Rescue Diver Course

[NateSmith]

Thanks everyone for your input. I'm going to be taking my rescue class here in about 3 weeks. I've been diving my butt off lately and did my advanced open water this past weekend. My dive partner for the course hadn't dove in almost 2 years and I remembered (from my OW class years ago) that huge eyeballs are a sign of panic. I was able to calm her down and reassure her. I'm really thankful that my own OW instructor for my basic class was so calm and level headed. I'm really looking forward to this course in a couple of weeks. I'll keep you guys posted and let you know how it goes.

 

[B.L. Justice]

When your instructor reminds you over and over to not get to close to a panicked diver... he means it.

your "victim" will try to climb over you and stand on top of you.

Had my victim climb on top of me. I have been in law enforcement for 15-years. Just reacted and grabbed a wrist for a twist wrist lock. My victim went right on her back and cried uncle. Not in the ext but I got brownie points for style and creativity....... Then I had to do it again the right way.

 

[DOkie]

In my rescue class, during the "panicked diver" section the instructor stuck me with his assistant who unfortunately also happened to be my husband. No holds barred. After pulling my reg out and ripping off my mask, the instructor was pretty proud that I was still able to subdue him. (I have pretty strong thighs) After that he made me pull my "victim" onto the boat by myself. He weighs 220 lbs and I weigh 102. I was quite p****d at the time, but I did it and looking back, glad that I did. We always dive alone and the minimum is usually 10+ mile from shore...

 

[divezonescuba]

Here are some tips:

1. If you suddenly can't see, its because they've ripped off your mask. Hopefully, you're not wearing contacts, have a corrective mask, or observe your mask on the way to on the bottom.

2. If you suddenly can't breath, it because they've ripped the regulator out of your mouth. Hopefully, you still have teeth.

3. If you suddenly think you're blacking out, it because you probably are. Hopefully, you won't need to be resuscitated.

4. If you suddenly find out that they know were you came from from below, its because they're cheating. Panicked divers don't stick their head in the water to search for you. Hopefully, you'll be behind them by then.

I equate my rescue class to underwater hand to hand combat. Don't be afraid to get physical and block/deflect the victim who tries to do any of the above. There were quite a few battle scars by the time I got done.

This level of rigorous training was actually quite beneficial during the first real panicked diver rescue that I needed to make. There's a saying that goes something like, "the more we sweat in training, the less be bleed in battle".

 

[gcbryan]

Here's another tip...make sure 911 isn't called for real! They were called during my class!

I noticed a guy sitting on a bench in the park and he watched us through several scenario...no problem. After about an hour as I was coming out of the water he came up calmly and asked if everyone was OK. I said yes, we're just conducting a rescue class. He said oh, I just called 911!

As soon as he started talking however I realized that he was mentally challenged but I hadn't realized that while he was just sitting on the bench.

Not that anyone can prepare for something like this but it is a possibility! I volunteered to go and speak with the fire department/medics when they arrived. They were not amused.

 

[paddler3d]

When your instructor reminds you over and over to not get to close to a panicked diver... he means it.

your "victim" will try to climb over you and stand on top of you.

I did most of my rescue class this last weekend and I played the victim a few times. I was explicitly instructed that if the rescuer got too close, I was to climb all over them. They got too close, so I pulled of their mask, took their reg and pushed them under.

It was a fun class. Good luck!

 

[sabbath999]

One key thing that I learned to remember is when they show you to approach with your feet forward towards a surfaced diver, they are NOT kidding.

Also, be VERY careful when you are pulling the instructors weight belt off under water... the buckle is located not very far away from the NADS, and if you give your instructor a NAD shot they will get nasty towards you from there on out (it wasn't ME that did that, thank goodness).

Actually, our instructor showed us to come up a LOT deeper than what they show in the video, to really get below the people and come up quickly from the bottom... you are just too low to clim onto and the diver is not interested in going down.

One of the two guy's favorite trick was the "repanic" about 5 times during the 200+ foot tow in so you had to pretty well keep him hogtied if he was concious.

We were fortunate to be the only people at the quarry the entire day we were there (it has been closed to diving and is just now reopening, but even still we didn't shout out "Call 911"... and we didn't use pizza. They had us shout out "Call" and then say 911 softly... they wanted to train the phrase Call 911 but they didn't want anybody to actually do it.

 

[BioLogic]

I thought it very helpful to be able to physically do all of those exercises - now I know I really can hang on to a guy who's freaking out and get him buoyant and I can simultaneously tow, de-equip, and give rescue breaths to a guy more than twice my size. That stuff is easy to write in a book, but I wanted to actually see how it worked when the size differences are extreme.

And one that wasn't in the manual: How to grab a 'tired diver' by the wrist while you're still in a position to back out, because the first contact is a likely time for a panic attack to emerge. Those guys can be fast too!

I'm on the Great Class! bandwagon on this one.