I Am Rescue, Hear Me Roar

OK, well not exactly roar, but hear me announce proudly that I am now a fully certified PADI Rescue Diver. We actually, finally, had my Rescue class this past weekend. After two cancellations by my local Dive Store due to no one signing up, I was able, along with 4 others, to take the class. The full write up is on my website, but I will hit the highlights here.

The class was two days. Saturday, the first half of the day in the classroom watching the video, going over knowledge reviews and taking our test. I missed one question and got a 98 on my test. 2 of the guys aced it, one got a 96 and I'm not sure what the other got, but it, also, was in the 90's. The next half day was in the pool practicing some new skills such as calming a panicked diver, getting a hold of a panicked diver without them drowning either of you, swimming with a non-responsive diver while giving rescue breaths. Note: That last one sucks!!!!

The second day was at a local open water site going over underwater search techniques and then running 4 scenarios. That was very cool, because it was play acting for all of us. We would be given a situation, how it started and when, the rest was up to us. Who would do what, how to deal with the person calling EMT/DAN etc, along with Basic Life Support and/or First Aid of the person. Luckily, we got to work as a team and not as individuals. Everyone stepped up to the plate and did their job and we passed the 4 scenarios with only minor hiccups. Not anything that would kill anyone, but minor things we could do better in a real-world situation. As they showed us in the class, there is no real right and wrong answer. They give you the knowledge to make decisions and some ideas on how to act upon those decisions, but how you get it done is up to you and what you are comfortable doing. Just for an example, we had to get an unresponsive diver off the bottom and to the surface safely. Some guys would lay down next to their victim and bring them up with them. I couldn't get my victim up while laying down and had a really hard time with it. I asked to do it again and this time, I stood up, pulled them to me and got them up much easier to the surface. See? No right or wrong way, just what is better for you.

All in all, it was an outstanding course. I was sore Sunday morning after the Saturday pool session. I was OK on Monday because the scenarios didn't tax us as much as the pool portion did. Plus, we were able to take breaks because there was an Open Water class there getting checked out in between our sessions. I learned a lot and it was, by far, the most taxing and rewarding course I've ever taken. I enjoyed every minute of it.

Of course, I have to thank Scuba Steve for yet another great display of instructing. He took the time to make sure we did it right and did safely. If we had questions, he answered each of them and never thought any of them were dumb questions. And, I want to thank Dive Buddy Dee for being our designated "Victim" for the day. Her story is on the website with the details. Next stop: Divemaster.

As I stated earlier, the full write is on the website.

Headed tomorrow to the Masters in Augusta, GA. I'll tell Tiger you said Hello.