Level of fitness/strength needed for rescue course
- Thread starter Iralub
- Start date
Please register or login
Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.
Benefits of registering include
- Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
- A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
- You can make this box go away
I'm 5'2", and not young. I did have problems getting my "victim" out of the water, but I did well enough to get her to where CPR could have been done. I don't think any of us could singlehandedly get another diver out of the water and onto a boat.
I would certainly not recommend avoiding the Rescue class because you are afraid you might not be able to do that part of it. The class is an excellent one, and you will learn a ton in it, if it is well-taught.
I would certainly not recommend avoiding the Rescue class because you are afraid you might not be able to do that part of it. The class is an excellent one, and you will learn a ton in it, if it is well-taught.
Wookie
Proud to be a Chaos Muppet
Staff member
ScubaBoard Business Sponsor
ScubaBoard Supporter
Scuba Instructor
The others have given you good advice. My perspective comes from being a charter operator who has saved a few, and lost others.
First, rescue class is first and foremost learning to avoid having to perform a rescue in the first place. A good rescue class will teach you self rescue techniques, recognizing when someone is in distress, how to get their attention (90% of the battle), and to get help. Joining the He-Man club is a small part of rescue. Bob (NWGratefulDiver) is correct in that if you can perform a 100 yard tired diver tow, you pretty much have the physical part licked. Yes, we all practice full rescues from the bottom to the initiation of CPR on the boat/beach, but in my experience, that scenario is a one in a million event. Similarly, a petite person lifting someone like me on the boat (6'2" 300 lbs bare nekkid) is not something you will ever ever do. I say that because there will always be someone on the boat to help. In the very rare case where you are diving from your own boat and no one else is there, that's the chance you take diving.
Far more important is the ability to recognize a diver in distress, and what to do about it. Truly distressed divers don't splash and flail like the scenario postulates, they are quiet, unresponsive, and slip quietly under. If they are splashing and flailing, they may think they are in distress, but the real answer is to let themselves tucker out until they will listen to you, then have them add air to their BC. Jumping in to a panicked diver situation most usually results in an injured rescuer.
Take the class. No one ever says you have to perform a real rescue, but most find it the most worthwhile class they can take in the hierarchy of scuba classes. You will become a better diver for it, and you will understand the importance of buddy pre-dive checks, probably the most important rescue technique there is.
First, rescue class is first and foremost learning to avoid having to perform a rescue in the first place. A good rescue class will teach you self rescue techniques, recognizing when someone is in distress, how to get their attention (90% of the battle), and to get help. Joining the He-Man club is a small part of rescue. Bob (NWGratefulDiver) is correct in that if you can perform a 100 yard tired diver tow, you pretty much have the physical part licked. Yes, we all practice full rescues from the bottom to the initiation of CPR on the boat/beach, but in my experience, that scenario is a one in a million event. Similarly, a petite person lifting someone like me on the boat (6'2" 300 lbs bare nekkid) is not something you will ever ever do. I say that because there will always be someone on the boat to help. In the very rare case where you are diving from your own boat and no one else is there, that's the chance you take diving.
Far more important is the ability to recognize a diver in distress, and what to do about it. Truly distressed divers don't splash and flail like the scenario postulates, they are quiet, unresponsive, and slip quietly under. If they are splashing and flailing, they may think they are in distress, but the real answer is to let themselves tucker out until they will listen to you, then have them add air to their BC. Jumping in to a panicked diver situation most usually results in an injured rescuer.
Take the class. No one ever says you have to perform a real rescue, but most find it the most worthwhile class they can take in the hierarchy of scuba classes. You will become a better diver for it, and you will understand the importance of buddy pre-dive checks, probably the most important rescue technique there is.
- Messages
- 93,363
- Reaction score
- 91,547
- Location
- On the Fun Side of Trump's Wall
- # of dives
- 2500 - 4999
... you're one of the few people I know who were tasked with putting your rescue training into a real-world application ... and found out how different a real rescue attempt can be from the controlled exercises performed in a class. Sometimes the best things you take away from the class are the tools needed to be able to adapt when the situation calls for it ...
... Bob (Grateful Diver)
Twice, Bob . . . I've had to do it twice. Neither time was I alone. I have thought about the issue when, for example, I am diving with my friend Kirk off his boat. I could not get him into the boat, even adrenaline-charged; I'm quite sure of that. It's not easy to get someone over even a low freeload, which is why the God's Pocket folks installed a lift on their boat.
I heartily second Wookie's post. Rescue is more about recognizing and managing risk than about actual rescues, but it does give you some tools to use if you need to help someone.
I heartily second Wookie's post. Rescue is more about recognizing and managing risk than about actual rescues, but it does give you some tools to use if you need to help someone.
I think taking the Rescue course is one of the most important and rewarding experiences in diving you can have - if you have a really good instructor and a well run course.
I remember when I did the course, I told my instructor (with whom I had formed a very good friendship) "please make this a challenging and as realistic a course as possible". He smiled, told me he was NOT going to make it a easy, and that I definitely would have to earn it... and he certainly delivered on his promise!
The exercises and simulations were made progressively more challenging. We had my brother (who is my regular dive buddy and a Dive Master) as well as another instructor absolutely show no mercy in thrashing around during panic diver exercises, doing underwater rescue simulations, and full-on rescue scenarios. They really put me into stressful and very realistic situations in sometimes less than ideal water conditions (choppy seas, currents, surface swells, etc.) After the completion of the exercises and rescue scenarios I was exhausted ! - and I'm in fairly good shape, but I definitely got a taste of what it might feel like to be in a real situation and the kind of effort and seriousness involved.
I think that this is very important in a rescue course because you simply can't choose the ideal conditions to perform a rescue and if things do go wrong, it's usually when you least expect it and not always in the most favorable of circumstances. There could be less than ideal environmental conditions, your buddy may be bigger than you and in a complete panic etc... and you need to be able to act without taking undue risks that could harm the both of you and make a bad situation even worse.
No matter how you feel about your strength and fitness level... try to find a great instructor, get into shape and do it! The mindset, experience, and confidence a very well run rescue course can give you is immeasurable and I believe every diver should complete diving eduction to the Rescue level at the very least.
I would also highly recommend the book Diver Down by Michael R. Ange which is a an excellent review and analysis of real world diving accidents and can give you a window into how things can go wrong and how one can learn from these mistakes.
I remember when I did the course, I told my instructor (with whom I had formed a very good friendship) "please make this a challenging and as realistic a course as possible". He smiled, told me he was NOT going to make it a easy, and that I definitely would have to earn it... and he certainly delivered on his promise!
The exercises and simulations were made progressively more challenging. We had my brother (who is my regular dive buddy and a Dive Master) as well as another instructor absolutely show no mercy in thrashing around during panic diver exercises, doing underwater rescue simulations, and full-on rescue scenarios. They really put me into stressful and very realistic situations in sometimes less than ideal water conditions (choppy seas, currents, surface swells, etc.) After the completion of the exercises and rescue scenarios I was exhausted ! - and I'm in fairly good shape, but I definitely got a taste of what it might feel like to be in a real situation and the kind of effort and seriousness involved.
I think that this is very important in a rescue course because you simply can't choose the ideal conditions to perform a rescue and if things do go wrong, it's usually when you least expect it and not always in the most favorable of circumstances. There could be less than ideal environmental conditions, your buddy may be bigger than you and in a complete panic etc... and you need to be able to act without taking undue risks that could harm the both of you and make a bad situation even worse.
No matter how you feel about your strength and fitness level... try to find a great instructor, get into shape and do it! The mindset, experience, and confidence a very well run rescue course can give you is immeasurable and I believe every diver should complete diving eduction to the Rescue level at the very least.
I would also highly recommend the book Diver Down by Michael R. Ange which is a an excellent review and analysis of real world diving accidents and can give you a window into how things can go wrong and how one can learn from these mistakes.
- Messages
- 16,401
- Reaction score
- 5,219
- # of dives
- 1000 - 2499
I was told by a staff member that the course was very rigorous physically. My experience (at then age 52 and in "good shape") was that it was far more taxing mentally than physically. Plus there is a lot to digest in that manual. I have read on SB that the degree of physical and mental requirements varies quite a bit according to instructor. It may be best to ask the instructor/shop what will happen in the course. Of course the tougher the course is, the better you will turn out. However I have also read of odd occasions when an instructor will go way overboard or do some strange stuff.
Wookie
Proud to be a Chaos Muppet
Staff member
ScubaBoard Business Sponsor
ScubaBoard Supporter
Scuba Instructor
I've launched and recovered many thousands of divers in conditions ranging from flat calm to 12 foot seas in a 10 second period. Never once have i seen a diver splash at the surface like they do in a rescue class.
Many instructors use the rescue course as a rite of passage. I call it hazing. Look, I'm 52, fat, and white. I'm ripe for my first heart attack. I don't have the gumption to go out and wrestle divers, so I use my wily ways instead. There is no reason that the rescue course needs to exhaust the candidate. Yes, as I mentioned before, tired diver tows of long distances in squirrely current are real things and you need to be physically capable of doing that. But it's better to establish positive buoyancy, and call for the boat to come get you.
Many people call the ride in the liveaboard dinghy the "ride of shame", which I always took exception to. If you need help, call for it. There is no shame is diving the next dive too. Can't do that if you are a mile down current...
I found it to be more mentally exhausting than physically. Sure, the rescue tows, extraction from water, etc. were demanding, but all the "heightened awareness" is what took a toll on me during the "practical" portion. Likely the first time I didn't enjoy myself diving because the instructor kept throwing curve balls at me for an entire 50+ minute drift dive in strong current....
I have actually had it happen a couple of times in real life. In one case the diver did a giant stride but was overweighed and at the surface he had not inflated his BC so as he was waiting for the rest to get in, eventually he got tired he felt he was drowning and REALLY panicked. Another time I saw a diver bolt to the surface from depth due to a failure in the BC and losing air in the balder... on the surface he didn't ditch his belt and felt he was sinking and also started thrashing around. In both cases it was a weighting issue at the surface but the reactions were similar. Ironically in both cases the sea was flat.
Similar threads
