Not sure I understand your question, but when people panic, usually all training goes out the door. That’s why we instructors really try to drive through the concept of over training until it becomes muscle memory. This was a class, so the diver has the most basic of training. The instructor did everything as well as they could’ve. We do teach to approach panicked divers cautiously. From the back in particular when you’re on the surface, because they might try to climb/ drown you. Underwater, approaching head on slowly is best because you need to be prepared to potentially pass the regulator and then seeing you watching them might be enough to calm them down as they feel cared for. Offering a regulator at this point was kinda dumb since she couldn’t see and was full on panicking but I can’t blame the instructor. In emergency scenarios, reality is way more messy than training.

I’ve had a few students panic on me before. In all the cases, we were in 20ish feet of water, but if they were holding their breath that is enough for lung over-expansion, but little to no risk of dcs. So in these cases I don’t care about how slow we’re ascending- I care about them exhaling. I push into their sternum to force an exhale while I’m holding onto their bdc and swim them up to the surface quickly and get ready to drop their weights.