Solo divers' obligations to other divers

[fresh_fish]

The point has already been made as to whether there is a moral obligation to do SOMETHING about the diver in distress. The only grey area I see is if the solo diver is near the end of his dive, and does not have sufficient gas to get himself and another diver safely to the surface. Yes, understandably, this is a situation of poor planning, as the solo diver should have redundancy and not be pushing his limits. But IF the situation occurs, the solo diver would have every right to give the OOA diver a puff of air, give his BC a little inflate and send him on his way, leaving the last of his air for himself to make a safe ascent.

If the solo diver is low but still has redundancy, he should offer the redundancy, but keep that diver close during ascent, in case he needs to partake. Is he required? no. I would say this would be a 50/50 whether or not someone would do this or just signal that they themselves are LOA and refuse. It is totally appropriate either way.

 

[reefduffer]

TSandM and the others with similar views effectively express mine. I'm jumping in just to say that the golden rule works pretty well to sort out the nuances, as it often does, and it hadn't been mentioned. I'm not coming at it from a religious point of view, just an ethical one.

A solo diver planning gas to assist an OOA diver they might encounter is probably motivated by something else. A solo diver encountering an OOA diver would find the GR an excellent framework for decision making.

 

[Charlie99]

The Golden Rule and the moral obligation to assist while incurring a reasonable risk pretty well cover the situation.

What is reasonable risk will vary from diver to diver and upon the situation.

The only thing that I can add to this discussion is that decompression obligations are far, far more fuzzy and probabalistic than most divers assume. For many years a 60fpm pop direct to the surface after a 40 minute dive at 80' was considered the norm. Today that dive would be considered as having several minutes of decompression obligation.

Knowing the above, I am probably more willing than most divers to cut my own ascent short to assist a diver.

 

[fire_diver]

I thought this had just been beaten to death in the last thread.

 

[FritzCat66]

Yeah, but it was mixed in with lots of other contexts; I thought it would be worthwhile separating out. Also, I think the issue there was confused by fuzzy terminology regarding what does and doesn't qualify as a "solo dive", something I've tried to clarify by drawing some distinctions in the first post here.

 

[seaducer]

I think all human beings have an obligation to one another to render any aid they can under emergency conditions.

I think solo divers count in this as well. I do not however think they should be required to plan their dives for that possibility. They should assist if they can when the need arises, but shouldn't be forced or feel obligated to change their plan in case someone else happens to be there and need help.

I also think a great many human beings will disagree with me on point 1...hence the need for a military...

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

I don't think any solo diver would hesitate to render assistance when needed. But I think the notion of an "obligation" to other divers is the antithesis of why most people choose to solo dive ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[Sas]

What are the obligations - if any - a solo diver has towards other divers who happen to be in the water?

I solo dive and would consider that I have no obligation to any other diver when I am solo diving. That being said if I saw someone in trouble I would do my best to help them.

Should a solo diver reserve gas or other resources for another OOA or troubled diver? Why or why not?

No, I do not do this. If helping someone meant that I would not have enough air to help someone I ran into in trouble, then I would not air share. If I did have enough air then I would definitely help them out.

 

[divermike1011]

I don't plan gas consumption on solo dives around anyone but myself. I certainly would help another diver in distress if I came across one while solo diving, I often dive in areas where multiple people are diving, I just happen to not have a buddy because it's a good break from herding cats... err... helping with OW classes, I mean.

I also wouldn't hesitate to help another shop's clients/students if I saw them in trouble and was closer or aware before their own dive guide. I agree with most everyone that even if the legal obligation isn't there, the moral one is.

Michael

 

[waterpirate]

I would make the distinction that since people are drawn to the solo cert, and operators are accepting it, that it sets up another scenario. The diver that goes into the water solo, but is likely to encounter another diver, or team. That sets up a condition that a solo diver could be approached by some one else and need assistance.
There is no obligation, there never was. I simply do it as a choice, call me a nice guy or someone who cares. It really did not need to be disscussed again? Just know that if I am on a dive site and you see me solo and need help, I will be glad to give you the long hose off my honking big doubles and your life just got a lot better.
Eric