I had trouble with the CESA

[Quero]

Silvana, I think you misunderstood a couple of things:

First, your learning materials all stated that you must keep your ascent rate at no more than 18 meters per minute. A CESA is an ascent, so it falls under the same guideline for ascent rate.

Second, your learning materials also made it clear that the top few meters are the most dangerous in terms of pressure changes, which is why you need to keep your ascent rate under control. Maybe if you review your manual now that you've had the dives, just so that you remember?

 

[supergaijin]

Oops- sounds like a breach of standards there. Instructors are required to have contact with the diver and an object like a rope which can be used to slow down students ascending too quickly.

 

[Hawkwood]

Hi,

instructer didnt stop me, she just came later. she told me that i was too fast. so we went down and tried again. I found the correct speed at my third try. in the end she told me that my speed at the last try was ok.
During my second and third try i had to use some air because... well because i was out of air.
I wish i've seen this post before. It helped me a lot..
I will practice it more.

When you state she "came later", do you mean she was not holding on to you and ascending with you as you did the CESA?

Bill

 

[Quero]

That, plus the fact that the student admits to having taken a breath on the ascent that she was "passed" on (3rd try).

 

[silvana]

Thank you. I will review everything. Actully i had the test and i had only 3 wrongs out of 100 questions but it seems i must be more carefull.

To Bill: yes instructer was not holding me. It would help a lot. I would stop ascending.

 

[Hawkwood]

Silvana,

It is unfortunate that your Instructor let you down. Your Instructor did not perform they way they were taught to conduct the CESA with you, nor the way they are required to do it.

Your Instructor should have been holding on to you so that she could slow you down if need be and from that position also tell if you are continuously exhaling. By failing to do so, you did not get the benefit of understanding how "easy" a CESA is to perform, while in a controlled situation. The Instructor did not provide you with that controlled environment in which to do the CESA comfortably and as such you did not "learn" anything from the experience other than to fear it.

The CESA is not to be feared, just avoided. As others have already stated, there are simple ways to avoid having to do a CESA for real.

Bill

 

[Quero]

Silvana, was this a PADI course? I'm asking because the longest PADI test has only 50 questions, so I'm wondering whether you might be training under a different agency that has different standards (standards I'm not familiar with) for the teaching of the CESA.

As others have said, if this was a PADI class and your instructor did not have a line that she held onto (with one hand or with a leg wrap) while using one hand holding you to prevent you from ascending too quickly, and allowed you to take a breath in the middle of the skill, she violated our standards in at least two instances.

The rules for teaching CESAs are very detailed and are in place both to keep students safe during training and to give them the tools to rescue themselves in the event of an actual emergency. If they weren't followed, you have the option of writing to PADI to tell them about these violations. You may feel that for you it's too late since you're already certified, but If your instructor does not receive re-training to learn to teach this skill correctly, it might be that some other future student is injured or worse because of these failings on the part of the instructor. Don't worry that your instructor will lose her teaching license--she will most likely receive re-training of some kind, though. If you do report these mistakes your instructor has made, you may save a life.