The NSS-CDS course is called Cave Recovery. The IUCRR told us not to call ourselves "recovery" divers because it erases hope for families. That job falls to law enforcement who have experience telling people tragic news. When I took the NSS-CDS course it was in conjunction with the IUCRR RRSOM course taught by Lamar Hires.
It wasn't something I intended to do. I was just diving at Peacock for fun with a friend. We were talking to Jim Wyatt who was there to take the course. Jim talked me into doing the course because it wasn't offered very often. I didn't feel like going to school that day, but I embraced the suck and found it very rewarding.
Jim and I were the first team to go through the in-water test. He is an exceptional cave diver and instructor who doesn't get enough credit for his knowledge and ability. Jim noticed a very faint silt cloud from the victim and located our guy. The victim had crawled into a hole as if he had crawled into a sewer pipe. All that was visible looking into the hole was the tip of a yellow Dive Rite fin. You are supposed to inventory all equipment, gas, and the condition of the victim before moving him, but we were challenged with having to improvise the SOP. We decided to move the victim little by little and inventory as we pulled him out of the hole. Only one diver is given the job of inventory, but we figured Jim would go through everything from memory and then I'd inventory to back him up. Jim forgot two or three items that I remembered when scanning Jim's list. Doing it that way we got 100% of the inventory. Then, we had to rig the victim to move him. I was the mule since I was younger (the swimmer) and Jim was the helmsman (buoyancy control and guidance of the victim's body). Our victim was a big guy around 6' 4" had a stiff arm from rigor. We tied his arm to the body with our tow line. Then, I power swam out of Upper Orange as Jim steered. Lamar showed us how he would have secured the arm a bit better but he was pleased with our performance. We got an "A." Each team entered to find a different scenario and we got to learn through thorough debriefs.
In my NACD cave course, I learned staging and rescue skills such as bringing out an unconscious diver at the apprentice level.
When I taught PSAI cave courses, I would use the apprentice level for a lot of skill work such as rescue, and leave the cave level for practical diving most of the time. One of my favorite scenarios was to conduct a lost buddy drill, but once the buddy was found he would be unconscious or toxing. My favorite spot for this was just at the Lips in Ginnie after we emerged from the Catacombs. I'd create a distraction, steal a buddy or team member, and hide him just inside a cubby hole where I had full view of the team searching and the victim. Once discovered, the team would have to decide to take the gold line out for speed or follow the rules and bring the victim back through their path of travel through the catacombs.
Rescue skills I taught were:
1. OOG diver
2. Two OOG divers (donate both hoses breathe from wing inflator)
3. Fear-frozen diver (I actually encountered that on a dive)
4. Panicked diver
5. Panicked diver on long hose
6. Panicked diver on long hose resulting in broken guideline between team and exit (#4 would become #5 which would become #6)
7. Unconscious diver exits
8. Toxing diver exit
9. Nuisance problems like a team member who can't clear ears and get downhill
10. Deceased diver
Rescue situations are rare, but training for them builds confidence, leadership, and the ability to problem-solve.
At the cave instructor level, I was pure evil. Like one student out of gas, one student panicking and swimming the wrong way, and one student frozen in fear and confusion at the same time.
Most of us have played sports and have done silly things in practice like catching multiple footballs at once. Same-same in diving. If you learn to manage the ridiculous and improbable in training, the easier one actual situation will be. That's where my assistant college lacrosse coach world met my scuba instructor world. "You want the ball? Here they ALL are."
