My friend
Samirika and I have had about 28 open water dives each; ranging from Stoney
Cove, Nemes, Swanage and the Maldives and we have both achieved our Dry Suit,
Open Water and Advanced Open Water certifications.
I began thinking about how serious diving can be, with, for me, the emphasis on safety. Both of Sam and I have had scary experiences in the open sea since we started out, and both have learned our lesson.
I was thinking
to myself, if anything happened underwater to my buddy (Sam), would I be able
to do anything when put in a serious situation? And would Sam know how to react
if something happened to me?
If the unthinkable did happen and I didn't know what to do, I would not be able to live with the guilt. The next logical step was to embark on the Rescue Diver Course.
One Saturday, we spent about 6 hours in the classroom, practising our knowledge review for the Rescue Diver Course; going over everything until it was all understood. We all sat our final written test (which was multiple choice), at the end of the day and thankfully, all passed.
Sunday was spent practising EFR (Emergency First Response), which is essentially a first aid course which has to be done before the Rescue Diver Course. This valuable course covers the basics of first aid for use in everyday life, not only diving. We went through the manual, covering all aspects and doing multiple choice questions, with a lot of hands on procedures including bandaging, CPR, and what to do in regards to controlling the scene of an accident, etc. It is good to now think I could be of some help if anything ever happened in everyday life.
The following Saturday we spent 4 hours in the deep pool, practicing all the rescue techniques and scenarios that we would take to open water to complete the course in real life situations. Having completed the course now, I believe it is vitally important to have practiced the skills in the pool first in a more relaxed environment. This enables you to complete the skills and perfect them the best you can with good visibility and little stress.
Sam and I now
both feel confident in our abilities to get an unresponsive diver up to the
surface, and get them back to shore. Every technique learned was so invaluable
and will remain in my memory. You also learn what to look out for in other
divers who may be in difficulty, not only yourselves. And you are much more
alert to what is going on, learning what the potential hazards could be.
The next day, we were off to Nemes with Rhonda as our instructor for the day, meeting up at Nell's café, where a nice fry up was devoured by myself and Sam. We spent at least 5 hours in and out of the water putting our techniques into practice. Visibility was OK. There were a few sly strokes pulled by Rhonda and the other helpers. But all of a sudden a panicked diver would show up on the surface when you least expected it to happen and you had to act, both on your own and as a team.
Being in dry
suits made it more of a challenge. It is not a simple course and it does test
you rigorously. Having a good fitness level is definitely an advantage. The best
part of the day was when we had to go out and find an unresponsive diver on the
bottom, bring him up and then back to shore, taking both his equipment off and
yours while still giving breaths while towing him back. You then have to
continue rescue breaths and CPR when on shore.
I for one will be much more alert wherever I dive now, and if something happens to myself or my buddy, I will know that I can do everything I can to help, and Sam would have done everything she could if I was in danger; which may save a life.
We will both
dive from now on with a new level of confidence. It really is the best PADI
Course to do and I highly recommend it.
Thanks to Gary,
Rhonda, Sharon, Joe Vanderson, and everybody else who helped out and made the
course what it was!
