utdivermatt
Contributor
Ok, well, since we all know the greatest people on SB are actually in the South, I figured I would share this experiance with all of you.
Last weekend (Feb 24-25), I spent my time completing my Rescue Certification at Vortex Springs. This was my second trip to Vortex, and my first to actually complete a class. The conditions were bad, to say the least. There were over 150 divers according to reports on here, so the place was packed. Nontheless, we pushed on getting our class done.
To start, I had a few disadvantages going into this class. I live 6 hours away from my instructor, so it is rare when I am able to meet up with her. Over Winter Break she put together a couple of people for me to work with to do all of the confined water portion. We did it fast, but she made sure I knew all the information. However, it was my first class to be done this fast-pased, and I honestly think I lost a little because of it. It had also been two months since I touched the water, so I was a little behind getting back in. However, it all came back as soon as we started working through the skills in the water.
I was also doing this class in my Dive Rite bp/w, and a 7 foot hose. My instructor, who is a great instructor, had not been exposed to this much in her years of diving. I could be wrong, but I think I was the first person she had taught while in it. So alot of the things such as getting gear off I learned myself (I carry a z-knife on it on the shoulder to get me out if I have to, but we tried several techniques to do it without it). The 7 ft hose also took her some time to get used to, and she definately had questions behind the philosophy of using it. So the gear was definately making this a more intense learning experiance for me than most of her students, but I enjoyed it, and now know my gear alot better than I did before I started.
As for the skills, we worked everything, and she made sure we worked it until it was right. I dont know how many times I messed up my rescue breath rythm and had to restart the exercise. We got through everything but the scenarios the first day, which involved a whole lot of time in the water. By the time I got out, I thought my skin was going to fall off (I actually sliced open a finger pretty good at some point, and didnt realize it until I got out). As for the exercises, they were definately intense. I learned alot about how important it is to ditch weights. I use no weight in a pool, but had 12 pounds in a DUI weight harness, and it is very annoying to ditch, so I ended up just setting the weights out for most of the excersises. It made a huge difference in getting rescue breaths without any weight on me, as oposed to the difficulty faced when doing it with them. I definately feel alot more comfortable with everything I can do now then when I had left the pool.
Sunday came the real fun. We were done with simple exercises, it was time to string everything together and do the scenarios. It started with a couple of fairly simple ones, including finding a buddy who got jammed into something underwater. Upon finishing that scenario, we didnt even get to debrief. Our instructor had (conviently) spotted two divers in distress across the spring. I always thought Vortex was small... but when you have to almost completely cross it to do a rescue scenario, it seems alot bigger. We go out and rescue these two; my partner getting the diver on the surface, and me helping one who had gone under. We get them both safely back, and debrief.
Our final scenario involved our instructor getting into the water. Her getting in was a sign to us... this would be 'fun'. She instructed us to go for a quick 10 minute dive, and then come up, where one of her divemasters would tell us what was going on. We do as told, and find out when we surface we have a lost diver. They give us little help, and we go off and search the spring. We find her quickly, in about 3 minutes, and surface her. She is unconsious (of course), so we work as a buddy team to get her out. I ditch my weights, and ditch hers, and start rescue breaths. My partner gets out of his gear, and then starts getting hers off. Masks, weights, and bc's go everywhere, and we eventually get her across the spring and out. We start CPR, and 'pizza' arrives, so the scenario ends. We passed, and are now Rescue Divers!
The course really is great, for anyone who hasnt taken it yet. I breezed through OW and AOW (didnt miss a question on the tests or quizes, never told I was doing something wrong in class, other than leaving a tank standing up). That all went out the window in Rescue. I was doing things wrong several times, and I got called out on them. That was an eye-opener for me, but most definately needed and worthwhile. I really didnt believe others when they said this course would be demanding and extremely rewarding, but now I am a believer. Just simply debriefing after each dive and going over every detail about everything we did really made me realize how much this will change my diving. I am so glad I took the course, and join the bandwagon of people that say you have to take it. It was worth everything I put into it.
Last weekend (Feb 24-25), I spent my time completing my Rescue Certification at Vortex Springs. This was my second trip to Vortex, and my first to actually complete a class. The conditions were bad, to say the least. There were over 150 divers according to reports on here, so the place was packed. Nontheless, we pushed on getting our class done.
To start, I had a few disadvantages going into this class. I live 6 hours away from my instructor, so it is rare when I am able to meet up with her. Over Winter Break she put together a couple of people for me to work with to do all of the confined water portion. We did it fast, but she made sure I knew all the information. However, it was my first class to be done this fast-pased, and I honestly think I lost a little because of it. It had also been two months since I touched the water, so I was a little behind getting back in. However, it all came back as soon as we started working through the skills in the water.
I was also doing this class in my Dive Rite bp/w, and a 7 foot hose. My instructor, who is a great instructor, had not been exposed to this much in her years of diving. I could be wrong, but I think I was the first person she had taught while in it. So alot of the things such as getting gear off I learned myself (I carry a z-knife on it on the shoulder to get me out if I have to, but we tried several techniques to do it without it). The 7 ft hose also took her some time to get used to, and she definately had questions behind the philosophy of using it. So the gear was definately making this a more intense learning experiance for me than most of her students, but I enjoyed it, and now know my gear alot better than I did before I started.
As for the skills, we worked everything, and she made sure we worked it until it was right. I dont know how many times I messed up my rescue breath rythm and had to restart the exercise. We got through everything but the scenarios the first day, which involved a whole lot of time in the water. By the time I got out, I thought my skin was going to fall off (I actually sliced open a finger pretty good at some point, and didnt realize it until I got out). As for the exercises, they were definately intense. I learned alot about how important it is to ditch weights. I use no weight in a pool, but had 12 pounds in a DUI weight harness, and it is very annoying to ditch, so I ended up just setting the weights out for most of the excersises. It made a huge difference in getting rescue breaths without any weight on me, as oposed to the difficulty faced when doing it with them. I definately feel alot more comfortable with everything I can do now then when I had left the pool.
Sunday came the real fun. We were done with simple exercises, it was time to string everything together and do the scenarios. It started with a couple of fairly simple ones, including finding a buddy who got jammed into something underwater. Upon finishing that scenario, we didnt even get to debrief. Our instructor had (conviently) spotted two divers in distress across the spring. I always thought Vortex was small... but when you have to almost completely cross it to do a rescue scenario, it seems alot bigger. We go out and rescue these two; my partner getting the diver on the surface, and me helping one who had gone under. We get them both safely back, and debrief.
Our final scenario involved our instructor getting into the water. Her getting in was a sign to us... this would be 'fun'. She instructed us to go for a quick 10 minute dive, and then come up, where one of her divemasters would tell us what was going on. We do as told, and find out when we surface we have a lost diver. They give us little help, and we go off and search the spring. We find her quickly, in about 3 minutes, and surface her. She is unconsious (of course), so we work as a buddy team to get her out. I ditch my weights, and ditch hers, and start rescue breaths. My partner gets out of his gear, and then starts getting hers off. Masks, weights, and bc's go everywhere, and we eventually get her across the spring and out. We start CPR, and 'pizza' arrives, so the scenario ends. We passed, and are now Rescue Divers!
The course really is great, for anyone who hasnt taken it yet. I breezed through OW and AOW (didnt miss a question on the tests or quizes, never told I was doing something wrong in class, other than leaving a tank standing up). That all went out the window in Rescue. I was doing things wrong several times, and I got called out on them. That was an eye-opener for me, but most definately needed and worthwhile. I really didnt believe others when they said this course would be demanding and extremely rewarding, but now I am a believer. Just simply debriefing after each dive and going over every detail about everything we did really made me realize how much this will change my diving. I am so glad I took the course, and join the bandwagon of people that say you have to take it. It was worth everything I put into it.
