Failed PADI Rescue....now what?

[oldschoolto]

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).

If you think " EVERYONE " can be anything.... You need to look at it again.. Not everyone has the head to act in a emergency... As a instructor you need to be asking yourself... " If the $hit hits the fan and everything that can go wrong , Goes wrong... Is this the person I want to trust my life with... "

The OP is not someone that I would trust with my life or anyone elses life... They barely can keep themselves safe...

Jim...

 

[Lorenzoid]

. . .
As a instructor you need to be asking yourself... " If the $hit hits the fan and everything that can go wrong , Goes wrong... Is this the person I want to trust my life with... "

Is that the standard for PADI Rescue?

 

[TMHeimer]

Interesting development. The standards for OW course is that you can do the required skills to an acceptable level ("mastered"?--that's another thread). This doesn't mean the student will continue to practise the skills and save his own life should the need to use them occur 5 years later. General consensus is the OP deservedly fail the Rescue course for being unable to do the skills. If someone does the skills OK in the course it doesn't necessarily mean he'll keep them sharp and be able to rescue someone someday. If something happens down the line and the rescue fails, I don't think the agency would be in any legal trouble if the rescuer didn't follow standards. Yet the recsuer passed the course and hopefully had at that time the knowledge of what to do. He's still a "Rescue Diver"--cards don't expire. This is why I usually recommend doing Rescue as soon as someone is comfortable with the basics of scuba (the OP apparently was not). At least the Rescue Diver now has the knowledge and has done the skills in the course--better than nothing.

 

[antattack]

Hi NLDIVER1984,
Sorry you are having a rough day. I've had a few myself.

I understand your disappointment and frustration with not achieving mastery of all the skills in your rescue course. The good news is that you have the opportunity to enjoy the challenges before you. You can't control many things in life- a leaky hose, a distracted buddy, the communication style of your instructor and more. But you can always control your attitude.

When frustrated it's useful to take a step back and ask how and why we endure frustration. Presumably, you embarked on the rescue course to learn something and acquire new skills. Great, we start from an acknowledgment that we don't know everything. That means there is purpose in frustration- it's the work of growing and becoming more than what we were when we started.

A rescue class is important. For me, it was the most valuable course I've ever taken. It forced me to take CPR and first aid which I've used several times to help people injured in traffic accidents and in the water. It prepared me for the second (and subsequent) time(s) I encountered a panic'd diver(s).

OK, I understand the money part. Money comes and goes. You are young and in a hurry, but trust me- with a little effort, you will make more money. I understand the time part- you invested time in this course and feel like you didn't get what you expected out of these investments. Except- maybe if you look at the situation differently, you did get what you paid for and what you spent time on. You are now able to recount specificly what you need to work on. Clarity is a pretty good outcome from any learning process.

you need to develop:
Assertiveness
Confidence
Situational Awareness
Self and buddy check
Buddy practice

Good news is that you have now gained real world experience and confidence with CESA. That's progress.

[FONT=Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]Think about the difference between a novice and a master- the difference is that the master has failed more times than the novice has tried. It's true.
[/FONT]Michael Jordan is famously quoted:
[FONT=Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]"I've missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed."
[/FONT]
[FONT=Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]So, if you want to be a better diver- go diving. Get confident. Get the skills. Ask for help and when you do, accept it in the spirit it is given. Even if help is offered in a seemingly challenging way, accept it.
[/FONT]
Now go make up with your dive shop and instructor. Be constructive. You don't have to take another course with them, but trust me, you will run into them again at the beach. If you need help, you kinda want them to rescue you.

Best,
Gary

 

[Roatan Joe]

Well stated Gary!

 

[Lorenzoid]

Well stated Gary!

I agree. I especially like the Michael Jordan quote. When I was a kid, my friends and I liked to repeat the saying "If at first you don't succeed, try, try again." I'm not sure who is best credited with popularizing this saying, but we probably picked it up from a children's TV show or something like that. As I said in previous replies here, even if you've soured on PADI, don't give up on diving or the goal of improving your diving skills. So long as it's something you enjoy doing, keep at it.

 

[chillyinCanada]

Nldiver. You weren't ready for rescue class and if your dive shop was the same as trained you that far, they should have given you your money back the first time the instructor realized you were holding up the class.

I thought you rented gear and now you are wanting to sell your gear. Guess I missed something in the content. But since you are selling gear please post what you have and prices and sizes. Did i see someone say you had a Zeagle?

 

[flots am]

May as well be a personal attack. What's basically being said here is that I'm stupid and that the Put Another Dollar In instructors are the be all end all.

Nobody said you were stupid. I said you didn't meet the class requirements.

And I'm not a PADI instructor. If I had to guess, I'd say that probably half the people in this thread aren't either. In fact, for all your crapping on PADI, they have the most lenient requirements I'm aware of. Any other agency will hold you to the same or quite possibly higher standards.

Also none of this is personal. If you take away all the fluffy marketing language, the purpose of your earlier classes was to keep you from killing yourself underwater. The purpose of this class is to teach you to help someone else who has managed to have a close brush with death. Some agencies stress prevention more than cure, but in either case it's to make you and your buddy's dive safer.

You didn't meet the class requirements, because you went where you weren't supposed to, weren't aware you were out of air, lost your buddy, didn't do an air share, then panicked and bolted for the surface. This is all stuff you did. Not your instructor. Not PADI. Not anybody here.

This isn't personal, it simply indicates that you met none of the requirements for "Rescue" and in fact, blew a number of important safety protocols for Open Water.

You didn't pass because you didn't demonstrate the level of proficiency required for you to be safe. Not because you didn't meet some arbitrary requirements by "some 20 year old".

Not only shouldn't you blame PADI or your instructor, you shouldn't blame yourself either. "Not passing" isn't a personal flaw, it just means that you aren't proficient enough to pass. I'm certain if you went back to your instructor and told him you wanted to work on being a better, safer diver, that he would work with you.

flots.

 

[chillyinCanada]

I agree with you in principle flotsam, but this student doesn't have a relationshipwith the instructor nor likely the shop that will serve anybody. Nl diver, is better served to get a new instructor possibly even new shop. Ha even new agency.

 

[oldschoolto]

Is that the standard for PADI Rescue?

No... It's a real world standard.... If you hand out rescue cards like Tic-Tacs.... People will DIE... I don't think You are doing anyone a favor, Telling someone that they are a " RESCUE DIVER " when they clearly ARE NOT...

Jim...