Starting SSI Stress & Rescue soon

[LowDrag]

Define messing with. If you mean presenting unbriefed scenarios like the instructor suddenly losing consciousness while giving an in water briefing, then yes. Have done that. If you mean actually harassing them, then no. Having a volunteer give less than accurate info as to where they last saw their missing buddy, just as a distressed diver who actually has lost their buddy may do, absolutely. If everything goes as expected it's not an actual rescue class. IMO.

As in turning off your air, pulling your mask off of your face and other such things.

 

[Scott]

I'm not aware of any agency that allows turning off a students air unannounced, especially in OW. Agencies that I teach for allow it but it has to be briefed, instructor in direct control and only in CW.
Good way to injure a student or worse, IMO

Not a fan of just ripping off a mask either.
I have accidentally dislodged a students mask during a panic diver drill in CW. I have tapped on a students mask during the same drill to let them know they have left themselves open for it to happen.
While situations like that may happen in real life, I would rather teach them techniques and positioning to prevent it from happening.

 

[LowDrag]

I'm not aware of any agency that allows turning off a students air unannounced, especially in OW. Agencies that I teach for allow it but it has to be briefed, instructor in direct control and only in CW.
Good way to injure a student or worse, IMO

Not a fan of just ripping off a mask either.
I have accidentally dislodged a students mask during a panic diver drill in CW. I have tapped on a students mask during the same drill to let them know they have left themselves open for it to happen.
While situations like that may happen in real life, I would rather teach them techniques and positioning to prevent it from happening.

I figured the video was just a ruse on how it is really done. I have nearly had my mask kicked off during an aquarium dive back in July. I learned that lesson real quick.

 

[TravisD]

They did the "pull off the mask" thing in our S&R pool session. I fixed the problem by grabbing the instructors mask and using that instead. See, problem solving.

 

[jbomb001]

They did the "pull off the mask" thing in our S&R pool session. I fixed the problem by grabbing the instructors mask and using that instead. See, problem solving.

Priceless! What's good for the goose is good for the gander.

Sent from my galaxy S5 Active.

 

[LowDrag]

They did the "pull off the mask" thing in our S&R pool session. I fixed the problem by grabbing the instructors mask and using that instead. See, problem solving.

I love it!!!

 

[DeepSeaDan]

As in turning off your air, pulling your mask off of your face and other such things.

Yeah, as Mom used to say: "It's all fun n' games till somebody gets hurt!" ( second only to "You'll put your eye out!!" ). But hey, Mom was no dummy. Pulling those kind of tricks on students in open water is an invitation to disaster.

If somebody did that to me, I'd likely respond ala' 3 Stooges: Mask pull / snap-back, two-finger eye poke, windmill hammer-strike to the top of the pointed head, double face-slap.

That oughta' learn em'!

Best,
DSD

 

[TravisD]

Dan, I'm with you -- that was my main/only complaint about how my class was done -- in the pool session, there was definitely an overtone of "mwahahahaha - we're going to screw with you [students] SOOOOO much" under the guise of "seeing how you deal with stress". Random acts of problem causing, though, seem to come across as more hazing than teaching. If you want do see what happens with mask-off, then tell me that you're going to ask for my mask at some point and I'll hand it over. Honestly, the hardest part for me was the initial exercise of recovering all of my gear from the bottom. I had a 3mm full wetsuit on, which made getting to the bottom of the pool a challenge.

To be clear - this was NOT stuff that was done in open water -- only in the pool session. The Open-water part of the class was all-business, with no funny stuff. We did rescue drills, lost diver, etc, by the book.

 

[DeepSeaDan]

Dan, I'm with you -- that was my main/only complaint about how my class was done -- in the pool session, there was definitely an overtone of "mwahahahaha - we're going to screw with you [students] SOOOOO much" under the guise of "seeing how you deal with stress". Random acts of problem causing, though, seem to come across as more hazing than teaching. If you want do see what happens with mask-off, then tell me that you're going to ask for my mask at some point and I'll hand it over. Honestly, the hardest part for me was the initial exercise of recovering all of my gear from the bottom. I had a 3mm full wetsuit on, which made getting to the bottom of the pool a challenge.

To be clear - this was NOT stuff that was done in open water -- only in the pool session. The Open-water part of the class was all-business, with no funny stuff. We did rescue drills, lost diver, etc, by the book.

I hear you Travis; but remember, it takes very little pressure differential ( classically, 4' is used ) to force air through the alveolar membrane in a breath-hold, panicked ascent ( I've seen it happen in a pool ), thus that kind of behavior is not acceptable in any environment.

I teach a lot of Rescue Courses, and am a professional Responder as well. What my experience has taught me - the single most important fact, is that when things go bad and serious injury results, it can be very hard to "fix." It is far, far better to PREVENT things from happening in the first place. I ask my rescue students to list as many factors as they can think of that would help prevent accidents. It is a beneficial exercise, and IMHO, the most important aspect of rescue training.

Regards,
DSD

 

[cdemith]

I really enjoyed the class, and learned a lot. Primary messages throughout were awareness and proactive problem recognition and resolution. The experience made me much more confident, and a much better diver.

My favorite OW exercise was the panicked diver trying to grab/fight me. He got a fin to the face (on accident), but it felt very real. My least favorite was the unconscious not breathing diver. That was physically and mentally exhausting.