Failed PADI Rescue....now what?

[eelnoraa]

I actually give pop to instructors for failing students who are not ready. This diligent instructors potentially just save yours and the lives of whoever you are diving with.

 

[boulderjohn]

I wish I could delete all of the unhelpful posters in this thread.

Move this thread or delete it

Well, I posted early then left to go diving. What a turn this thread has taken!

I just want to step in here to explain that ScubaBoard does not close threads just because someone wants it closed. They only delete threads in very extraordinary circumstances, not just because someone does not like the way the discussion is going. The people who voluntarily participate do not set the rules.

There are a lot of things in life like that.

 

[nldiver1984]

Well I definitely won't be putting any more money into the PADI cash cow to finish this course or any other so I'm in diving hiatus for now.

 

[geoff w]

When I took the rescue class a few years ago, one of the points stressed by the instructor was that personal responsibility for your own safety and actions is key. If you need to rescue someone, you need to assess the situation and determine whether you are capable to or not. If not, there's no benefit to adding one more (yourself) to the potential body count. If you are capable to assist with a rescue, if the victim isn't breathing, you can't make him any more dead than he already is. One of the great things my instructor stressed in the class was practicing communicating the problem and coming up with a rescue plan. After my rescue class, I helped out with as many other rescue classes as I could, for a few reasons: unlike most dive skills, rescue is one that you never really practice; and taking the rescue class is like drinking from a fire hose - there's too much material being thrown at you to pick it all up. Coming back to assist and observe without the pressure of passing the class gives you a chance to see rescue from different perspectives, and playing the victim gives you a much better appreciation of what to do and not do

In one rescue class I helped out with, one of the students was really lacking mastery of many basic dive skills, and he was AOW certified. He had trouble focusing on the scenarios and performed marginally, but still managed to pass. Now the same person is working toward being a divemaster, and still lacks many of the skills needed to rescue himself, much less others. Unfortunately, passing the rescue class gave the false sense of being qualified, instead of serving as a wake up call to improve skills before advancing to the next step

The only instance I've heard where students routinely don't pass a scuba course because of lack of skills mastery is the GUE Fundamentals, although I would expect tech instructors are more likely to not pass students for more advanced classes as well. Reading this thread made me think about something I read by John Chatterton, which really makes you think twice about skill mastery. Accomplished Bad Divers is an excellent quick read that should help put a lot of discussion in this thread into proper perspective; lots of really good points in a short writeup worth taking to heart

 

[Lorenzoid]

Well I definitely won't be putting any more money into the PADI cash cow to finish this course or any other so I'm in diving hiatus for now.

I don't expect you to answer this, but I have to wonder why you feel you must take a hiatus from diving just because you're done with the "PADI cash cow." If you read SB much, you will find that quite a few people are increasingly turned off by what they perceive as greed by the major agencies and a poor return on their investment in dive courses from the major agencies. So what? You're already certified as OW/AOW--nothing prevents you from diving for fun. Why can you not enjoy diving without completing another PADI course? I guess the bottom line is that you just don't enjoy diving. And if that's so, then it's not surprising you haven't done well in the courses.

 

[doctormike]

Reading this thread made me think about something I read by John Chatterton, which really makes you think twice about skill mastery. Accomplished Bad Divers is an excellent quick read that should help put a lot of discussion in this thread into proper perspective; lots of really good points in a short writeup worth taking to heart

Excellent article. You can learn a lot from Mr. Chatterton, if you take the time to listen.

 

[oldschoolto]

I don't think she would listen to John Chatterton..... He's just a old man..... LOL

Jim...

 

[flots am]

Please close this thread as I'll no longer be diving. Everyone here can very easily point out faults without even knowing anything about me. I don't think I was treated the same as everyone else in my class due to my lack of confidence. If I ever do take up diving again (a far stretch) then it will be in another country with another shop and instructor. For anyone else taking the rescue course it's not as enjoyable as what the instructors make it out to be. In the end when you think you have done everything right they bring you aside and tell you that you have to do the course over again. This is why I'd never want to be an instructor. They think they know everything but really they don't. Who am I to say though, I'm just the stupid diver.

When I had a small number of dives (around 50, IIRC), I also had a nice shiny AOW card and a "rescue" card and a small pile of others. I walked in to the dive op at John Pennekamp park and said "I want to dive the Spiegel Grove", which at the time, was laying on it's side in about 135' of water.

He told me that I wasn't ready for it and sent me to the Benwood instead (a nice shallow calm lump with lots of fish). It was a really nice dive.

I was a little pissed off, but later after finding out that people regularly got blown off the Spiegel Grove, and slightly less frequently died on it, I decided that he had done me a huge favor because in reality I wasn't ready for it.

Everybody who tells you "no" isn't your enemy. If you didn't "pass" the rescue class it's because you didn't meet the requirements. It really doesn't matter if this was because the planets weren't aligned correctly or you panic easily or weren't paying attention or whatever.

All that matters is that you weren't able to perform the simulated rescues well enough, which means that you probably wouldn't be able to handle an actual rescue at all. Giving you the card would be a disservice to you and any of your potential victims/rescues.

If you really want the card, you'll need to work on your skills and attitude until you have everything nailed. Then getting the card should be a "walk in the park.

flots.

 

[C Dub]

I just wanted to thank everyone who posted in this thread. I've learned so much from you all, including the original poster. This has been the best thread I've read here on SB in quite awhile. Thank you all!!

 

[sheeper]

sounds like your instructor is the one that failed. As long as no medical or physical issue keeps you from completing a skill, there is no reason why you can't pass. When a student of mine "fails" at a skill, I provide detailed feedback to the student about what they did wrong and how to correct it. We'll repeat the skill(s) several times to get them to be able to master it. If, for some reason, the student has a greater skill deficiency (like their buoyancy is awful), we'll have to recommend a skills refresh/workshop to build the pre-requisite skills followed by another opportunity to demonstrate the rescue skills and master them. Rescue is a great class but I've seen instructors go over the top with it. It is easy to forget that we are teaching OW divers and not fire/police/ems divers (which I also do).