PADI Rescue Diver

[Selchie in LB]

Hey All Great Post I had heard that RD was the best class to take if you never take another. I have 32 OW dives to date and have taken the AOW. I am taking the RD and just started this week. Number 1 I have a kick ass instructor that in addition to standard material covered throws out those little nuggets of information that make you stop and think. The other big deal and this is stressed in every scenario we have gone over DO NOT PUT YOURSELF IN JEOPARDY BECAUSE THEN YOU WILL HAVE 2 DIVERS WHO NEED RESCUING.

Even though we only have done the pool training so far, we go Sunday to complete the OW portion, I have learned so much about other equipment. That has been a real eye opener. It's talked about when doing buddy checks, but when you are actually trying to get someone buoyant and keeping hitting the exhaust button on their 2 in 1 you quickly realize holy crap I don't really have clue! Better yet drop their BCD which was keeping them afloat only have them sink because not everyone uses integrated weights! DUH!

Several who have posted have brought up situational awareness. I have had that stressed over and over. How many stories have I read here where my buddy was 20 feet away when . . . I've heard from other divers, we were cruising along and found this diver alone and it was not a solo diver, but someone who lost their buddy. I have done a handful dives and gotten separated and each time we had surfaced and thank goodness found each other.

I'll get off my soapbox now, but I will sell RD to any diver who hasn't taken it. & I don't even get a kick back!

 

[geoff w]

My wife and I got certified in '94, immediately took the AOW course afterward, and finally got around to taking the rescue class early last summer (2010). Best class ever? Probably the open water class, because it got us diving. After 170+ dives, taking the rescue class really made me think differently about some situations. I wish I had taken the class 10 years sooner. I didn't feel remarkably more competent as a diver taking the rescue class (we really didn't do much "diving" in the class), but the skills presented will make anyone a much better diver.

Our rescue instructor said we were welcome to come back any time to help out with rescue classes and refresh our skills. Since taking the class, I've gone back to help out for three more rescue classes, and have learned new skills each time, including learning some of the things I should have in the rescue class but didn't. (It's PADI, so everything is squished into just a couple of days.) I'm still going back each time my LDS does another rescue class, even though I'm not working toward being a divemaster or anything. Each time I assist with the rescue class, I feel like I learn more than I did the first time, as well as practicing skills from the class.