Advise for Rescue Diver Course

[DivemasterDennis]

I have used the word "overthinking" alot in diagnosing new diver issues, and it does apply to new skills and experiences for certified divers. Overthinking ends when familiarity from repetition replaces it. Experience is the key to these things. Rescue diver stretches divers out of their comfort zones on purpose. Remember in emergencies to stop, think then act. Thinking is only overthinking when it is to the point of unnecessarily delaying action needed to respond to the emergency. Practice responses to the extent you can, talk through scenarios, read about real life situations. Maybe start a " this is what happened and this is what we did" thread here. you'll do fine in the class. Build on it with further practice, repetition, and by being an active diver.
DivemasterDennis

 

[Banyan]

I may be weird in this regard but I was much more relaxed in my rescue (and EFR) class when the instructor reminded us that, in most of the cases we practice for, we can't make the situation worse. Victim laying on the bottom with their reg out and unresponsive? Dead. Panicked diver sucking in water at the surface? Likely incapacitated, maybe dead. Victim in cardiac arrest at surface? Dead. Anything you do to help as a trained responder is almost guaranteed to improve the survivability of the victim. Read some of the incident reports on SB about how chaotic an actual rescue situation is, where even the slightest knowledge of proper action or emergency management makes a difference. Nobody benefits if the rescue diver freezes because they can't remember the exact acronym used for checking a victim. I don't want to sound flippant, because Rescue deals with very serious subjects, but your wife may be more relaxed if she recognizes that perfection is almost never seen in a real emergency, while "good enough" may save someone's life.

 

[snowdog]

I am sorry for the delay in responding to this thread.
As I stated, My wife was over thinking the OOA tasks, but with all your pointers she did fine. Looking back at the course, she actually admits she love the course, and says it’s the best of ALL the courses we have taken.
It’s funny… she now says the skills in the Rescue Course should be taught in greater details in the basic OW course. I had to remind her that if they did do more of the rescue skills in the OW course, there would be a lot less divers passing the OW course.

 

[TMHeimer]

I found the Rescue manual to be one of PADI's best. Study the procedures and diagrams, and use the acronyms or make up your own. In the course I took our Instructor did some things a little different from the manual, but pretty close.

 

[Tropicalwolf]

Rescue is a great course and one that you can truly have a lot of fun learning...provided your instructor isn't just a "card distributor."

 

[spectrum]

My experieince was that not much dive skill beyond OW was required. Some skills were repackaged and some skills like tows may be new to some divers. It's largely the mental side of diving and some practical exercises.

Just tell her to do the prep, do her best and she will probably do just fine. Any anxiousness should pale relative to getting ready for OW.

Sleep well prior to the in water day and hope you have an instructor that really challenges you.

Pete

Edit: Ohh.... Congratulations!

 

[Thalassamania]

If OOA drills are the bugaboo she needs to learn to hold her breath (or at least have confidence that she can hold her breath) for longer than it takes to complete the skills. She needs to learn breath hold and she needs to time the drills, when hold time is twice drill time, she should know that there is no issue.

 

[ChrisMan]

Edit.....Deleted as I was thinking of something totally different!