This is the e-mail he sent out announcing our final class scenario on Sunday:
Lessons learned:
I've learned more in this class than any other so far...
-Brandon.
Its that time of year again!
I have two more suckers, oops, I mean, Rescue Diver candidates that will be doing full blown rescues this Sunday at 5pm on Rescue Beach (next to the Goose Ramp at the airport). I am looking for volunteers to be rescued and for angry mobsters on the beach. In total will need two victims in the water and one other person (also in the water) collecting gear as it is removed by our fearless cadidates. I would like to have at least 4 people on shore being bothersome. Dive Master candidate Sarah will be running the O2 station/ scenario.
For those of you that don't know, this is the final portion of the Rescue Diver certification. These fearless heros will be bringing an unconcious diver from the sea floor up to the surface, swimming them in to shore will removing gear and rescue breathing, then dragging them up the beach to put them on O2, while repelling an angry mob of people.
Sounds fun right?
Our suckers, I mean candidates are:
Myke (ADF&G)
Brandon (UPD)
Here is your chance to get some cheap shots in!
Thanks a ton for those that can lend a hand. Brownee points for those of you in upcoming classes! Ha!
Celebrations may ensue if they manage to pass!
-Herr Reid, Dive Nazi
We just finished our S&R dive yesterday, that was about a blast. He put a survival suit filled with weight about 150 yards off the beach and gave us two "witnesses" who had a rough idea of where the guy went down. We went to the appropriximate area and started searching, but with the 1-2 feet of vis, it took us about an hour to locate the body! I'm certain we swam past the survival suit multiple times, but didn't actually find it until I nearly swam into it.I have two more suckers, oops, I mean, Rescue Diver candidates that will be doing full blown rescues this Sunday at 5pm on Rescue Beach (next to the Goose Ramp at the airport). I am looking for volunteers to be rescued and for angry mobsters on the beach. In total will need two victims in the water and one other person (also in the water) collecting gear as it is removed by our fearless cadidates. I would like to have at least 4 people on shore being bothersome. Dive Master candidate Sarah will be running the O2 station/ scenario.
For those of you that don't know, this is the final portion of the Rescue Diver certification. These fearless heros will be bringing an unconcious diver from the sea floor up to the surface, swimming them in to shore will removing gear and rescue breathing, then dragging them up the beach to put them on O2, while repelling an angry mob of people.
Sounds fun right?
Our suckers, I mean candidates are:
Myke (ADF&G)
Brandon (UPD)
Here is your chance to get some cheap shots in!
Thanks a ton for those that can lend a hand. Brownee points for those of you in upcoming classes! Ha!
Celebrations may ensue if they manage to pass!
-Herr Reid, Dive Nazi
Lessons learned:
On search patterns:
Used an expanding square search pattern. Okay, but need to make the legs smaller in low vis. I used 3 kick cycle increments, which created a gap big enough that we missed our target.
Tried using a line so that we could do an expanding circle. This would have worked okay, had we both understood what we were going to do prior to getting into the water.
U-shaped pattern would have been ideal for our situation. Didn't use it for some reason.
On buddy skills:
When running a search pattern in low vis, one buddy is going to have to dedicate themselves to the compass, the other to looking for the target. Whoever is looking needs to make sure they're keeping in constant contact with the other buddy. I could only make out my buddy's shadow for the majority of the dive - he was about 2 feet too far away and behind me. Tried repositioning several times, but it wouldn't stick. Need to work with him on swimming shoulder to shoulder (usually fine with other buddies).
On equipment:
Discovered my compass (SK7 on Cobra console) is broken! No crack in the housing, but all of the liquid is out of it. Was hoping some seawater would reinfiltrate it when submerged and it'd be partially functional, but that didn't happen either. Weird. New one on order.
Buddy and I ended up sharing his compass - he ran us through a search pattern, then I ran a search pattern.
A slate could have done us a lot of good too - some things are very difficult to explain with hand signals... I tried to sign "Okay, so I'm going to hold on to this line, you let it out about 3 feet, I'll swim a 180 degree arc, when I get to the end, you tug on it, let out 3 more feet, then repeat" That didn't work. I also keep trying to sign numbers with my mitts as if I had 5 fingers. That works piss poor as well.
Anyway, Rescue Diver class is great, highly recommended, just find an instructor who is passionate about it and will make things challenging!Used an expanding square search pattern. Okay, but need to make the legs smaller in low vis. I used 3 kick cycle increments, which created a gap big enough that we missed our target.
Tried using a line so that we could do an expanding circle. This would have worked okay, had we both understood what we were going to do prior to getting into the water.
U-shaped pattern would have been ideal for our situation. Didn't use it for some reason.
On buddy skills:
When running a search pattern in low vis, one buddy is going to have to dedicate themselves to the compass, the other to looking for the target. Whoever is looking needs to make sure they're keeping in constant contact with the other buddy. I could only make out my buddy's shadow for the majority of the dive - he was about 2 feet too far away and behind me. Tried repositioning several times, but it wouldn't stick. Need to work with him on swimming shoulder to shoulder (usually fine with other buddies).
On equipment:
Discovered my compass (SK7 on Cobra console) is broken! No crack in the housing, but all of the liquid is out of it. Was hoping some seawater would reinfiltrate it when submerged and it'd be partially functional, but that didn't happen either. Weird. New one on order.
Buddy and I ended up sharing his compass - he ran us through a search pattern, then I ran a search pattern.
A slate could have done us a lot of good too - some things are very difficult to explain with hand signals... I tried to sign "Okay, so I'm going to hold on to this line, you let it out about 3 feet, I'll swim a 180 degree arc, when I get to the end, you tug on it, let out 3 more feet, then repeat" That didn't work. I also keep trying to sign numbers with my mitts as if I had 5 fingers. That works piss poor as well.
I've learned more in this class than any other so far...
-Brandon.
