Rescue Diver Course - I can't recommend it based on my recent experience

[Curtis Dawson]

I can only dream of such intense training.

 

[PsyWulf]

I joined a group over the last 2 weekends to see how their rescue training ran. My arm and shoulder is still semi bust from dealing with a panicked diver. 2 broken mouth pieces from the school regs too

Might've been a bit overkill but you can be sure i'd be prepared for a very very panicky diver after that. Also redoing the course i got to adjust some of my kit config to more efficiently help others in trouble. As long as you survive the course the experience is invaluable.

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[Goodtime Adventures]

Sounds like you were really put through your paces. And that's awesome - exactly what you should want from a good Rescue course. Its supposed to make you more aware of others around you, supposed to train you to be on guard and alert for emergencies occurring, and supposed to give you enough practice and repetition as needed on emergency & assisting skills to ensure you can adequately respond to an emergency. The more scenarios you get on your rescue course, the better as far as we're concerned.

In your case specifically, a more thorough orientation may have been a bonus. But other than that the whole point of the rescue course is to test you and push you out of your regular comfort zone (not over the edge of course, but within your capability), and from your description, I'd say you got your money's worth. Its much better to be over trained at Rescue level - its not a course you should just tick the box on, and it sounds as if your instructor went to great lengths to exceed the performance requirements.

Congrats on your Rescue cert. You may be feeling a bit negative now, but in time I hope you'l change your mind - especially the next time you're out on a boat that's running rescue scenarios that aren't as thorough or testing as yours. And if you do ever need to put into use the skills you learnt, you know you'l be prepared.

 

[carltona]

Your course was intense but what did you learn? More than I ever did in my first rescue course. Here's what your post sounds like to many instructors: "Waaaa! they thought me too hard". "Waaaa! I wanted it to be easy". Waaaa! I just wanted to just dive, this is my holiday". Seriously - suck it up. You are a better diver now than before this course. Be proud of yourself stop whining.

Sounds like a good curriculum for an advanced rescue diver course which should be included with, or taken before, divemaster training. Like any first aid course practice is the key to being prepared to handle a rescue situation. Active instructors and DMs see these scenarios a couple times a week and thus keep their skills honed. Holiday divers are rarely involved in a rescue unless they're the victim. Your boat crew is much more qualified than any rescue diver except maybe for you.



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[Jude Reilly]

I was at the same dive site where I did my rescue course a couple of weeks later and there was another dive school there to do theirs. The differences were considerable. The course I was on consisted of 3 nights of theory and 2 full days in the open water. While I cannot comment on the other theory portion, I don't think a couple of hours in open water was anything even close to sufficient. Doing a skill circuit and then a couple of quick scenarios followed by, "Congratulations, you are now a rescue diver"?
The way my course was thought out would be that you will rarely use one skill at a time. The skills were all covered but in putting them into practice we never used just one outside of demonstration. We had scenarios that led into other scenarios, e.g A diver pops up panicking, promptly rescued helped to shore during which time we discover that he has been separated from his buddy. Cue missing diver search. We had situations designed to make us think if we had to get in the water at all, or did we have to tow every diver to shore? Our final scenario was a lesson in how to deal with pretty much EVERY diving mishap...We were allowed to make the mistakes so we could learn from them.
Which course would I rather have been on? A couple of hours or an intense weekend covering multiple scenarios and situations?
It's hard to find a comfortable balance but I would definitely prefer the rescue course to have more pressure than less, especially when I compare the course that I observed and the course that I took.

 

[KirkD]

I enjoyed my rescue course. I go my rescue cert like 10 yrs ago


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[Sunken Ship]

Hi there

Sorry if this has already been said and I've missed it but how can I find out the name of this school so I can finish my rescue course there if possible?

Thanks

 

[Mike]

I was at the same dive site where I did my rescue course a couple of weeks later and there was another dive school there to do theirs. The differences were considerable. The course I was on consisted of 3 nights of theory and 2 full days in the open water. While I cannot comment on the other theory portion, I don't think a couple of hours in open water was anything even close to sufficient. Doing a skill circuit and then a couple of quick scenarios followed by, "Congratulations, you are now a rescue diver"?
The way my course was thought out would be that you will rarely use one skill at a time. The skills were all covered but in putting them into practice we never used just one outside of demonstration. We had scenarios that led into other scenarios, e.g A diver pops up panicking, promptly rescued helped to shore during which time we discover that he has been separated from his buddy. Cue missing diver search. We had situations designed to make us think if we had to get in the water at all, or did we have to tow every diver to shore? Our final scenario was a lesson in how to deal with pretty much EVERY diving mishap...We were allowed to make the mistakes so we could learn from them.
Which course would I rather have been on? A couple of hours or an intense weekend covering multiple scenarios and situations?
It's hard to find a comfortable balance but I would definitely prefer the rescue course to have more pressure than less, especially when I compare the course that I observed and the course that I took.

Of course rescue should be taught with the proper amount of time allowed to thoroughly teach the course. That isn't the problem the OP stated starting this thread.