Rescue Diver - PADI Standards

[Bernie_U]

Question to all PADI professionals: What are the minimum required skill demonstrations of a PADI Rescue Diver course?

I have two copies of the PADI Rescue Diver Manual, German edition: The older one from 1993 lists all exercises / skill demonstrations in detail. The most recent one, revision no. 6 of 2020, does not. Unlike SDI, PADI do not make their standards publicly available, confer to SDI document paragraph 11.11 for better understanding what I am looking for. At least, I have not found the PADI standards yet - your help is very much appreciated.

Background of my request: I obtained both OWD and AOWD certifications from PADI, so it would make sense to continue with PADI's Rescue Diver instead of the SDI Rescue Diver, for example. However, after talking with two local PADI centers, I am a bit unhappy with the way they teach the Rescue Diver. In particular, they spend a lot of time with full-blown rescue exercises from A to Z. I cannot find that requirement in the PADI standards of 1993, but these might have changed since then. If the full-blown rescue was not mandatory, it would be negotiable and could be replaced by another content that fits my needs better - provided that I can gather enough students who share my interests to fill the class.

 

[Edward3c]

Independent of the agency, rescue courses give you a set of tools you can use when presented with a situation. It’s highly unlikely a rescue situation will mimic a training scenario.

 

[L13]

It's not supposed to be a fun class.

But:

Everytime I conducted a rescue class I made sure to really stress the students out and leave them exhausted... like my instructor did when I took the class... it's supposed to be a learning experience and to see where your limits are, it's not try scuba and looking at fish.

Sound fun! But then I like pushing an discovering my limits. A class like this lets me do so in a safe way.

 

[Bernie_U]

Well, physical exhaustion can be the outcome of athleticism. That should be fun, and mostly is. We all know the good feeling after a team sport event, a long hike / run or cycle tour. And I enjoy that, too.

However, after watching the Rescue Diver videos on Youtube and reading the Rescue Diver Manual, I already know that these exercises are beyond my limits. No need to try. I believe that most candidates fail in the sense that they skip certain actions from the manual, perform the skills incorrectly and so on. That's normal because there is not enough time to learn every detail by heart. Pilots and other professionals use checklists on regular basis, and there is a good reason why they do so, although they fly more often than Joe Diver does a rescue exercise.

On the other hand, very few don't get the Rescue Diver certification. That leads to the conclusion that the certification is the reward for mental survival and physical exhaustion. In EFR they told us that it was always better to do something (even wrong) than doing nothing. I agree with that in general, but in diving there are additional constraints, such as tissue saturation with inert gases. Good techniques are key here, so I would prefer to perform the exercises in slow motion and have my instructor correct any error directly. Efficiency over speed, for the beginning.

 

[berndo]

On the other hand, very few don't get the Rescue Diver certification. That leads to the conclusion that the certification is the reward for mental survival and physical exhaustion. In EFR they told us that it was always better to do something (even wrong) than doing nothing.

Yes, it's what the EFR person said.
You don't have to be super fit, it's about learning where your limits are. After a class you might reconsider doing a specific dive with a specific buddy because you realise that you might not be able to tow him back to shore or get him up a ladder or so. And it's always better to have some idea than no idea. It's not that anyone is a full on Mitch Buchannon ... or Pam after a rescue class. It's still worth doing for most people.

 

[tursiops]

I believe that most candidates fail in the sense that they skip certain actions from the manual, perform the skills incorrectly and so on.

That leads to the conclusion that the certification is the reward for mental survival and physical exhaustion

Pure BS. You are making this up. You have no knowledge of the actual class to base this on. You are effectively saying that most instructors ignore the standards. That is libel.

 

[Miyaru]

...
If you're healthy and fit, the stamina required for the rescue course won't be a problem for you.

...
However, after watching the Rescue Diver videos on Youtube and reading the Rescue Diver Manual, I already know that these exercises are beyond my limits. No need to try.
...

So the real issue here is not the rescue course.

 

[Johnboy70_99]

I just got my PADI rescue certification a couple of months ago. I enjoyed it greatly. Imo there were really no dive skills taught. It is all about helping others in a diving emergency, and even in a non diving emergency. Most of the exercises were fairly straightforward to perform once I learned and practiced them.

For my final test I had to complete a scenario where I had to find a missing diver on the bottom, safely bring them to the surface, and then get them to shore while giving life support and removing their equipment. I believe I practiced it twice in the pool, and then did it 3x in open water until both my instructor and myself felt like I was able to do it. That was a fairly difficult exercise. I am in decent shape for my age, I work out 5x a week.

Personally I think all divers should try to get in good enough shape to pass it, and should try to take it. It would make everyone safer on all dives.

 

[L13]

I still don't understand what OP thinks he will get out of his "modified" class.

Does he think he will be able to do everything in slow motion with instructor correction in a real rescue?

Does he really wish to mislead people seeing his "certification" into believing he is able to perform as a rescue diver even though he is not physically up to it?

What is the purpose of his faux rescue certification? Is it just a card he can't get and wants?

If it was just knowledge and experience, he would just pay the instructor for the time to teach him what he wants and be satisfied without the unearned certification.

 

[Wibble]

My experience with the PADI Rescue Diver course was that it was by far and away the best course I took with PADI. I learned lots of things on a wide range of topics. Most importantly it was the first course where you think about others and not yourself. The course took several weeks to complete, simply as it was over winter and we needed the right weather conditions for the sea dives.

It is supposed to be a challenging course that not everyone will be able to pass especially if their skills and attitude are not up to the standards.

You need a wide range of skills as you never know when you're going to be helping someone nor what kind of skills you'll need. Your core skills need to be up to quality as you don't want to be another casualty nor create more problems for the other person. The rescue skills aren't going to challenge you physically, but you will need to tow someone and be able to handle them safely underwater. In a lot of ways it's about knowing what you can and cannot do; to know what others can do. Knowing your weaknesses is just as important as mastering a skill.

For example, if you're not great at towing people then you'll recognise the problem and call for help from other people and, if necessary, giving rescue breaths to the casualty whilst you wait for others to arrive.

It's a whole, not a part.

 

[Bernie_U]

OK, the thread became too long and people start asking tldr questions.

Time to wrap it up:

• I should take the Rescue Course to learn what I really need.
• On top of that, I take private / VIP lessons on top to learn what I want to master.
• Finally, we all hope that the day of a true emergency will never come.