Rescue skills not in OW Course

[Bert van den Berg]

One of the skills that is taught in the PADI Rescue class that was not covered in the Open Water class six years ago was searching for a lost diver.

Because I'm self reliant/solo certified I occasionally volunteer (read "drafted") to be the victim in the LDS rescue class. In four separate instances I was not "found" by the students despite not really trying to hide and staying stationary in a spot not far from where I "got lost". It's really boring waiting to be rescued.

 

[TMHeimer]

Cutting and pasting, so this is jumbled...

There was an O2 provider course taught here separately. That and CPR were required to do Rescue.

No on CPR for AOW.

AOW: ways to deal with a panicked diver, how to remove equipment while towing

Rescue: how to bring up an unconcious one from depth, giving rescue breaths (but no longer taught),

As to additional skills in Rescue: techniques for getting bodies out of the water, carries, assessment of injured diver

So in all fairness, you are saying NAUI essentially has the same lack of major rescue skills in OW course as does PADI, no?

 

[TMHeimer]

One of the skills that is taught in the PADI Rescue class that was not covered in the Open Water class six years ago was searching for a lost diver.

Because I'm self reliant/solo certified I occasionally volunteer (read "drafted") to be the victim in the LDS rescue class. In four separate instances I was not "found" by the students despite not really trying to hide and staying stationary in a spot not far from where I "got lost". It's really boring waiting to be rescued.

Yes, that is another what I consider essential rescue course that is not taught in OW.
Interesting in that buddy separation in PADI OW course means you search for one minute then surface, presumably waiting for the buddy to surface. Doesn't happen--what now?
I don't think I'd go as far as including the various search patterns in OW-- that may be impractical due to time constraints, location, etc. But, good idea to at least read about it.

 

[TMHeimer]

So in all fairness, you are saying NAUI essentially has the same lack of major rescue skills in OW course as does PADI, no?

Must consider that many divers (a majority?) don't go beyond OW, thus lack these skills that you will get in con ed NAUI (or PADI) courses.

 

[rhwestfall]

So in all fairness, you are saying NAUI essentially has the same lack of major rescue skills in OW course as does PADI, no?

No idea what is/isn't covered in PADI (as shown in my BIO, I am YMCA for "OW", and PDIC for "AOW"). The classes I have observed or participated in beyond that level were NAUI for those programs. The only PADI classes I am "familiar" with were my wife's OW almost 30 years ago, and my Technical Gas Blender from a few years ago. I did find OW "lacking", but that has been discussed quite a bit before.

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

@TMHeimer

May I ask how long you would suggest for an OW class? What would the rough syllabus look like for the OW dives?

 

[TMHeimer]

No idea what is/isn't covered in PADI (as shown in my BIO, I am YMCA for "OW", and PDIC for "AOW"). The classes I have observed or participated in beyond that level were NAUI for those programs. The only PADI classes I am "familiar" with were my wife's OW almost 30 years ago, and my Technical Gas Blender from a few years ago. I did find OW "lacking", but that has been discussed quite a bit before.

PADI's rescue skills taught in OW course are:
1. 3 "tired diver tows" (very often only 2 of them taught in my experiences).
2. Cramp removal by self or buddy grabbing fin tips and pulling (pushing if by buddy)-- to relieve cramp.
3. The OOA drill (I consider that just part of the regular skills, but some like to group that in as a rescue skill, which it obviously is.
My question is what skills beyond those 3 are in the NAUI OW course?

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

Remember that NAUI allows instructors to add requirements to courses. That is a standards violation with PADI. That's where the instructor truly matters.

 

[TMHeimer]

@TMHeimer

May I ask how long you would suggest for an OW class? What would the rough syllabus look like for the OW dives?

Good question. I'm not sure. But I would include:
--somewhat more pool time so students could do more than perform each of the 24 skills one time well. Maybe another day or two for that? I recall from every OW course I assisted on that usually more than one student had trouble getting the belt back on with the surface belt remove & replace. Doing this drill even more than once would take time. If it's only one student who had trouble they could work with the DM, but it was usually more than one.
--include all the major rescue skills. That would mean maybe 3 more days (let's leave the "scenario" day out).
--so we're probably looking at a minimum of 6 pool days of 4-5 hours each (since the two that we have now are 4-5 hours.
You could still just have the 4 (ocean/lake) checkout days. I think they even had less that that decades ago, like 2 dives from what I read.
--Ideally there would be less time each pool session (but more of them) than 4-5 hours so students could stew a bit on what they learned without doing so many skills on one weekend (like the 3 week classroom/pool night course I took).

So, we're looking at a minimum of 9 days diving and doing skills between pool & checkouts, compared to the present 4 (e learning taking the place of the full days on the pool "weekend".
Now, I guess you could trim some of the Rescue stuff academics (make the manual smaller) and perhaps a few of the skills you will perform. Maybe leaving out something like learning the "fireman's carry" for surf exiting with a victim as one example. That may cut a day off the OW course, and what's been omitted could then be added to the DM course?

So, I guess twice the course fee or a bit more.
But, those are just my sketchy ideas.
I'm leaving out the idea that many wouldn't want to spend the time and money doing this and the ramifications for dive shops and the industry. And how that would work regarding pool rental time and cost if there is no pool on site, which is usually the case. I have no personal reason to see everyone who has any passing interest in diving being certified. Well, other than I need an LDS to exist for air fills and other stuff.

 

[BoltSnap]

NAUI requires the teaching of rescues skills in its entry level diver certification course, "Scuba Diver." These skills include:

1. Recovering an unconscious non-breathing submerged diver and bringing him to the surface and initiating rescue breathing, towing to safety, etc.

2. Rescuing an unconscious non-breathing diver on the surface and initiating rescue breathing, towing to safety, etc.

3. Various self rescues and buddy in distress rescues and assists using various methods of rescue/assists.

4. NAUI encourages its instructors to go beyond the minimum standards in all of its courses as long as exceeding standards doesn't put the students or the instructor in jeopardy or violates NAUI's safety standards (for example you can't exceed standards by exceeding maximum depth limits for the respective course, e.g. taking students to 30 meters in a SD course where the official depth limit is 18 meters).

5. Review and improvement of rescue skills is called for in all NAUI's courses.

Note: NAUI is the only agency out there AFAIK that has two levels of rescue courses, "Rescue Techniques" for the general diving public and "Advanced Rescue" for dive professionals and those that seek to enhance their rescue skill level.