Do I get my rescue cert

[surfsidedav]

Go for it. I just recently finished mine and it's the best class I've taken so far.

 

[OutdoorStud]

This is an excellent course aimed at making you a safer diver and teaching more advanced self-rescue and buddy rescue. when i did it it just made me a safer and more confident diver. Plus its great fun, and its not too hard, i cant comment on the padi or NAUI issue as i only have experience of the padi course, my advice though, go for it and have fun!

 

[TSandM]

I don't know how to answer the question, "How hard was the course?" There isn't a tremendous amount of book learning involved -- it's mostly practical skills. Some of the things we were asked to do were physically very difficult for me -- dragging a guy twice my size out of the water, for example. We also did a lot of towing, which is somewhat tiring. But the course isn't "hard" in the sense that it is difficult to pass.

It was an excellent learning experience and made permanent changes in the way I dive. I think everybody should go through this thought process and learn these skills.

 

[ItsBruce]

I recently took the PADI course. It was physically demanding, but I made it. I'd do it again in a heartbeat. It made me a much better and safer diver.

 

[DiveMaven]

The instructor is important, not the agency. Find a great instructor and GO FOR IT!

 

[boulderjohn]

how hard was the course?/

I think it depends a whole lot upon local conditions. For me, the hardest part by far was doing the scenarios in a mountain Lake with terrible visibility and a shoreline composed of a silty, red, mucky clay.

The vis made the search/recovery portions a real treat--we literally could not find our target without running into it.

The mucky shoreline made the rescue from shore scenarios a real experience. I think we must have looked like an old film called The Keystone Cops Attempt a Rescue. Putting on my fins that day was close to the hardest part of the course. I lack the writing skills to give it an adequate description.

I have heard of other people doing the scenarios in a choppy ocean that made for a lot of fun as well.

But I echo the others--it is a very valuable course.

 

[Divedoggie]

I recently completed the PADI course. My instructor was awesome, and the course was thorough, serious, and demanding.
I don't see how it could have been tougher or of higher standards unless we were actually rescuing real victims...

If you don't have first aid and CPR already, you will have to get it.
PADI offers the EFR...Emergency First Response course.

I have had Advanced first Aid, Red Cross First Aid and CPR, and Advanced first aid for wilderness and remote locations over the last 20 years. With that said, I was very impressed with the EFR class.

Go with the LDS and instructors that you are most comfortable with.

 

[dirthead]

Definitely take the course. Like the others have said......It will make you more aware and confident that you can handle an emergency situation should one arise. It is physically demanding. You will have to assess different situations.....make decisions based on your assessments....get control of distressed divers who want only to climb on top of you and tear the reg out of your mouth.....find lost divers, some of whom will be unconscious on the bottom.....bring these divers to the surface and remove their gear and yours as you tow them back to shore, giving them rescue breaths along the way.....get them out of the water and perform simulated CPR.....effectively control the scene as all of this is going on. You need to be able to multi-task.....remain calm.....assess a specific situation that is presented to you.....and perform the simulated rescue as trained. It is not terribly difficult, but it is demanding. You will absolutely enjoy it and be a better diver once you take the class. During my checkout dives, I had to perform an actual rescue of distressed diver on the surface. Had I not had the class, I would not have known what to do and the situation might have turned out differently. Luckily it turned out ok, but it's always good to know how best to handle such a situation, and have the confidence to actually be able to do it.

 

[laserdoc]

Ok got the message from everyone. I talked to my Dive shop and they do NAUI. They do the course at a quarry in Ala. So I guess I will take it in a month or two. Thanks for the input people!

 

[iluvdiving]

I agree with what was said here. Do it. Well worth it. It will make you a better diver.

As for the course, it is interesting and challenging. But in a good way.

I highly recommend it and think everyone should take it.