Clueless here - Considering Diver Stress & Rescue Course

[Mo2vation]

About me:

* Diving since 99 - seriously diving (as in 100 dives/year) since last October.

* Have about 165 dives - all cold water (Pacific cold water, not freakshow coldwater)

* PADI OW in '99. SSI AOW and ANDI EAN in '02. DIR/F (non-cert) in '03


My Motivation:

* There is a volunteer program I'm considering that requires, in addition to AOW and current CPR, a Rescue Diver cert

The Scoop:

I'm not one of those divers who is a card collector, or in pursuit of one merit badge after another, or believes that in order to be considered a real diver there is no sleep until I'm diving doubles and tri-mix, with a parade of deco tanks in tow while scootering 15,000' into a cave at 300 feet, and have taken 27 different classes to get there.

I'm a single tank rec guy, who will be forever pretty content with just my modest dive credentials as I work on developing mad skills. I've honestly never considered mowing through all the other classes, specialties, courses and workshops out there (read: I'm done) until I stumbled on this volunteer opportunity. Actually, I've been fighting it (moving "up the ladder") because I think the whole escalating education system of both organizations has been demonstrated to be pretty lame as I watch divers with impressive credentials bounce all over the place - but that's all been stomped to death on these pages, and I digress... However, the volunteer op sounds like a cool thing, but I need to get a Rescue Diver cert to participate - so I am going to re-enter the system and take another class.

I'm looking at the SSI Diver Stress Rescue course or the PADI Rescue Diver course. I'll be getting my CPR in a week or so (my wife is a teacher - we go through this class every 2 years or so.) I'd like to know your thoughts on the these two courses. I've downloaded the course outlines, read through the materials, etc. I'll be interviewing instructors next week - but for those of you that have been through one (or both), please share your thoughts.

Thanks -

Ken

 

[OneBrightGator]

I took PADI's Rescue class and it was great, lots of information to absorb and the in-water exercises are numerous and intensive (12 in all). I looked at diving and other divers differently after taking the course.

Ben

 

[Warren_L]

Ken, I've only been through the PADI Rescue course, so I have no point of reference for any of the other Rescue type courses offered by other agencies, but I would say that without a doubt this was well worth the time and effort spent doing the course. It ties in well with the CPR and first aid classes that I had to take to get re-certified in those areas.

In general, lots of good stuff as well as practical exercises in search and rescue, which would definitely come in handy in a real life situation to have gone through the training. I would expect that other agency courses would incorporate the same sort of elements.

I, like you (and having dove with you) am very similar in terms of where I am headed with my diving (aside from the fact that I've done my DM). I don't have much interest in tech diving, and am happy doing the type of diving I'm doing at this point and improving on that. And my new found interest in underwater photography. That said, I would highly recommend it.

Warren

 

[DennisS]

I was trained as a scientific diver in the early 70's and found some boats wouldn't let me dive wrecks w/o an AOW. I was going on vacation and signed up for AOW and Rescue. The AOW was a joke but the rescue course was really a good course. I think everyone should take it, especially my buddies. One of the things I liked was the emphasis on stopping problems before they start.

 

[Arnaud]

...I'm not one of those divers who is a card collector, or in pursuit of one merit badge after another, or believes that in order to be considered a real diver there is no sleep until I'm diving doubles and tri-mix, with a parade of deco tanks in tow while scootering 15,000' into a cave at 300 feet, and have taken 27 different classes to get there...

:1poke:

 

[LUBOLD8431]

Well, the old adage comes up again: Its the instructor that teaches the class that makes the class good or bad, not the agency. All that being said, I am an SSI Instructor, and I had the pleasure of once working with a PADI trained instructor, who happened to be teaching a Rescue class. Now, I know what the SSI standards are for S&R, I dont know what PADI's standards are for Rescue. What he was teaching (OW section only) is mostly the exact same stuff that I would teach in a S&R class. I think they are basically the same. Again, the instructor makes the difference, not the agency...

 

[Mo2vation]

I took PADI's Rescue class and it was great, lots of information to absorb and the in-water exercises are numerous and intensive (12 in all). I looked at diving and other divers differently after taking the course.

Ben

Hey Ben

That's the impression I'm taking away right now. In my pouring through zillions of posts over the last week, I was getting the same idea. Even Walter (in his story about the guy "who needed a break from all that diving..." ) offered the course high marks.

K

 

[OneBrightGator]

yeah, I can't compare the two because I haven't taken the SSI class, I'm sure they're very similar, maybe your best bet would be to take the class from someone who was an Instructor for both (mine was at the time).

Also, you might want to see about adding oxygen admin and AED to the course (they're included in the PADI EFR class, but since you've got a hookup for First Aid/CPR I didn't think you'd be taking it).

Ben

 

[Cudabait]

Ken,

Do it!! It will probably be the most fun and rewarding course you'll take. Even better with a great instructor. Go for it!

Regards,

 

[Diver0001]

About me:

* Diving since 99 - seriously diving (as in 100 dives/year) since last October.

* Have about 165 dives - all cold water (Pacific cold water, not freakshow coldwater)

* PADI OW in '99. SSI AOW and ANDI EAN in '02. DIR/F (non-cert) in '03


My Motivation:

* There is a volunteer program I'm considering that requires, in addition to AOW and current CPR, a Rescue Diver cert

The Scoop:

I'm not one of those divers who is a card collector, or in pursuit of one merit badge after another, or believes that in order to be considered a real diver there is no sleep until I'm diving doubles and tri-mix, with a parade of deco tanks in tow while scootering 15,000' into a cave at 300 feet, and have taken 27 different classes to get there.

I'm a single tank rec guy, who will be forever pretty content with just my modest dive credentials as I work on developing mad skills. I've honestly never considered mowing through all the other classes, specialties, courses and workshops out there (read: I'm done) until I stumbled on this volunteer opportunity. Actually, I've been fighting it (moving "up the ladder") because I think the whole escalating education system of both organizations has been demonstrated to be pretty lame as I watch divers with impressive credentials bounce all over the place - but that's all been stomped to death on these pages, and I digress... However, the volunteer op sounds like a cool thing, but I need to get a Rescue Diver cert to participate - so I am going to re-enter the system and take another class.

I'm looking at the SSI Diver Stress Rescue course or the PADI Rescue Diver course. I'll be getting my CPR in a week or so (my wife is a teacher - we go through this class every 2 years or so.) I'd like to know your thoughts on the these two courses. I've downloaded the course outlines, read through the materials, etc. I'll be interviewing instructors next week - but for those of you that have been through one (or both), please share your thoughts.

Thanks -

Ken

First of all it's good that you're taking rescue *before* something happens that makes you want to take rescue. Your motivation is clear but I would urge everyone who hasn't taken rescue to do it. In my opinion every serious diver needs rescue.

Second. You've heard it a 1000 times but I'll say it again. It's all about the instructor.

I dont know anything official about the SSI course but I do know about the PADI course. I'm supposed to tell you the EFR is wonderful and you'll learn tonnes from it but the fact is that you already need to know first aid to get any lasting benefit from EFR. The tempo is way too high. EFR is an excellent refresher for someone who already has the basics it but it is *not* the way to learn this stuff (unless you are the kind of person who cooks by reading a cook-book and doing exactly what it says...personally I'm the kind of person that nevre gets beyond reading the list of ingredients). In, of course, my ever so humble opinion you'd be much better off to take a real first aid course before EFR even if it takes a couple of months of effort.

Assuming a good instructor the practical (in water) bit of the PADI rescue course is very good.

R..