Serious Fun!

Southeastern Divers, Inc.

2720 Governors Drive SW, Huntsville Alabama 35805 - Phone: 256-536-8404

"Training the best divers in North Alabama since 1980."

Max Gilbert PADI IDC Staff Instructor

Serious Fun

What would you do if you and your buddy found an unconscious diver lying on the bottom or on the surface? What if you saw another diver in a state of panic? Do you know how to treat a jellyfish sting? Would you recognize the symptoms of Decompression Sickness (DCS)? For the sites you dive, do you know how to activate Emergency Medical Services? Do you know where the nearest recompression chamber is?

In this article, we’re going to talk about the PADI Rescue Diver course. Its two days of HARD work, harder than anything you’ve done so far in any of your training, but when you’re finished with the course, you’ll be a MUCH more confident diver. None of us ever wants to be involved in a diving accident, but if that day ever comes, you’ll know that being prepared was worth all the effort.

To get started in the Rescue Diver course, you’ll need to be a PADI Advanced Open Water Diver, or have an equivalent certification from another training agency. You’ll also need a current CPR certification. If you don’t have CPR training, we can train you at SDI. Sean, Greg, and I are all Emergency First Response instructors, so we can teach you what you need to know.

Who’s the most important person that you’ll ever rescue? If you said “my buddy,” give yourself high points for putting others ahead of yourself, but the correct answer is YOU! If you can perform some simple self-rescue techniques, then you may eliminate the need for rescue in the first place. In the class, we’ll review some rescue techniques that you’ve already done in your Open Water class such as a cramp release, achieving positive buoyancy on the surface, airway control, and alternate air source use.

Lots of accidents “begin” before the victim ever gets in the water. Perhaps a diver is nervous about making the dive. Anyone can get nervous at any time. Maybe the waves look a little too high; maybe breakfast isn’t sitting too well in the stomach. You’ll learn to recognize a diver with “issues” before that diver takes the plunge, and how to help them, even if that diver is you! It’s OK and even natural to be a bit nervous, but letting nerves spiral out of control is not OK. You’ll learn to keep your nerves under control, rechanneling your anxiety into something more productive.

When you see an accident, the number one rescue rule is to not become a victim yourself. If you get hurt while assisting, you can’t call for help, and when help does arrive, rescue resources are divided between two or more victims. With this thought in mind, it’s better if you can rescue someone from shore or a boat without getting in the water yourself. If you’re already in the water, and a diver near you panics, it’s better if you can get them to calm down without getting too close if you can avoid it. In the Rescue Diver course, you’ll learn techniques for land-based rescue, and you’ll learn how to arrest panic without endangering yourself. If you must make physical contact, then it’s important to do it safely, leaving yourself a way to retreat if things start to go badly. We’ll teach you several techniques for approaching a panicked diver without endangering yourself.

By this point, you may be thinking that most of these rescue techniques are for use on the surface. You’re right! That’s where most diving accidents occur! However, accidents happen underwater too, and you’ll learn how to deal with those as well. We’ll teach you how to deal with an overexerted diver, a panicked diver, and review methods for surfacing while donating air from your alternate air source. We’ll also teach you how to search for a missing diver.

If you can see that a diver is obviously tired, or in a state of panic, that’s actually a good thing, since if you can make those observations, the diver is obviously moving and breathing, right? The “nightmare” scenario is when you encounter a diver who is unresponsive on the surface or underwater. You’ll learn how to surface an unresponsive diver safely, and how to examine them on the surface. If your examination shows that they are not breathing, you’ll give rescue breaths while towing the victim to the shore or boat, and while getting the victim out of his gear. Once you get the victim to the exit point, you’ll use techniques learned in the class to get him out of the water and how to take care of him until you get him to a hospital or until emergency help arrives.

Another big part of the Rescue Diver course is planning. When you have an injured diver on your hands, it’s not the time to be trying to look up the symptoms of DCS, or to try and find out where the nearest recompression chamber is. Making an Emergency Action Plan and gathering the tools you need to handle an emergency (phone, first-aid kit, DAN O2 kit, etc.) ahead of time are all things that we’ll teach you about in the Rescue Diver course. We’ll also teach you some simple first aid for common diving-related injuries and tell you what tools you’ll need to handle those injuries.

I’ve got over 20 different PADI certifications. I enjoyed the learning that went along with each of them. Each of them made me feel more capable in and out of the water. Of all those certifications, which one gave me the biggest boost, made me feel the most confident? Hands down, it’s my PADI Rescue Diver certification. I dive with people I care about – my wife, my dive buddy, his family, and of course my friends. I never want any of them to be in an accident, and I don’t go looking for accidents, but I sure do feel good getting in the water with these important people, knowing that I can look out for them and take care of them if something does happen. Take the Rescue Diver course and try that good feeling on for size. I promise you’ll be glad you did!

“Sea” you soon ~ underwater!

max

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