Current PADI Rescue requirements

[rsingler]

The diver who is in danger of drowning while on the surface will usually slip quietly under the water, possibly unnoticed by those nearby.

+1...
I'm in Lake Tahoe as a DM some years ago, accompanying two divers on their OW Dive #4 excursion. Nearby is the certified girlfriend of one of the divers, taking a practice dive after a Reactivate session with an Instructor. In poor control from many years of not diving after her certification, she surfaced exhausted from her own dive. I hear her breathing, rather than really see her.
Out of the corner of my eye, I see her push her mask up...and then just disappear. She had neglected to inflate her bcd at the surface, and exhausted, just gave up.
Finning the 15' between us, I grabbed her inflate button a couple of feet below the surface, and up she quickly rose. Her first words were, "I quit."
I saw the couple an hour later trudging forlornly toward the car. One excited new diver; one beaten down former diver - a victim of ?poor preparation, ?poor instruction, ?forgetting the basics?
My only true rescue.

 

[boulderjohn]

I did mine more than 10 years ago. It is quite possible that my memory is wrong or maybe PADI has changed the requirements in that time frame.

PADI did not change the requirements in that time. What probably happened is your instructor decided to add that on his or her own.

 

[TMHeimer]

boulderjohn answered your question best, those are the actual requirements. The idea is to utilize a means of exiting a diver solo as well as with assistance. does not mean you have to carry them to exit them. The awesome thing about rescue well there are several things but one is that it teaches you to think, remember if you try to carry someone you can not you could not only injure them more you could injure yourself and that is another thing you are taught, your safety is number one....have fun its a great class if taught well.

Yeah that's right. Rescue courses tend to vary a lot by instructor/shop---so I've read. Mine was more mental that physical, and I was 52 at the time. Doesn't really make sense, I guess.