Like biscuit7 said, rescue really is not just about the obvious big time pat-on-the-back stuff. It opened my eyes to things that at the time seemed minor. But put in context and added up without minor intervention could have resulted in some pretty serious if not fatal situations. And not just underwater. Recognizing building apprehension or even panic in someone doing something for the first time. Knowing when to just make your presence known to a new diver. Being able to look at a gear configuration or setup and realize, hey, that's a potential problem. All of this and more is what the rescue course is about. To me and the people we teach it to it is not about the card. It's about the knowledge, attitude, confidence, and control that is the result of successfully completeing a well taught rescue diver course. And as reef said it's a good feeling knowing that there are people who are diving today instead of not diving due to injury, death, or just a real bad experience because of your actions. And let's not forget about the all important self rescue skills. Knowing what to do when your buddy is too far away or not around at all and a problem arises, keeping calm when the stuff hits the fan, knowing to an even greater degree when the dive is too hazardous for your level of training or comfort and having the cahoneys to call it regardless of what everyone else is doing. All of this is rescue diver course stuff. Untill you take it you really don't understand unless you've got years of experience and have actually put some of this into practice like Cap and some others on here who were around before it was an official course and they had to do it on the job so to speak. I think some of them would have preferred to have had it in class form before they actually did it. And floater, where are you in pa. I can point you in the direction of a really good rescue class. PM me if interested. Jim