freewillie
Contributor
In response to another thread in the New Divers section I thought I would start a new thread instead of hijack the other one.
Jim Lapenta was stating that even a brand new open water diver right out of basic open water training should be able to support a diver at the surface, get control of a panicked diver at the surface, bring up an unconscious diver from depth, tow and unconscious diver while stripping gear to the boat/shore.
To me that seems like an awful lot of task loading for a complete newbie. To use another analogy, it's like teaching a skier to do a snow plow and then take them to the top of the mountain for trip down black diamond experts run.
Having delt with multiple medical emergencies I can tell you that the best response in emergency situations is simply experience. Brand new interns and doctors do not handle code blue situations with the same calm and collected responses as seasoned doctors who have done it many, many times before. Also, the individual personalitites play a huge role in who stays calm and who simply panicks. Repitition and experience help the more anxious prone responders calm themselves down a little but only after they've done a code blue a few times. Trust me when I tell you that there is a big difference doing it on CPR Annie which is a dummy and doing it bedside with a real person.
Just my humble opinion, but I think divers get the most out of a CPR first responder course and Rescue Diver course after they have several dives under their belt. IMO I think they should be able to instinctively control their buoyancy and trim while diving before presented with rescue/emergency responsibilities.
Jim Lapenta was stating that even a brand new open water diver right out of basic open water training should be able to support a diver at the surface, get control of a panicked diver at the surface, bring up an unconscious diver from depth, tow and unconscious diver while stripping gear to the boat/shore.
To me that seems like an awful lot of task loading for a complete newbie. To use another analogy, it's like teaching a skier to do a snow plow and then take them to the top of the mountain for trip down black diamond experts run.
Having delt with multiple medical emergencies I can tell you that the best response in emergency situations is simply experience. Brand new interns and doctors do not handle code blue situations with the same calm and collected responses as seasoned doctors who have done it many, many times before. Also, the individual personalitites play a huge role in who stays calm and who simply panicks. Repitition and experience help the more anxious prone responders calm themselves down a little but only after they've done a code blue a few times. Trust me when I tell you that there is a big difference doing it on CPR Annie which is a dummy and doing it bedside with a real person.
Just my humble opinion, but I think divers get the most out of a CPR first responder course and Rescue Diver course after they have several dives under their belt. IMO I think they should be able to instinctively control their buoyancy and trim while diving before presented with rescue/emergency responsibilities.