Second attempt at Rescue

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For my rescue course there are typically two academic sessions and a couple of nights in the pool. What is not finished at the pool we finish the first day at open water. Even though there are two required scenarios I still schedule two days for open water.

Here is a list of the exercises and scenarios for PADI’s course:
Exercise 1 – Tired Diver
Exercise 2 – Panicked Diver
Exercise 3 – Response from shore, boat or dock
(responsive diver)
Exercise 4 – Distressed Diver Underwater
Exercise 5 – Missing Diver
Exercise 6 – Surfacing the Unresponsive Diver
Exercise 7– Unresponsive Diver at the Surface
Exercise 8 – Exiting the Unresponsive Diver
Exercise 9 – First Aid for Pressure-Related Injuries and
Oxygen Administration
Exercise 10 – Response from Shore/Boat to Unresponsive
(nonbreathing) Diver at the Surface

Scenario 1 – Unresponsive Diver Underwater
Scenario 2 – Unresponsive Diver at the Surface

It has been number of years since I taught an SSI “rescue” course I couldn’t begin to relate how theirs is laid out.

Find another instructor that will give the value this course really deserves.
 
Rescue courses should be hard work, rewarding and FUN. You learn a lot and will be tired at the end of them.
I teach PADI so cannot comment on the SSI, but when we schedule the course we have theory, then a full day in the pool, about 6 to 8 hours, this give the student time to practice the skills in a calm controlled environment.
They then go into open water, re practice the skills again, then they have the scenario's.
Rescue is a serious course and cannot be done in a few hours pool then a couple of hours open water.
It is also not ideal to not have more than one person with you, in order to see the positions and demonstrations properly having a DM or other students with you is so beneficial, it can be done 1 to 1 but them will take longer again as more time is required to explain all the methods.

It is good to hear that you are repeating this course and with a different instructor. Relationships with the student/instructor can cause problems sometimes with courses and being told you need to pay more, to enable you to have the amount of time needed to master a skill is just not right.
Courses should not be time based but learning based and take the time they need not what is allocated by the shop.
Hope the next one goes well
 
I don't think the "relationship" was the problem at all, I think the problem was a lack of professionalism and fidelity to meaningful teaching standards. That's an instructor problem and a dive center problem. A PADI shop without materials for a rescue course is a joke. Also, short cutting the course is unforgivable. We make the rescue class open water weekend into a a two day, 6 hours per day event, and supplement with skills work, lots of nav work, and scenarios we may turn into a screen play one day. There is a big difference between "getting a card" and having a meaningful course experience with growth and new skill mastery. Never go for the short or cheap class. Go for the reputable shop with professional staff that follows standards, and will give you what you paid for.
DivemasterDennis
 
The instructor was a dipwad. And a piece of crap human being. You were dating him and he would have to charge you more for an extra day? Greedy cuss wasn't he. Did he make you buy dinner as well? What a cad.

A good rescue course should kick your butt. Can a rescue course be done with one student? Sure. But a buddy pair is better and more realistic. If I were doing a rescue course for one person I'd call another student that has already taken my class to buddy up with them. Then I'd get some volunteer "victims". And they'd be told not to take it easy on the student.
 
Thanks everyone for the encouragement, it was much appreciated! Just to close this up, I did my rescue course last month in Malta, and it went amazingly well. We did it over the course of three days, non-consecutive, with fun dives thrown in the middle, and my instructor would sometimes do a "panicked diver on the surface" after we'd finished a fun dive, or a tired diver, or whatever he felt like. Made it fun :) We also had one more student (a 14 year old boy), and a DMT to act as the victim. Loved the course, and am now much more sure of myself and my rescue skills (which will hopefully never need to be used!)

Next: getting my divemaster, beginning in November! Can't wait :)
 
I tell all who will listen that Stress & Rescue is the hardest class (after DM) you will take, and the most satisfying- if you only take one more class, take that one. Taught well, I am sure any agency's class is rigorous. And all who have taken it, either being in the class or assisting with it, know at the end they have earned the card. Tired, waterlogged, exhausted and proud.

Cudos to you that you recognized this and I expect your second experience will be quite different than the first.

Good luck,

Terry
 
My rescue course was tiring to say the least! We compounded extra things though: altitude, cold water, dry suit, i3 BCD etc. It was difficult but we managed!
 
Sorry to hear of your bad experience :(

I would have asked for another instructor, or, since you were dating this one, to give you as much time as you wanted.

Two of my best friends did all of my instructing, and they took the time to teach me properly and took as much time as I needed. It shouldn't matter if they are your friend/dating/family or not... a good instructor will take the time to do it properly and not short you out of needed training.

Good luck on the re-take. Too bad it's someone you're dating, I would have reported the crappy training experience... OR perhaps told that person that you would really like to do this and that drill again until you get it right.
 
Congratulations on having enough sense to take the rescue class again to actually get the training instead of a plastic card! I just assisted with another rescue class this past weekend - probably about the 12th rescue class I've participated in since originally taking the class. The thing about the rescue class is so much material is thrown at you, and when you do all the skills in class, you're struggling to get everything done. After the class, you will hopefully never encounter the class scenarios in real life, so unlike most dive classes, you'll never practice those skills again. My LDS encourages every rescue class graduate to come back to future classes, such as to play panicked diver or provide additional support as either a gear handler on the surface or part of the team helping the students perform the rescue scenarios. If you ever go on to DM or instructor training, being proficient in rescue skills is essential, and there's no better way than helping with rescue classes and observing others go through the drills and providing feedback. Every instructor has a different teaching style, even if they go through all the scenarios for the class, so working with multiple instructors on rescue skills will also make you a much better rescue diver

I hope you found a new boyfriend. It sounds like you can do a lot better than your first rescue instructor
 
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