Difficulty level of emergency rescue diver?

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I'd suggest a couple of things, first dive and consolidate the skills you have learned up to this point in your diving. I think it's important to be able to conduct your dives up to the level of your training before proceeding.

Second, talk to your instructor and see if you can watch the course being conducted so you can see how the course is run and what it consists of. My instructor had no issues with this, as well as encouraging his certified recue divers to come back and participate in the future courses as well.

He would physically push students, not too hard, just enough so they know it will be work. Avoiding the need for a rescue, and the organization and teamwork needed for a successful rescue are the reasons for the training.

Seeing everyone's response, I am thinking of taking a peak performance buoyancy course first for two days and then moving on to this one after discussing with my instructor as well. Let me know if you have any other thoughts on best way to proceed about this.
 
Try this on your next dive:

When ready to descend, release air from bcd in short bursts no more than 1 second each. Allow a couple of seconds between bursts. Dont kick.

As soon as your head goes underwater, let go of your bcd inflator.

Exhale as much air as you can comfortably and count to 5. As you sink a bit more you can resume normal breathing.

As you get closer to the bottom you will get more negative so you will have to add a slight amount of air to acheive neutral buoyancy - add air in a very short burst and wait a breath or two before adding more. If you need to slow down your descent, kick up gently rather than adding air too rapidly.

If you practice this a few times in a shallow area (10m or so) i bet you will find that you will acheive neutral buoyancy without touching the bottom.

Thanks for the advice. Will do that in my next dive
 
Well, you are perhaps the only one in this entire thread that is encouraging me to go for it. Seeing everyone's response, I am thinking of taking a peak performance buoyancy course first for two days and then moving on to this one after discussing with my instructor as well. Let me know if you have any other thoughts on best way to proceed about this.

Take your EFR I think that should be part of OW, good to know for everyday life too.
 
Let me know if you have any other thoughts on best way to proceed about this.

BoulderJohn made a great suggestion of observing a rescue class. The surface is where you get the workout.

Some people will take the EFR/AED/CPR course in conjunction with the rescue. Also, be sure to take O2 administration. Many instructors combine O2 administration with the EFR/AED/CPR.
 
I am certainly not confident about at this stage is my buoyancy after completing the AOW course. It takes me about 2-3 attempts at the bottom of the sea surface to get neutrally buoyant, unlike some people who are able to do it instantly. I have heard your buoyancy skills should be top-notch for this course. Should I still go for the rescue diver course?


Buoyancy is tricky to learn for anyone.

The principle is easy, but the execution takes quite a while to master.


One huge tip (that really should be a part of every class) is how active buoyancy changes and your breathing pattern play a big role in it.

What I mean is...

If you are adding gas to your BDC/Wing/Drysuit, do so with a fullish breath. That way, if you over inflate, you can quickly breath out while you start to deal with dumping some of that excess gas.

Similarity, if you are releasing gas out of your BCD/Wing/Drysuit, have a emptyish breath, that way, if you dump too much, you can quickly breath in to help compensate and then, start to add some gas.


But really, when you start out, think of when you are breathing, and what you are trying to do...
Most people have a larger breath when they start getting task loaded or stressed, which causes a shift in buoyancy. If you start thinking about how it is related to what you are doing and what you want to do, it may make it easier to accomplish it.

_R
 
Well, you are perhaps the only one in this entire thread that is encouraging me to go for it. Seeing everyone's response, I am thinking of taking a peak performance buoyancy course first for two days and then moving on to this one after discussing with my instructor as well. Let me know if you have any other thoughts on best way to proceed about this.
Why not do the peak performance buoyancy and then spend some time diving before you move on to rescue? Like any activity, only practice can turn being able to do something if you really concentrate on it into being able to do it without conscious effort.

If you already have to concentrate on your buoyancy or treading water or mask clearing or some other basic task, then when you are faced with a new task in the rescue course, something will have to give.
 
If you already have to concentrate on your buoyancy or treading water or mask clearing or some other basic task, then when you are faced with a new task in the rescue course, something will have to give.
Much of the visible stuff in rescue is on the surface. But there is a brief but crucial part before that of bringing a nonresponsive diver to the surface in a controlled manner. Managing their buoyancy and yours while retaining control of them. That is a fair buoyancy skill challenge to do well. You should not be yo-yo-ing around with just your own buoyancy before trying to do that. In a real situation, you might need to convince, assist, or nudge a panicked diver more toward the surface and maybe to stop along the way and not go so fast. All a crucial test of your own control in the water.

Buoyancy first. So that you can then help others.
 
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