Diver Rescue

[pnw_diver]

Good grief! Give new divers a break. You don't have to take CPR, Jaws of Life instruction and fire management when you get your drivers license. And that's a sport where you *might* take out a crowd of third graders waiting for the bus!

Let's look at a few realistic scenarios.

* Your buddy panics for whatever reason (e.g. OOA) and starts to bolt for the surface.
* Your buddy is panicking at the surface, is negatively buoyant, flailing about, and rapidly finning to stay at the surface.

These are two scenarios that don't require CPR or other first aid/first responder skills, and are reasonably likely to result in the injury or death of your buddy if you don't know what to do. In the second case, do the wrong thing, and your buddy may take you with him.

Teaching the basic skills needed to handle these two situations takes little time, and could easily change what might be a fatal accident into a manageable situation.

 

[DCBC]

I'de call that a body recovery, and I don't teach that till Rescue.

Lucky for me my rescuer didn't agree with you (OxTox), but thanks for your answer.

 

[Max Speed]

With your OW cert you should be a competent diver and a competent buddy. Do you believe that a competent buddy should not be required to be able to get an unconscious diver to the surface?

I wouldn't expect that from a new diver just like I wouldn't expect a new roadracer to hold their line or a new skydiver to have a stable freefall. But I would dive, race or jump accordingly............

I'm pretty sure that 50% of Rescue card holders can't pull it off either!

 

[TMHeimer]

I agree with pnw diver in that a subset of Rescue course should be taught in OW. The one that comes to mind is rescuing an unconcious diver at depth-without causing embolism. I'm sure there are a couple of others that would be good and wouldn't double the length (and cost) of OW--not that that would be a bad thing. Perhaps rescue breaths & CPR, but a lot of non-divers also don't know these.

 

[Max Speed]

* Your buddy panics for whatever reason (e.g. OOA) and starts to bolt for the surface.
* Your buddy is panicking at the surface, is negatively buoyant, flailing about, and rapidly finning to stay at the surface.

Pretty sure most instructors teach those skills before anyone leaves the pool. My memory could be faulty........

 

[pnw_diver]

Pretty sure most instructors teach those skills before anyone leaves the pool. My memory could be faulty........

I don't believe either of them are required, at least not for PADI. I couldn't comment on other agencies.

 

[Kilili]

I think a new diver has enough to do just taking care of himself underwater. As such, buddy assistance is far more valuable prior to actually hitting the water. Rescue Diver and first aid classes, along with lots of diving, help give you the skills and confidence to actually assist someone. By the way, if you don't actually practice this stuff, you're not very likely to do any of it. In stress situations, you'll pretty much do what you're accustomed to doing, not what someone taught you in a class.

I think that counting on your buddy for assistance should be viewed as a "last resort", Unless you and your buddy have developed into a solid team, it's an iffy proposition. I think that a good diver should learn to be self-sufficient, with a motto of "save yourself first, then, if you can, see who else you can help".

I don't claim to represent a majority opinion, only mine. I sometimes dive with others, but we are not "buddies", and I have zero expectations. All my time is spent photographing underwater, and most of the time I don't know where anyone is. If something happens I cannot handle, and they can assist, that's great.

Decide what works for you, and ensure that others understand.

 

[LeadTurn_SD]

At what point in a diver's training should they be able to rescue their buddy (unconsious diver at depth, panicky diver at the surface)? Do you feel that these skills should be part of the OW course? AOW? or should they wait until the diver is ready for Rescue Diver training?

How do you feel about being buddied up with a diver who can't perform a basic rescue if you get into trouble?

Have you performed a rescue while diving? If so, were you trained to do so?

Interesting poll, DCBC.

My opinion:

1.) Basic rescue skills & techniques should be part of Basic OW.... "Advanced" rescue skills (oxygen administration, advanced first aid, etc.) maybe can wait until the "Rescue Diver" course.

2.) I'm comfortable diving with kids, and very new divers (and I also solo dive); so I'm basically "ok" with the idea of not having my buddy being able to rescue me (but would certainly much prefer that they could ).

3.) I only have three "saves" as a diver. One in deep water (heavily narc'ed diver was disoriented, did not respond to signals, & sinking, I grabbed his harness and swam him back up to shallow water), two surface "saves" (divers got fatigued and needed to be towed on the surface back to shore).

I have never taken a scuba rescue class. My Basic OW class in the 1970's did included rescue techniques, possibly/probably in excess of standards (instructor was ex-Navy diver).

I have taken non-scuba water rescue training (similar to lifeguard training), both civilian and military.

Best wishes.

 

[MD_Diver]

With so many threads on the boards discussing the quality of open water training provided today, I'm not sure adding basic rescue skills would help. Currently, after 2 days in the pool and 4 open water dives, the newly certified diver probably dosen't have the skills (taught or not) to properly recover an unconscious diver from depth.
Basic rescue should be taught in AOW, but (at the risk of hijacking) in order to be effective the 10 dive instaAOWonder program should be eliminated.
Personally, I'm comfortable diving with a newly certifed diver, but don't expect them to be able to do anything but carry an alternate in case my first stage fails.

 

[webjr]

Lucky for me my rescuer didn't agree with you (OxTox), but thanks for your answer.

Were you in fullface? or a rec rig? How deep? Were you "dead" when you hit the surface and then revived? Or did the reg actualy stay sealed in your mouth? Just curious. If you were in rec gear and unconscious under water I gotta say you are one heck of a lucky guy. If you were in fullface or hardhat thats an entirely different thing.