PADI Rescue - Bait & switch?

[garyfotodiver]

Easy folks, easy,

Lots of people quoted course prices, no-one thought to mention what's included in the price. Do you get to keep the manual or is it a loaner? How much pool time is there? Do you have to pay an entrance fee for the dive site? If so, how much is that? Is this entrance fee covered by the course fee? And so on...

Just to give you an example, where I live the average price for a Rescue Course is about 325 Euros (1 $ = 1.3 EUR at the moment) including course materials, cert fee and air fills. EFR is not included in the price. That's just the way it is.

And after having reviewed the new course content, I must admit to being quite happy about it. It's a thorough course and the addition of two new scenarios makes it the most comprehensive course I've seen so far (yes Gary, I know the SSI course, I even teach it...).

There's only one thing that bugs me though: searching for a lost diver in a pool? Must be a typo...

OK, here we go. SSI Stress/Rescue course at Reefpoint Diving. My US$185 included the book and video that were shipped to my home, three 2.5 hour classes, two mornings of diving, all equipment including 7mm wetsuit, BC, tank, weights, regulator, etc., travel in the instructor's van to the dive sites, a new card, and full details written in my logbook. There was a "victim" provided also, someone my weight.

I live in Chicago and travel to Racine, WI to a particular LDS. There are a number of other shops I could use, and many instructors in the area, but I have found no one in my area who is a better instructor than this fellow.

 

[alcina]

It is my opinion that to be able to teach, practice, and evaluate these skills in confined water makes perfect sense. There is no benefit to be gained by doing them in open water.

Just my two cents, but I think there is great benefit in teaching the "basics" in open water and not in a pool. You won't be rescuing much in a pool or when the conditions are picture perfect and the sooner you learn to cope with the real world the quicker these building blocks become ingrained. Divers joining a rescue course should have the skills to cope and do these things in open water. YMMV and I'm sure everyone will do it the way think benefits the students the most...

 

[Damselfish]

I just took the new Rescue class, all but the OW scenarios which I'll be doing in a month. Initially working on the skills in a pool was convienient and seems reasonable to me. (And since I don't dive locally anymore, I would probably never get around to this class if it had to be all OW.) We spent 3 nights in the pool starting with individual skills and ending with putting a bunch of things together in situations where we didn't always know what was going to happen. From what I understand the OW scenarios will be using all the same skills, again put together in different ways depending on the situation they throw at you. So it all gets done in OW too.

 

[sjx]

I would ask why your LDS did not mention that EFR or an equivalent first aid qualification was required right at the start?! They should have. The rules haven't changed that much!

As to the O2 administration, when I did my rescue I did not do O2 admin as a separate course, but my instructor made certain that I knew how to set up the kit and apply the O2, fitting it in as a part of the MFA (I haven't been updated to EFR yet - that comes this year ). Since O2 administration is essential in so many dive accidents I would expect that this much should be shown as a matter of common sense! It took about 20 mins to show the basics: why should it cost more? Although I admit I don't know the requirements for the O2 admin course...

you should definitely give your LDS some stick, but in the end you will have to have a first aid cert.

Hmmmmmm, unless I missed something on PADI's site, then I smell a rat or a badly performed first sale.

The EFR or (MFA as was) has always been a prereq for Rescue. It is usually sold seperately (although one LDS near here bundles it) as it is a stand alone course in its own right.

O2 is a seperate course and according to PADIs site not a prereq for Rescue. (not to say that it's not a good idea to do with Rescue though)

Quoted from PADI site


Personally I think the whole course should be done in Open water, not many rescues will be done in 3 to 15 ft of water now will they ? You should be made to suffer for this course, as S*d's Law says it'll be the third (4th) dive of the day when you need to help someone. You need to be made tired, stressed (p*ssed off) and then told to react to a situation. Surprising what that does to you later when you dive as a buddy again.

IMHO, allowing this to take place in a pool is a dumbing down of the course.

Let the flames start :11:

Hoppy

 

[sjx]

20 dives before you start the class is the primary stopper, if you have 20 dives the cpr is required to be certified not required to take the course, cpr should be within 24 months or current.
Other than that ask the instructor why you can't he would tell you if not go elsewhere.

Sorry if someone else has already commented on this (I havent read the entire thread) but from what I understand the Instructor manual (2004) says that you only need to be AOW OR have 20 logged dives if you hold the equivalent level from a different training agency to start the rescue. In fact, I think one of the previous posts said that you could start rescue training while still DOING your AOW, and that the new standards only say that you need to have first aid/CPR BEFORE completing the course??? Has the number of dives needed changed now? (I havent received the recent training bulletins yet due to snail mail so havent had a chance to update on standards).

 

[scubadoguk]

Sorry if someone else has already commented on this (I havent read the entire thread) but from what I understand the Instructor manual (2004) says that you only need to be AOW OR have 20 logged dives if you hold the equivalent level from a different training agency to start the rescue. In fact, I think one of the previous posts said that you could start rescue training while still DOING your AOW, and that the new standards only say that you need to have first aid/CPR BEFORE completing the course??? Has the number of dives needed changed now? (I havent received the recent training bulletins yet due to snail mail so havent had a chance to update on standards).

yep it was corrected a month or so ago by myself with a sorry apology.

 

[Damselfish]

You have to have first aid/CPR before starting the _new_ course. Right in the first chapter it says stuff like "in your EFR/CPR class you learned ..." I think I heard someone mention you could technically get away with doing it at the latest before Chapter 2 (of 5) as you may not use it in the pool until then, but depending on the scheduling of a class that could still mean the first day.