Buddy diving


Buddy diving is the use of the buddy system by scuba divers and freedivers. It is a set of safety procedures intended to improve the chances of avoiding or surviving accidents in or under water by having divers dive in a group of two or sometimes three. When using the buddy system, members of the group dive together and co-operate with each other, so that they can help or rescue each other in the event of an emergency. This is most effective if both divers are competent in all relevant skills and sufficiently aware of the situation that they can respond in time, which is a matter of both attitude and competence.
In recreational diving, a pair of divers is usually considered best for buddy diving. With threesomes, one diver can easily lose the attention of the other two, and groups of more than three divers are not using the buddy system. The system is likely to be effective in mitigating out-of-air emergencies, non-diving medical emergencies and entrapment in ropes or nets. When used with the buddy check it can help avoid the omission, misuse and failure of diving equipment.
In technical diving activities such as cave diving, threesomes are considered an acceptable practice. This is usually referred to as team diving to distinguish it from buddy diving in pairs. Freedivers may also operate in groups of three, to make more efficient use of dive time, as a recently surfaced diver requires recovery time before they are ready to stand by for another diver's dive.
When professional divers dive as buddy pairs their responsibility to each other is specified as part of standard operating procedures, code of practice or governing legislation.

Purpose

The buddy system is a procedure in which two individuals, the "buddies", operate together as a team so that they are able to monitor and help each other. According to Merriam-Webster, the first known use of the phrase "buddy system" goes back to 1942. Webster goes on to define the buddy system as "an arrangement in which two individuals are paired."
In adventurous or dangerous activities, where buddies are often required, the main benefit of the system is improved safety; each may be able to prevent the other from becoming a casualty or rescue the other in a crisis.
The system is also used in training, as a mentorship system, by which the less experienced buddy learns more quickly from close and frequent contact with feedback from the experienced buddy.
Buddy diving is intended to enhance the safety of scuba diving by having two or three competent divers acting as safety divers for each other during a dive in conditions that are within their capabilities, and using equipment that is familiar to all team members. In principle, each diver is capable of rendering assistance to the other in any reasonably foreseeable contingency, and willing to do so within the scope of acceptable personal risk. The buddy divers are expected to take mutual responsibility for the safety of the buddy pair above and below the water, and this responsibility commences when the divers prepare for the dive. It is assumed that it is unlikely that both divers will experience the same problem at the same time, allowing the diver not in trouble to assist when the other diver has difficulties. This mutual responsibility is usually not required by legislation, is entirely voluntary unless required by terms of service of a service provider, and generally cannot be enforced.
This purpose is theoretically fulfilled by the buddy assisting the diver to kit up, checking that the diver's equipment is correctly assembled and mounted, assisting the diver into the water where appropriate, checking for leaks, mutually monitoring gas usage, providing an alternate breathing gas supply in case of an emergency, performing a rescue if one diver is unable to manage an emergency, and assisting each other out of the water after the dive if appropriate. This system can mitigate high-risk emergencies when performed to the standards. This is not a controversial issue. This level of assistance requires the buddy to be familiar with the diver's equipment in detail, including the adjustment of harness and emergency release of weighting systems, operation of each others inflation and dump valves, siting and attachment of secondary demand valve, knife and any other safety equipment. Recreational divers may be trained in some or all of these skills depending on their certification. The buddy system is not considered sufficient on its own. Dive planning, medical and physical fitness to dive, suitable and correctly functioning equipment, appropriate surface support, skills, experience and knowledge are all part of the diving safety system. To be fully effective, the buddy system is applied to an agreed dive plan, with effective communications, the willingness and ability to assist each other in all reasonably foreseeable circumstances associated with the dive plan, and the will to follow the dive plan.

Requirements

For the buddy system to function effectively, each buddy must be sufficiently competent to provide the required service, and be present when it is needed. Several conditions must exist for the buddy system to succeed:
  • The divers must know and accept the dive plan.
  • Equipment must be compatible with the dive plan, and reasonably foreseeable contingencies.
  • Divers must be fit to dive in the expected conditions.
  • They must be competent to perform the dive plan and carry out procedures to deal with reasonably foreseeable contingencies.
  • The divers must know how to operate their own and their buddy's equipment, as they may have to operate it under stressful conditions.
  • They must be willing to accept increased personal risk in the event that they need to assist a distressed buddy, and must understand when such risk becomes unacceptable.
  • They must remain in the immediate vicinity of each other during the entire dive, close enough to communicate adequately and to render assistance in time.
  • Divers must monitor and communicate as needed to remain aware of the status of themselves and other team members, their decompression status and their life-support equipment throughout the dive, from entering the water until the last diver leaves the water.
  • Both divers are equally responsible for ensuring that they know where the other is, and that the other knows where they are at all times. This is the usual point at which the buddy system fails and divers are separated, making all the other conditions irrelevant. At this point they have lost the potential assistance of the buddy which is the main purpose of the system. Sometimes they find each other again. Usually nobody dies.
Most recreational divers never advance to a high level of competency as might be indicated by certification and experience, and furthermore, many divers do not dive sufficiently frequently to maintain their skills. Nevertheless, they are routinely expected to provide assistance to their dive buddies in the event of an emergency, and are also routinely allocated to dive with complete strangers who may be using unfamiliar equipment. It is standard practice for many, if not most diving charter organisations to allocate buddy pairs among divers they have never assessed for competence on the basis of their certification and claimed experience. Optimal conditions are seldom encountered on open-water recreational dives.

Alternatives

The three alternatives, solo diving, diving in teams of three, and diving as an individual in a large group, may have disadvantages when compared to the buddy system, especially for the novice:
Although solo diving is practiced by some recreational divers, it is only considered acceptably safe if the diver is totally self-sufficient. This usually entails a completely redundant gas supply, such as a bailout bottle or isolation-manifolded twin cylinders, and the competence to use it in an emergency. Self-rescue is not possible in some cases, such as severe cases of entrapment in ropes and nets and during medical emergencies where the diver loses consciousness or is otherwise severely impaired in their ability to respond appropriately. A considerably higher standard of competence is generally required of solo divers, even taking into account the differences due to the absence of a buddy, as can be seen by comparing minimum standards for Solo Diver and Autonomous diver certification.
Three diver teams can be effective for safety and backup, as generally, a problem that requires assistance affects only one diver, and having two divers to assist can be helpful. However, this procedure requires a considerably greater level of attention to group coherence. It is usually used by technical divers in cave and wreck penetration diving, where the advantages are sufficient to compensate for the added task loading, and the divers are competent to manage the additional complexity.
The system of group diving, where a group of tourists are taken on a sightseeing tour of a dive site by a dive leader and "sheepdog" assistant, who brings up the rear and herds the stragglers, is often practiced when the visibility is sufficient for it to be practicable. The divers in such groups may be entirely unfamiliar with each other. In this system, especially in large groups, poor visibility or strong currents, the weak, inexperienced, or inattentive individual divers can easily become detached from the group and lose the protection of stronger or more competent divers in the group. Communication is often difficult in these groups leading to increased risk, but the client divers are not left with sole responsibility for a stranger of unknown competence. The "sheepdog" assistant is given the responsibility of being buddy to all the divers in the group, while not having a buddy of their own.
In professional diving, a working diver is supported by a diving team, which will include a standby diver ready to go to the assistance of the working diver.