Training - Stress & Rescue BEFORE AOW

[Rick Murchison]

One of the nice things about the SSI course structure is that you can take the specialties (like Stress & Rescue) in any order you want to, at any time. Also, with SSI the "AOW" and "Master" diver ratings are very flexible in the course content required, consisting of four or five specialties, and 24 or 50 logged dives respectively. For Master one of the five specialties must be Stress & Rescue. As an extreme example, one with exceptionally good diving skills might opt to "just stay in the classroom" following open water training, and take four specialties. If the four were taught as a package, they could be offered with six rather than the normal eight dives, so with as few as a dozen logged dives you could have completed the specialty requirements for AOW. However, at this point the card you'd get would be "Level 2 Specialty Diver" - the AOW card wouldn't be issued until you'd completed 24 logged dives. If you did another specialty, and one of the five was Stress & Rescue, then at 50 dives you'd earn your "Master Diver" card.
There is tremendous "political" pressure on SSI to abandon the experience dive requirements in favor of a "course only" requirement like other agencies - but many of us (me too) feel that the experience + course requirements for the SSI card brings more meaning to the rating and should be maintained.
I also like the ability within the SSI system to tailor your own course to make it more useful for the kind of diving you intend to do. For example, if your passion is photography, you might choose Underwater Photography, Fish ID, and EAN as three of your four AOW specialties rather than the more traditional courses.
Bottom line - I like the SSI system and hope they don't cave to politics.
Rick

 

[jbd]

Rick makes about experience being a part of the requirements to achieve various ratings. Its fine to take the classes but diving really is an experience based kind of activity IMHO.

 

[Scubadawg]

Took mine about 9 months after finishing my OW cert. Great class made me more aware of my surroundings and Buddies,
Am taking DIVE RESCUE I thru dive rescue international in april . really looking forward to that, LOW VIS, COLD WATER, NO DRY SUIT!!

 

[DenverCoJeff]

Hey Scubadawg,

It must be nice having water warm enough in April to do your training in. Actually, it must be nice having any water...

Coming from a dry Coloradoan, hoping we will have some water to dive in this year.

My instructor for the Stress & Rescue worked on an emergency dive rescue team for 15 years. Not only that, but he is an incredible educator. And that, makes all the difference!

Jeff

 

[Hallmac]

I agree with you experience is very necessary for the ranking to mean anything.

I would like to see an under water skill test required for the rankings as well as pre/post dive testing.

At the shop I instruct for we don't offer the Advanced Open Water package. Four specialities and six dives. We want the dives to come continuously so we get the chance to evaluate the students progress and correct things in small steps that lead to true mastery.

For those students that come out of the open water class looking like they have been diving a long time I always recommend they take the Stress and Rescue course 1st and then pick the others they like.

Bye the way We got a new rescue Randy for training purposes that weighs in at 165lbs goes in the water and is fully cpr functional. Pukes and everything. Man do we have fun!

Hallmac

 

[ABQdiver]

Jeff,
Its interesting that you suggest this particular sequence of class work. I'm also an SSI diver and like the experience levels as a partial qualifier for the different levels of Diving ie: AOW, etc.

I had never thought of taking the Stress & Rescue class before AOW since it seemed to me that rescue demanded more skill sets than standard rec. diving and thus (at least in my mind) would be done after AOW. In fact I'm starting the AOW next week and after a few months plan on doing the DIRF class.

Stress & Rescue will definitely be on my list since it seems logical that those skills would be a plus in any diving situation.