Well done for posting Mark. An incident like that would shake anyone up and so it's good that you're back in the water
I was on board that day and for the real learning for me was what happened on the boat afterwards. I surfaced (with Chasey and Howard?) to find you on O2. I remember being surprised that the coastguard hadn't been called. This is obviously no reflection on you as the casualty should not be the one making these decisions. Instead I remember confusion as to what we should be doing. IIRC I don't think we even did a neuro exam on you for 20 minutes or so [1]
It really struck home to me the value of having a proper BSAC-style "Dive Marshall" on a trip who takes responsiblity for the diving. My recollections was that I wanted to call the coastguard, suggested it a few times, but as I was not in a position of authority did not feel that I could insist on it. I know others on board felt the same way.
Certainly I feel that when booking on as a buddy pair on a boat of individuals, even on a YD trip, then I would be less likely to get proper care in the event of an incident than on a marshalled club trip. Indeed I used this case (with no specifics) when teaching Dive Leader theory on why we have dive marshalls.
Well done for posting once again.
Janos
PS - I recognise of course that there are none-BSAC marshalls - on some of the gas-diving trips I go on there's a clear procedure and a de-facto dive marshall for example.
[1] I'll hold my hand up and I'll say I performed it very badly. Embarassingly so, but I've since practiced it more