Rescue Diver - PADI Standards

[Bernie_U]

Question to all PADI professionals: What are the minimum required skill demonstrations of a PADI Rescue Diver course?

I have two copies of the PADI Rescue Diver Manual, German edition: The older one from 1993 lists all exercises / skill demonstrations in detail. The most recent one, revision no. 6 of 2020, does not. Unlike SDI, PADI do not make their standards publicly available, confer to SDI document paragraph 11.11 for better understanding what I am looking for. At least, I have not found the PADI standards yet - your help is very much appreciated.

Background of my request: I obtained both OWD and AOWD certifications from PADI, so it would make sense to continue with PADI's Rescue Diver instead of the SDI Rescue Diver, for example. However, after talking with two local PADI centers, I am a bit unhappy with the way they teach the Rescue Diver. In particular, they spend a lot of time with full-blown rescue exercises from A to Z. I cannot find that requirement in the PADI standards of 1993, but these might have changed since then. If the full-blown rescue was not mandatory, it would be negotiable and could be replaced by another content that fits my needs better - provided that I can gather enough students who share my interests to fill the class.

 

[Wibble]

• I should take the Rescue Course to learn what I really need.
• On top of that, I take private / VIP lessons on top to learn what I want to master.
• Finally, we all hope that the day of a true emergency will never come.

And have fun doing it!

 

[KenE]

I want to ask a related question, not answered yet. The OP and I are not physically capable of performing all the exercises of the course. Does this make the course less valuable for us? I personally have an old military injury and a recent shoulder injury which makes the exercises physically stressing. I would likely take the pain in a real scenario, but would not for practice. I was EMT certified before military injury, so I know a bit about medical and rescue. So, improving my physical capability is not possible, does this make the course any less valuable. I know I would not get certification, but would the rescue skills taught be valuable if not practiced?

 

[L13]

I want to ask a related question, not answered yet. The OP and I are not physically capable of performing all the exercises of the course. Does this make the course less valuable for us? I personally have an old military injury and a recent shoulder injury which makes the exercises physically stressing. I would likely take the pain in a real scenario, but would not for practice. I was EMT certified before military injury, so I know a bit about medical and rescue. So, improving my physical capability is not possible, does this make the course any less valuable. I know I would not get certification, but would the rescue skills taught be valuable if not practiced?

There are many things in the course that are not physically demanding. Not all activities in a real rescue are physically demanding.

The course would still be valuable without the certification. Or you could just hire the instructor for the training without the certification. Or pay the instructor to let you audit the class (and skip the parts you can't handle) without paying PADI for the certification you won't receive.

 

[VikingDives]

I want to ask a related question, not answered yet. The OP and I are not physically capable of performing all the exercises of the course. Does this make the course less valuable for us? I personally have an old military injury and a recent shoulder injury which makes the exercises physically stressing. I would likely take the pain in a real scenario, but would not for practice. I was EMT certified before military injury, so I know a bit about medical and rescue. So, improving my physical capability is not possible, does this make the course any less valuable. I know I would not get certification, but would the rescue skills taught be valuable if not practiced?

The short answer is yes, they would be valuable.

The rescue course (or should I say, rescue courses) aren't designed for you, as an individual to be able to perform every possible scenario alone. In fact, the course allows you to participate as a member of a team.

Really, the most valuable takeaways for most students is rescue management, something you'd likely do well with.

A lot of the course is learning to avoid problems by but maintaining yourself part of the problem. I personally love "working" guys who think they can muscle me into a rescue. On the other hand, I love it when one of my female students listens and finesses a panicked diver into a rescue.

If you're smart, rescue isn't physically challenging. If you're the average man who hasn't been a first responder, your going to get a quick education.

 

[tursiops]

I want to ask a related question, not answered yet. The OP and I are not physically capable of performing all the exercises of the course. Does this make the course less valuable for us? I personally have an old military injury and a recent shoulder injury which makes the exercises physically stressing. I would likely take the pain in a real scenario, but would not for practice. I was EMT certified before military injury, so I know a bit about medical and rescue. So, improving my physical capability is not possible, does this make the course any less valuable. I know I would not get certification, but would the rescue skills taught be valuable if not practiced?

I agree with the other answers above; the course is valuable even if you can't personally do all the skills. you might be able to talk a non-trained person into getting someone out of the water, for example. I taught the class to some folks, and a few months later a couple of them came across a roadside car accident and applied some of what they'd learned...like head/neck immobilization. You never know which knowledge might be useful, nor when.

 

[KenE]

This is what I expected, thanks for the replies! Now scheduling my next course.

 

[lowwall]

I want to ask a related question, not answered yet. The OP and I are not physically capable of performing all the exercises of the course. Does this make the course less valuable for us? I personally have an old military injury and a recent shoulder injury which makes the exercises physically stressing. I would likely take the pain in a real scenario, but would not for practice. I was EMT certified before military injury, so I know a bit about medical and rescue. So, improving my physical capability is not possible, does this make the course any less valuable. I know I would not get certification, but would the rescue skills taught be valuable if not practiced?

You can probably do far more of the exercises than you think. I was 54 when I took the course. I'm fat and my exercise these days is walking (an average of 8000 steps per day). My one advantage is that I used to be a lifeguard and competitive swimmer/water polo player.

Frankly I thought the course would be more difficult than it was. The mindset stuff and keeping cool when working through a scenario is a big part of it for people who haven't had lifesaving training, but it felt very natural to me and I'm sure it will you as a former EMT. The physical stuff also wasn't an issue for me because it's based on standard lifeguard skills. I found a bit of technique and swimming ability can compensate for a lack of youthful stamina.

 

[NW Dive Dawg]

I think that as with all SCUBA diving courses, there should be very distinct, clear cut and different standards for cold water vs warm/tropical water certs. Just say'n!