Failed PADI Rescue....now what?

[FinnMom]

You need to realize, really take to heart & believe that being a rescue diver is for someone whose skills, confidence and calm are all good enough that they can inject themselves into a bad situation and realistically expect to make things better. This is not a First Aid class. if you are not already a calm and competent diver you don't belong in the Rescue class yet. It's great that you want to do it and wonderful that you keep striving and learning, but it sounds a lot like you weren't ready for the class and weren't up to passing it. if this is all true you suffered no foul and you aren't stupid, you were just trying to go too fast.

I too think you should get some more experience, time in the water and maybe a little coaching. Take more classes once you have some experience under your belt and you will get much more out of them.

 

[RJP]

. 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.

And he can certainly speak with authority on the topic of accomplished, bad divers. (Ooh... did I say that out loud?)

 

[Dr. Lecter]

And he can certainly speak with authority on the topic of accomplished, bad divers. (Ooh... did I say that out loud?)

Assuming you mean Chatterton, I think we already had that thread

 

[Diver0001]

Yes maybe but unfortunately it's only deterred me from doing any more cold water dives in the indefinite future, which for me means diving in general.

You're still a certified diver.... nothing is stopping you from diving.

In fact, judging from the little I can get from your posts it would appear that diving is exactly what you should be doing.... and perhaps what it was that your instructor was trying to tell you.

There is another side to this that you should be aware of. If your instructor has told you that you "failed" what he/she means is that they do not want to continue training you. You are, however, entitled to a "referral form" where the instructor is required to document what they have and have not done with you so that you can look for another instructor and continue the course with them without having to re-do everything you have done up to now.

R..

 

[Lorenzoid]

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...

But, but, the OP was in fact in a PADI Rescue course. The only issue is whether the OP met the standard for PADI Rescue.

If you're just making an off-topic comment giving your opinion of PADI's standards, then I completely understand. Seems like a different topic to me, though--and there must be a hundred threads bashing PADI's standards.

 

[oldschoolto]

But, but, the OP was in fact in a PADI Rescue course. The only issue is whether the OP met the standard for PADI Rescue.

If you're just making an off-topic comment giving your opinion of PADI's standards, then I completely understand. Seems like a different topic to me, though--and there must be a hundred threads bashing PADI's standards.

It's not off topic.... She was bashing the instructor... There are " MINIMUM " standards to pass a course... The instructor is teaching the course and the student must show that they are capable of being a first responder and save someones life... If the student some how barely passes all the minimum standards but still has not mastered the skills to be a " Rescue Diver " they should not be given a passing grade...

A good Instructor has the balls to hold back a student thats not ready to move on... Otherwise your just a diploma mill....

Jim...

 

[Lorenzoid]

If the student some how barely passes all the minimum standards but still has not mastered the skills to be a " Rescue Diver " they should not be given a passing grade...

I agree with you that that's how it SHOULD be, but it's my understanding that a PADI instructor who does that would be violating PADI standards. PADI does not require "mastery" of the skills. A student only has to do the skills once, I believe. Other agencies may be different, but that's my understanding of how PADI operates. Is that not correct?

The OP may have bashed the instructor, but I have to believe that the instructor would have given the OP a pass if the OP had even "barely" met the minimum requirements that PADI imposes for a pass.

 

[boulderjohn]

The key phrase above is "barely passing." That phrase has no place in the concept of mastery learning. The skill is passed when the instructor is convinced it is being done well and will continue to be done well in the future.

---------- Post added October 11th, 2014 at 04:27 PM ----------

I agree with you that that's how it SHOULD be, but it's my understanding that a PADI instructor who does that would be violating PADI standards. PADI does not require "mastery" of the skills. A student only has to do the skills once, I believe. Other agencies may be different, but that's my understanding of how PADI operates. Is that not correct?

The OP may have bashed the instructor, but I have to believe that the instructor would have given the OP a pass if the OP had even "barely" met the minimum requirements that PADI imposes for a pass.

To emphasize what I just wrote, doing a skill once is NOT passing inthe PADI system unless the instructor is convinced that one performance was good enough to show that the student really got it. Critical skills are required to be repeated. In the OW class, students clear masks and share air a number of times. In Rescue, the skills build a lttle at a time, so the student does each part alone, then has new skills added in increasingly complex scenarios.

 

[dmoore19]

IDK, a good instructor would explain the short fall, a good instructor would put extra effort into helping someone achieve their goal.


Not saying this one didn't do that. Not saying he did either as I really don't know. As they say there are 2 sides to every story, the truth lies somewhere in the middle.


I have been pretty lucky in that I have had good instructors. Believe it or not there are some good PADI instructors out there. I'm sure there are people out there that are far more advanced in their abilities than I am. After my 150 dives I am considering the rescue course. I certainly don't feel I am entitled to the card but I do think I can pass the course or have an instructor that will tell me why not and work with me to help me achieve it.

 

[Lorenzoid]

To emphasize what I just wrote, doing a skill once is NOT passing inthe PADI system unless the instructor is convinced that one performance was good enough to show that the student really got it. Critical skills are required to be repeated. In the OW class, students clear masks and share air a number of times. . . .

I guess I stand corrected, though it depends where on the spectrum lie "really got it," "mastered," "barely completed it," etc. If "really got it" means the same thing as "mastered" or "capable of repeating it over and over again from muscle memory," then that's different. If that is actually PADI's standard, then kudos to PADI whom I am guilty of bashing in the past, and shame on all those PADI instructors I've taken courses from who passed me when I know I didn't meet that lofty threshold. See, maybe this is why I went to GUE. Too many PADI instructors apparently don't actually adhere to what PADI says is their standard.