Are Rescue Skills really needed by the average diver.... ?

[MXGratefulDiver]

The real reason to take a Rescue class isn't so much to learn how to save someone else ... it's to learn how to keep yourself from needing to be rescued.

Certainly both aspects of the class are important, but accidents are rarely the result of one single event ... rather they're a chain of events that ultimately build up to a situation requiring intervention. A good Rescue class teaches you how to recognize when a situation is building up to that point, so that you can intervene ... either on your own behalf or that of another diver ... to deal with the problem before it turns into a rescue situation.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[Karibelle]

I would really like to take Rescue, but I have no intention of taking Advanced Open Water- I do not want to do a deep dive (unless I can find someone who will just go to 61 ft and call it 'deep' but that seems a bit ridiculous.)

It seems very odd that PADI has a gateway to rescue skills that requires a deep dive. Shallow water divers could benefit from these skills as well. I'm hoping my buddy takes the class, and I can end up learning from him.

AOW is not a pre-req for rescue anymore.

And let's come back to this topic at the end of your Cozumel vacation: you'll be able to knock me over with a feather if you've stayed shallower than 60 feet for the entire week.

And finally, although I'm obviously biased, IMO learning from one's buddy is often a very poor substitute from proper instruction, from a qualified instructor.

 

[WheelsUSN]

And this is a huge reason I am not a PADI instructor. Students don't have to wait or do other courses to get rescue skills. With SEI we include some rescue skills in the OW class. After that to enroll in the full DRAM rescue class all you you need is ten more dives done after your cert dives. Making people wait is stupid.

A student can take the PADI course with as few as three dives after their cert dives, it appears that SEI requires more waiting.

 

[Davidccs]

I've always been interested in taking the rescue diver class, when I asked a PADI instructor he told me that I HAD to have my AOW, like mentioned earlier I have no interest in doing wreck, deep or any other kind of advanced dives. I'm glad I just read this and found out that you don't need the aow cert to do rescue.
Now I just gotta find a shop around Orlando that'll allow me to do it!

Sent from my PG86100 using Tapatalk 4 Beta

 

[Skittl1321]

AOW is not a pre-req for rescue anymore.

And let's come back to this topic at the end of your Cozumel vacation: you'll be able to knock me over with a feather if you've stayed shallower than 60 feet for the entire week.

And finally, although I'm obviously biased, IMO learning from one's buddy is often a very poor substitute from proper instruction, from a qualified instructor.

The shop here requires it. We don't really have a lot of scuba school options in Iowa.

I'm not sure how I'll do in Cozumel. I don't really care about 60 as a hard bottom, so much as I have no interest in diving 'deep'. Unless the clear waters make my panic-prone nature go away, while I really am not going to pick nits about 61 or 68 feet, I'd honestly be shocked if I allow myself to go much below that; I've told the DM I'm booked with that I'll take a private DM the days she plans deep dives so I can stay above the group. I'm kind of the opposite of the kind of diver in the thread going on about wanting to do things way beyond their qualifications. I know I have limits, and I'm doing the best I can to develop my skills by practicing them; but I'm not interested in pushing the envelope at all.

I do agree with you about a qualified instructor being better. But when the instructors set up barriers, there isn't much I can do about it. Maybe I'll come to Coz and do rescue on another trip (And I agree with those who say the best reason to take rescue is to learn to keep yourself out of situations- that's the main reason I want to take it. To become a better diver myself.)

 

[Tigerman]

...
I've told the DM I'm booked with that I'll take a private DM the days she plans deep dives so I can stay above the group.
...

Guess youre gonna have an expensive trip unless youre sent out with the OW students every day..

 

[TMHeimer]

This is basically the same question as the much discussed "Should Rescue skills be included in the (PADI & some other agencies) OW course?" I have always said yes, though quite a few have disagreed in the past, citing that knowing good OW skills and a couple of tired diver tows is enough if you dive within your comfort and experience range. That never made sense to me. I shouldn't say I've ALWAYS said yes, because when I was OW certified I didn't know any better. My fellow newbie buddy and I did many ("benign") dives with no rescue training at all. I would assume we were lucky. Heck I didn't know CPR until taking EFR before the Rescue course! The OW manual said that if you are remote enough to be without outside help (lifeguard, dive pro, rescue divers, etc.) you should at least know CPR. I should've read that more carefully, as many of the shore sites here are exactly like that. Another point is that you should continue to practise rescue skills after doing the course, or at least review the manual occasionally. Fortunately (or maybe not fortunately) many divers (like myself) have never or will never be in a rescue situation--I am almost 60 and have yet to even SEE someone give CPR except on TV. I only DM classes infrequently, so a student in serious trouble could of course happen, but chances of that are not great. So all you can do is practise, review and cross your fingers that nothing happens and that you will be prepared if something does happen.

 

[Skittl1321]

Guess youre gonna have an expensive trip unless youre sent out with the OW students every day..

Rather spend money than be dead. The DM said she doesn't expect to do much under 60 though, so it might not be necessary at all. When I booked her, I was very honest about what I was willing to dive and she said it would be no problem to accommodate a nervous beginner who wanted to keep with the artificial depth restrictions.

 

[Carlos Danger]

Learn rescue skills! Hopefully you will never have to use them.

Agree!

 

[gizmo1972]

instructors DO NOT put up barriers they follow standards that then stops them being sued!!!
the way the programs are run is so you have the opertunity to grow in experience and confidence just because you do the aow course DOES NOT make you a ADVANCED diver ! lol if you want to be hand held all the way thats fine too each to there own!