Rescue Courses

[Remy B.]

I always wanted to dive so I finely had the oportunity and I desided to go with PDIC, one because the owner of the shop is reputable diver, two their rescue course is done deeper and at night ( they argument that when S... happen it is normally in bad conditions ), rather than what I hear from the other Institudes, but at the end my goal is to get certified as rescue diver with at list 3 schools, PDIC fore sure, and hopefuly with PADI, SSI or SDI.

My question will be regarding between those 3 schools I mention last, what do they offer differently or better than the others ?

Thanks

 

[tbone1004]

at the rescue level there is no point in getting certified by multiple agencies. That only becomes a factor in cave diving, and instruction, but for recreational level diving, it is still mostly up to who the instructor is. Odds are he's going to teach the same course regardless of who the certifying agency is.

 

[Lake Hickory Scuba]

Hey there Remy B., as an Instructor Trainer for PDIC, I would first like to say congratulations on your Open Water certification. Second, your instructor makes a good point, which goes along with the philosophy of PDIC, in an emergency it is rarely one little thing that causes the problem, it is usually multiple things that cause emergencies. Also I think that it is a great idea to take the rescue course through multiple agencies. First you will see different teaching abilities between the instructors and you may learn multiple ways to handle the same situation. Secondly, having already completed the PDIC Open Water course, you will already have a heads up to the PDIC Rescue course, being that you learned several rescue skills in Open Water. For your question, as far as what each offers, PDIC will most definitely be more challenging (additional prep skills), extra swims being an example. I will also vouch for the PADI course (also being an instructor MSDT), the material and presentations that you will see (if traditional class room is taught), is very well laid out and a lot of good information will be giving. It is also easy to learn from the material itself (methodically presented presentations). Being our store also has SDI instructors on staff, I have reviewed the training material and the standards and procedures of the rescue course. A common theme is repeated here also and it is very comparable to PADI's Rescue course. Lastly, is SSI's Stress & Rescue Course. In 2010, I worked for another dive shop (prior to opening my own), and this shop, like mine, trained for different training agencies. One of these agencies was SSI. The shop owner being a SSI Instructor Trainer was big on allowing all of his employees and instructors sit in on his classes, to increase their knowledge of diving. I always enjoyed these opportunities to learn and to compare other training agencies that I taught for. The SSI Stress & Rescue course can hold its own with the others. When comparing courses, those you listed, all are comparable to others, with some minor differences (depths, ratios, added skills, scenarios, etc.). As far as order, I would definitely start with PDIC, then maybe SSI (or PADI), then PADI (or SSI), then end with SDI. Now with all that being said, as I'm sure others will agree, the instructor makes a big difference in the equation. Welcome to the world of diving, and who knows, maybe all these classes you are taking will help build a good source of knowledge for you one day, if you decide to continue on to be an instructor. Happy Diving. By the way, our shop is headed to CURACAO on November 1st, maybe we will see you there.

 

[nolatom]

Or you could take it just once, then pick really bad buddies and maybe get to do it real-time...

Kidding. I don't see the need for 3 separate "same topics" classes, but if you want to, go ahead. Since to a large extent "which agency is better?" depends principally on who the instructor is, different instructors may bring different insights.

 

[Remy B.]

Thanks Mr. Bryan, I also got my AOW with PDIC, and will continue towards the rescue course, I will be going to Afghanistan for a little over one month and will be back around the 5 November God welling, call me to this number 005999 5105270, just remaind of this post and I should catch right a way who you are, it will be nice to meet other PDIC dive instructors, do you know Karel from the PDIC school from Curacao ?

---------- Post added September 25th, 2014 at 12:39 PM ----------

Yes Nalatom, I know that different instructors can give different approach and perspectives in thier courses, my end goal is more confidence, so when S... hits the fan I "may" be prepared better ( never know how you will react in a situation like that ) but hopefully I never incounter that situation

 

[Lake Hickory Scuba]

Remy B., my father and co-owner of our Dive Center will be leading this trip to Curacao, unfortunately I will not be traveling this go around. I do not know Karel personally, I have only seen the name listed under the Instructors page on PDIC's website. I will pray that you have a safe trip across the big Atlantic. Take care and God Bless.

 

[Remy B.]

Another thing I like is that PDIC will not let me do the Rescue Course until I have 40 registered dives, it seems very logical approach, it appear that not all agencies are like that, and are more lose to give their certification right after the student got his AOW, correct me if I'm wrong guys.

 

[freewillie]

The most important aspect of scuba training will be your instructor, not the organization. Scuba skills are pretty standard across the organizations. You need basic skills like clearing your mask, buoyancy control, etc. The books and material may look different and the scheduling of skills will differ, but the skills should be very similar.

My daughter and I have PADI. My nephew took a SSI scuba class at a different LDS through Groupon. He had a different book but the skills are all the same including his pool and open water training classes.

Pick a good instructor. The rest will take care of itself. Good luck.

 

[Lake Hickory Scuba]

Remy B. There 2 main pre-requistites (as far as number of dives go). The first is you must hold an Advanced Level 2 certification (the equivalent to most others Advanced Level), or second have a total of 10 dives after the initial Open Water certification. One thing that does set PDIC (and sister company SEI) apart is, you must hold an Emergency O2 certification to complete the Rescue certification. Most people don't realize you can obtain a Rescue certification prior to the Advanced Level. This of course being possible through PDIC / SEI, most agencies require Advanced certifications prior to taking the Rescue Course. Both PDIC and SEI, believe the rescue skills are essential from the very beginning, thus why they teach some of them in Open Water. Then if the diver wants to continue, he / she can go straight to Rescue if they have 10 logged dives (confirmed by the instructor) after Open Water.