What do you do in the Rescue Class

[Dirk P.]

I agree with gcbryan. You never know what will happen in real life so it's good to get unconventianol scenario's. On my final day (after completing all the mandatory items), we had one final scenario: we were a group of 5 divers which just finished a dive. There was a second group of 5 divers who were also diving. All 5 divers of group B were in "trouble" and we had to respond. We had everything from missing diver under water, ditressed diver, exhausted diver. We even had an acutal near-hypothermia case due to the water temparture. In short: chaos, but it was excellent to practise all your rescue skills...

 

[Diving Dubai]

You can see I'm bored today by resurrecting this thread. Interesting though given I'm abut to do my course. I'll be in a wing carrying no weight I wonder how that will affect my training or others on teh course wearing BCD's?

 

[Scott]

It shouldn't have any negative impact on the course at all. In reality using a 'different' setup will enhance the course for your fellow students, maybe open your eyes to a new technique and possibly your instructor if they are not familiar with BP&W.
Imagine if everyone in the course was wearing the exact brand and model of BC.
I like it when different gear shows up at a rescue course. I will wear two or three types of gear configurations during a rescue course. Typically a rental BC, continuous harness and sidemount. I do this so students will have a better understanding of gear configurations and to see who is paying attention.

Good luck and have fun, rescue is a great course.

 

[geoff w]

You can see I'm bored today by resurrecting this thread. Interesting though given I'm abut to do my course. I'll be in a wing carrying no weight I wonder how that will affect my training or others on teh course wearing BCD's?

Expect to be jostled about a bit by your fellow students when you play the unconscious diver and they try to get your rig off of you. Quick release buckles and no crotch strap make the exercise much easier on you. When it's your turn to rescue an unconscious diver on the surface, start giving rescue breaths and towing toward shore, you will appreciate having a BC that is easy to get out of while trying to save another diver at the same time.

 

[Diving Dubai]

Expect to be jostled about a bit by your fellow students when you play the unconscious diver and they try to get your rig off of you. Quick release buckles and no crotch strap make the exercise much easier on you. When it's your turn to rescue an unconscious diver on the surface, start giving rescue breaths and towing toward shore, you will appreciate having a BC that is easy to get out of while trying to save another diver at the same time.

Thanks for the tip.. my harness is pretty easy to get out of (I think) but I'll double check things before hand and may leave off the crotch strap

 

[TMHeimer]

Our course was 5 straight nights then the scenarios. It was 8 years ago, but I recall we pretty much covered the skills mentioned earlier (panicked diver, unresponsive one on bottom, etc.). I was surprised to find that the course (I took) was not particularly demanding physically (age 52 then), but involved a lot of thinking (now perhaps a comment from my wife?...). From what I've read over time on SB, it seems the courses vary a lot as to what gets more emphasis, depending on the instructor. My advice would be to just study the manual a lot beforehand (or e learning if they do that, etc.). There's a lot in that manual.

 

[uncfnp]

Thanks for the tip.. my harness is pretty easy to get out of (I think) but I'll double check things before hand and may leave off the crotch strap

I suggest you keep the gear as you dive it. Especially if training with your regular dive buddy (wife). It's the best way to learn how to deal with the real life scenarios. In my class, Eric and I had BP/W and the instructor standard BCD. We practiced checking for ditchable weights in all the different configurations, and how to deal with no ditchable weights as is the case for Eric and I.

We found removing the BP/W a real pain. In real life, if I needed the harness off, I would probably just cut it.

 

[Freewillow]

The most valuable PADI course. Of course, a lot depends on the instructor, as usual

 

[The Chairman]

The class is dependent on the instructor both in terms of content and FUN. When I took the class, the instructor was intimidated by the fact that we were both Boy Scout Life Guards. When he outlined the first pool scenario, we kind of over stressed him with questions as to why he would do things in a particular way. He mumbled something about that we knew more than he did and simply signed our cards. What a "class act".

I didn't learn about rescue until I took my instructor's course. Thanks to MB's tutelage, it became a strength and was incredibly FUN. A good rescue course will cover all the modalities. A great rescue course will do that, make you think outside the box and be FUN, FUN, FUN!