In order to comment on the question: AOW before rescue?, a couple of factors need to be addressed.
First, AOW and rescue will vary between agencies. In the PADI sytem, the idea is that each program introduces and practices development of skills in progression. For example, in OW class, Navagation is introduced. Students practice reciprocal headings only. There may be cases in which students practice additional skills in nav, however reciprocal headings are the only required exercises in OW.
Some people, especially those experienced with a compass, may develop additional skills through practice. However I believe that most students require additional training (AOW) in order to be proficient with both compass and natural nav tecniques.
It would be illogical to expect a rescue student to be able to perform the "search for missing diver" excersice when they have not yet been taught expanding squares, u shaped nav etc...patterns. Not having leaned these tecniques, when and where they are appropriate, would make it difficult for the student to even choose which one to try, when presented with a senario.
Since nav is essential to all divers, even those who do not go on to rescue, the proper place to learn is in AOW, not rescue. Many may argue that more nav should be included in OW, however at present it is not.
This leads to another concern. Many divers comment that they did not learn much in AOW. To me, this indicates that they were not challenged enough in class. Their instructor failed to recognise, analize and advise on weak areas of the individual. All to often students do their homework, watch the video, then simply participate in a dive.
Many dive centers/instructors go further. Some instructors simply look over students knoledge review at the dive site prior to the dive. I feel that it is more productive to have classroom time in which instructors elaborate on the material. After all the idea is that most people need repetition to learn. Some respond well to reading, others to audio/visual, others to lecture. If a student :reads it, then watches video, then hears lecture, then practices it, "it" sticks better. Ever heard of the "7 notches" theary of sales? The customer needs to see/hear your name 7 times to make it stick.
Furthermore being an effective instructor means helping people see what they have learned. That means "catching them in the act" so to speak. If you try to tell someone after the dive, "hey, I noticed that you forgot to check your buddy's cummerbund during the pre dive safety check, it was crooked". They may acknoledge, but the human psych tends to convince itself "naw, i didn't do that". Instead, a more effective methos may be to watch the pre-dive safety check. Ask "are you done" then point out a few things each diver missed (and there is ALWAYS something). The result, "wow, I learned something", " i DID miss something".
Without such specific training procedures it is easy for divers to develop/improve without noticing. Although we, as instructors may see it, they may not. It's kind of like a child feeling themself grow. If you don't make a pencil mark on the wall now, how will you see how much you grew six months later.
With that said, my opinion is to get into the AOW class right away. It is easier for us to build on the good habits you've leaned than it is for us to have break bad habits you could aquire on your own, then retrain the good ones (does that make sense? perhaps there is a better way to express this). After AOW, get right out there in rescue class. Nothing beats training when it comes to skill development and confidence building.
King of the run on sentance,
Andrew
