because he was then able to talk.
He insisted that I help him get his tank back on so he could continue his dive. I tried to explain that the park management wanted him out of the water but he would have none of that. He just told me that he was an expert diver and that he would dive as he pleased. This went on for a while and I couldn't help but commented that his way of diving was about the strangest I had ever witnessed as I had never seen anyone hold their tank in place with their teeth before. that wasn't entirely true because I had seen it once before out on Lake Michigan. It hadn't work well that time either but I wasn't sure how he would take the advice so any further thoughts on the matter to myself. About then, one of my DM's came out and asked if I needed help. I said, "Yes thanks. Hold this tank for a minute, please." When my DM took the tank, I made a bee-line back to my own class.
I know that sounds like a dirty trick to play on your own DM but I had my reasons. Having complete faith in his expertise, I thought it would make a perfect demonstration for my class. I supposed that I could do the most service by explaining to the class what was going on and answering any questions that they might have.
All the while, we heard the expert shouting orders to my DM. The DM, having become a bit stressed himself, yells to me "What do you want me to do with him?" I shouted back that he shouldn't concern himself with what I wanted because, clearly, the right thing to do would be to help the diver to shore if he could be put up with for that long. Being a highly trained, thinking DM he quickly shot back "What if I can't put up with him that long?" I explained that I really didn't feel comfortable advising him on that and strongly desired to disassociate myself from the whole unpleasant affair so that I could get back to teaching my class. I did briefly mention that the only thing that really came to mind was to let go of the diver's tank and allow him go back to diving in the way that, he insisted, would please him.
Some part of that exchange apparently prompted the park DM to finally get involved and make some suggestions. I can't really say exactly how it all ended because I did go back to teaching my class and was eye witness to nothing further. My class went well. The park DM has since retired. My former DM moved to LA, became a dive instructor, got his SAG card and now hangs with the rich and famous.
