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Becoming a Rescue Diver

Posted Jul 24th, 2013 by Steve

I just finished my PADI Rescue Diver course and it was fantastic!

PADI says it’s the most exciting course you can take, but I think it’s the most beneficial because you learn to save lives.  When you’re under water, it’s reassuring to know you’re capable of handling a wide range of situations and scenarios.  Knowing that we were learning new skills, which can be used to make a difference to your buddy’s underwater safety, gave us a sense of reliability and unity.

The course spanned 4 days, mixed with classroom work and activities in and out of the water.  It flowed by so quickly because we were having so much serious fun!

My favorite parts of the course were the boat activities.  Part of the Rescue Diver course was to practice scenarios in which divers were in emergency situations, which included divers seeking immediate attention.  There were people jumping off left, right, and center off of the boat, which forced us to make instant decisions about the type of rescue we should administer.

Sometimes, as soon as we just “saved” one diver from the surface with a fixed ring off the port side of the boat, we had another diver floating upside down, simulating a non-breathing diver.

During the debriefing over sunset beers, we all chatted about how much our skill and response times had improved in just a matter of days.  We all agreed that we felt so much more confident and how it made us closer as a team.  Knowing that we are capable of tackling such a wide range of life-threatening scenarios is empowering and invigorating.

Now that I’m a certified PADI Rescue Diver, I am one step closer to being able to start my PADI Divemaster course.  I can’t wait to see what other new and exciting challenges the next course has to offer!

Blog written by Zac Morris, Carl Danger Wallington, Tom Hobson, Justin Smith, and Jenifer Rowlinson, @ Simple Life Divers, Koh Tao, Thailand

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