I mentioned the different agencies above because BSAC tends to teach differently...they do not hand-off the octo to the OOA diver, instead, upon seeing the OOA signal they teach to splay out to "present" the octo for the OOA diver to take on their own, at least that is how the local BSAC instructor I know teaches....I like this, but it still requires the diver to recognize and process the OOA signal.
He isn’t teaching a donor to do anything. He is teaching the OOG to TAKE the regulator. The realistic scenario is that the donor has his or her head in a hole grabbing a lobster or is taking a picture and is completely uninvolved with handing off a regulator.
This is often lampooned as ‘going starfish’ since for the purposes of the lesson the ‘donating’ diver is to do nothing, the OOG is being taught not the donor.
We explain that it is perfectly ok to hand over a regulator if you notice the need.