the buddie system what does it mean

[Rick Inman]

Rosie some of our posters may not know that you lost your daughter to a diving accident last year.

Wisdom...

Take care of each other all who dive as buddies, be aware that you may really be called to see what your made of.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

The Rescue course isn't so much for your buddy as it is for you. It teaches you how to think through a stressful situation while remaining calm. It shows you why it's important to learn how to perform multiple tasks while maintaining your own buoyancy. It gives you object lessons in preparedness and situational awareness.

Yes, it makes you more prepared to handle many emergencies ... kind've like First Aid does above water. But more importantly, a well-run Rescue class will challenge your notions of what it means to be a safe, competent, and confident diver.

Personally, I think it should be required for anyone who's interested in doing any diving more serious than following a divemaster around a coral reef a few times a year.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[String]

.....and of course this is just a PADI style view.

In other agencys even the basic course involves basic rescue such as CBLs, tows and so on.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

.....and of course this is just a PADI style view.

In other agencys even the basic course involves basic rescue such as CBLs, tows and so on.

Why the agency reference? My comments were not intended as a curriculum review.

FWIW - the rescue class I took was YMCA. In addition to the things you mentioned, it also included DAN O2, CPR, and Red Cross Emergency First Aid. The Rescue classes I currently DM are NAUI and SSI. The one I'll be teaching when I complete my instructor certification later this month will be NAUI.

Please ... let's not turn this into another unnecessary agency bashing thread ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[Sideband]

PADI doesn't have a solo couse and as far as I know niether does NAUI.

The only agency that I know has one is SDI.

Carol Stream huh? My old stomping grounds.

Well, my instructor teaches the course and he is NAUI/PADI. He may also be SDI<shrug> I may be wrong. It has been known to happen before. A bit of searching the web here makes it look more and more probable that I am wrong.

I apologize for any confusion I may have caused.

I think the requirements were correct though even if the certifying agencies weren't.

Yup, Carol Stream. York Tree apartments off of North Ave and President. Been here for about 7 years now.
Joe

 

[String]

Not intended as agency bashing, more a response to the generalisation taking place here (that someone who hasnt done the rescue course lacks rescue skills).

In some agencies yes that maybe the case however other agencies do include rescue as part of the basic training therefore that statement isnt always true.

 

[ShakaZulu]

Evertime I've trusted a "Circumstance Buddy" I've run into problems. Lack of communication, pre-dive planning and all that good stuff. Even though I try to cover everything on the surface I still need to talk to him/her downthere for some reason. Writing slate works well to crap all over him/her. If the buddy is not close enough to you, or doesn't dive with you, he's just a waste of time. I don't believe I need a buddy in less than 60ft, can alwasy do a CESA, however in the case of a shark attack or heart failure............hmmm, I'd rather dive with a buddy.

 

[IndigoBlue]

Evertime I've trusted a "Circumstance Buddy" I've run into problems. ...

I completely agree.

When I am in the situation (rare) that I must dive with an unknown buddy, that is when I bring a pony bottle with me, enough to get me to the surface with a 3 min stop at 20 ft on my own.

These "buddies of circumstance" have a tendancy to disappear, and with them then goes your alternate air source (their octo) as well.

Anyone who is not highly experienced is probably only going to be a marginal buddy, at best. All you can hope is that they will stay with you, and share air if needed. Even a diver with a basic rescue class in their background will not have spent much time, other than a day, practicing rescues.

You would have to be lucky enough to be diving with a divemaster or an instructor, or else someone with several hundred dives to their credit (maybe), before your buddy would be a completely reliable asset under any circumstances.

That leads to the question, Why are today's divers trained so poorly? Answer: Because that is apparently all that the consumer public wants to pay for, apparently, with emphasis on "apparently."

How much does it cost to become a divemaster? At least $1000 if not more. Nobody seems willing to shell all that out, at the outset, for scuba training.

 

[Charlie99]

When I am in the situation (rare) that I must dive with an unknown buddy, that is when I bring a pony bottle with me, enough to get me to the surface with a 3 min stop at 20 ft on my own.

These "buddies of circumstance" have a tendancy to disappear, and with them then goes your alternate air source (their octo) as well.

Does this mean that your lost buddy protocol is to ignore the lost buddy and continue with the dive since you have a pony???

Buddies or circumstance (or "random buddies") can disappear only if YOU are not paying attention.

I have had a few random buddies that TRIED to disappear, but none that have actually escaped

 

[String]

Every time i go abroad im assigned a random buddy as i dont take one with me. Ive never yet had a problem though.