Rescue Diver course... good idea or bad?

[Steve_C]

I wouldn't have believed there was any diver with more than a dozen dives under his belt who was NOT ready to take Rescue.

They are rare, but they exist. Have dove with a couple of them.

 

[DivemasterDennis]

Not all dive shops, and not all dive instructors, are the same, and not are all at the same level of competence, let alone expertise. A bad experience is a reason to look elsewhere. As far as continuing education, I think you will get more out of both an advanced class and a rescue class if you get some additional dive experience first. As you do so, remember the predive briefing and safety check. Make the rules clear, with each buddy agreeing to stay close to and aware of the other. Check your equipment before use. Go back to basics, do it right, you will be safe, and you will become a better and more relaxed diver. You don't need a class for that. Just do what you have been taught so far. Then get some more training if you wish.
DivemasterDennis

 

[scubadada]

So my prediction that you would not receive a single response trying to dissuade you from taking Rescue was correct.

The closest you received to that was a word or two of caution along the lines of: "You will likely get much more out of a Rescue course if you're not having to focus on your own diving and can instead focus on the Rescue course material." That's true, but as others have said, the threshold for not having to "focus" on your own diving is pretty low--I think so long as you've gotten past the point of flailing around in the water, you're ready for Rescue. In fact, until I read that other thread you mentioned, I wouldn't have believed there was any diver with more than a dozen dives under his belt who was NOT ready to take Rescue.

I would certainly not dissuade you from taking Rescue Diver, a very valuable class. However, I took AOW at about 80 dives, Rescue at about 120 dives and SDI Solo at about 750 dives. Personally, I think I got more out of these courses not having to worry so much about my own skills and experience than I would have at a much earlier stage in my diving career. You don't know what you don't know.

Good diving, Craig

 

[USFpsychDiver]

Someone who has taken OW, AOW, Nitrox, and Rescue, has, in my opinion, sufficient training to be a competent recreational diver. Still may need some experience, but less training than that leaves holes, while more training moves into professional and/or technical realms (the 'specialty' courses may or may not have incremental value for individual divers, but don't necessarily make one a better basic rec diver). I'd be much more comfortable instabuddying with a rescue diver than just an AOW diver.

 

[Basking Ridge Diver]

I'd be much more comfortable instabuddying with a rescue diver than just an AOW diver.

Interesting - not knowing an instabuddy I generally proceed cautiously and determine my impression during and after the dive. Diving competence and behaviors mean more to me than the card / education. But you sort of hinted at that...

 

[Zen1300]

Rescue class should make you a more competent diver, enhance your awareness of other divers and make you a better dive buddy since you begin to see the problems that might occur while diving. On every diver, I try to assess the ability of all the divers in my group. Upon completion of the the class, my instructors made me promise never to embarrass them by being "that diver". Being prepared for various situations makes me practice my skills and think about how to work through difficulties. Last month, I was diving in a local reservoir, realizing that my drysuit was leaking. I attempted to inform my buddy that I was leaking, however it was not a situation that I was unable to handle. When we finished the 55 minute dive, I was amazed at the amount of water that had entered through a failed 1" spot in the zipper. One of the epiphanies that I discovered in the Rescue class was to relax and calmly decide the urgency of the problem and what are the solutions and the risks of them. In this case it was just getting very wet since the water and air temp were not critical.

My class had us shadow the OW students and critique their strengths and weaknesses. This goes along way towards understand a critical component in seeing into the wide terrified eyes a student wondering how to be able to breathe underwater when he/she knows that is impossible.

Taking the class also made me go back and pick up all the first aid certifications that I lost since retiring from the Ski Patrol. Double bonus.

If you have a great instructor, you will learn and become a better diver.

Dennis

Rewarding is the term I hear most often. Beneficial is the next.

I look forward to taking it, I just prefer to have more time below first. I know I can pass, but agree with comments about being master of my own domain first. There's no rush and no timeline.

I don't think the class is meant to be enjoyable. What's enjoyable is all the "come to Jesus" moments you can avoid later on, because you will now know enough to recognize the buildup to those situations and take steps to make sure they don't happen.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[LarryJ]

I will second BeaverDivers. The Rescue course is IMO the absolute best course you can take in scuba. As far as failing, any instructor worth their salt will encourage and help ones who are weaker and need further work to make sure they are safe divers. I don't know about the individual who "failed", but there had to be other circumstances that developed. Go for it and you will be better for it.

 

[RonixWarrior]

However many dives you already have, I agree with several other posters, have confidence in your basic skills first, so you can focus more on the course, and ultimately get more out of it. I LOVED my rescue class, despite its grueling timeline and tasks. It will make you a better diver, and your reasons for taking the class seem spot on.

 

[Lorenzoid]

I happened to be looking at my dive log for purposes of another thread, and I see I began the Rescue Diver course with just 34 dives to my name, but I had been diving almost every day for two weeks before the course began, had just finished AOW and Nitrox before that, and felt confident in my basic diving skills by the time Rescue class began. I think that was important.

 

[freename]

So... I finished the rescue course this last weekend. From how you've all described it, I'm not sure I did the same course as many of you described. Though perhaps that was in part due to limitations the instructor had given that I was just one student in our massive class of... two.

Don't get me wrong, there was a lot of great information in it. I definitely think I got value out of the course - and fortunately, I didn't find my minimal experience held me back from fully participating in any of the exercises. Sure, I may not be where I want to be with my buoyancy control... but I was able to successfully surface another diver at a safe rate - that's what's important there, right? And the panicked diver exercises, which I was fearing somewhat, I found surprisingly straight-forward. Generally, I didn't feel that the course was as stressful as some have described. To be honest, I'm a little disappointed by that. I think I will have to redo it after I have more dives under my belt (I was planning on doing so anyway) - but somewhere warmer, and in a class with more students! Heh... and perhaps I'll have to ask around to find a "difficult" instructor as well.

... trying to carve a pumpkin underwater afterwards was, by far, the more difficult portion of the day! Ha!

In any case, thank you all again for your thoughts on this. I think my next steps are more dives, getting all my own gear... and yet more dives!