Dive Training Blogs

I’m A Rescue Diver And I’m Here To Help

Published

10 years ago

April 8, 2014

Our travels around the world set a path of destiny and desire in our daughter to eventually become a fully qualified PADI Dive Instructor, and eventually live and work on the other side of the world in Australia.

As her mother it makes perfect sense to me that Australia would be her chosen destination; as since Chloe was little, the winter cold left her wanting to curl up indoors and not venture out until the weather grew warmer and the sky became bluer.

Chloe learned to dive on the little island of Koh Tao, which is situated in the sparkling blue waters of the Gulf of Thailand, when she was 11. That led to our most recent trip, which culminated in Chloe taking her latest step before entering into professional training – the PADI Rescue Diver course.

I thought it was about time I quizzed her, to find out exactly what was involved and what it was like, as we once again stepped out with Sunshine Divers situated in on the little bay of Chalok Ban Kao.

What made you want to take the PADI Rescue Diver course?

I couldn’t achieve my dream of becoming a professional scuba instructor without taking the next step.

So why didn’t you complete the course in the UK?

Because it’s cold! I did study for the EFR (Emergency First Response) and AED (automatic external defibrillator) in my home town, as you don’t have to get into the water for those ones.

Why choose Sunshine Divers on Koh Tao ?

I chose to learn there because that’s where I did my previous training. The island has a relaxed and welcoming vibe.

Did you know what was involved in the course before you started?

I did a little research lon the PADI website, so knew it involved a lot of hard work, but was also a lot of fun, from what I had heard.
So what was it really like?
It did involve a lot of physical challenges – like dragging someone bigger than me (which isn’t tough as I’m only 5 foot!) out of the water safely (sometimes through some big waves).

What was the fun aspect of it?

It was just the fact that a lot of people got involved. Even people I didn’t know were jumping in, pretending that they needed to be rescued. Like Kim (a Dive Professional and second in command at Sunshine) who jumped into the water and started acting like a panicked diver. I had to share my air with her and tell her to breathe calmly so I could bring her to the surface safely.

How long does it take to train as a Rescue Diver?

About four days. You could do it a little quicker or slower if you wanted, depending on where you do it.

Was there a written element to the course?

Yes. There were knowledge reviews that had to be completed whilst watching a PADI rescue diver video. I also had to complete a test at the end of my water based training which determined whether I passed or failed the course.

Would you recommend others to become a Rescue Diver, and if so why?

Yes, because even if you are just scuba diving for fun, it gives you the knowledge you need to take better care of yourself or others in the event that something goes wrong.

What was your favourite dive during your time on Koh Tao?

My favourite dive was the night dive at Japanese Gardens, because once all our torches were turned off I was lucky enough to experience bio-luminescence!

What is your next step in training to become a Professional Instructor, and where are you going to do your training?

The next step I am going to take is the dive master course, which I am saving up for. I’m hoping to go back to Sunshine and continue my training with them, as I’ve grown to love the little island of Koh Tao.

A big thanks goes out to Chris Turner – Chloe’s Instructor for the Rescue Diver Course.

For more tales of diving from the Stringer family, visit www.travelwiththestrings.wordpress.com.
To find out more about Sunshine Divers in Koh, Tao, visit www.sunshine-diveresort.com.

Blogs

Intro to Tech: What is it about?

Published

3 weeks ago

April 7, 2024

International Training

Article by José Pablo Mir
Pictures by Cezary Abramowski

The world of technical diving is exciting. It opens the door to new sites, depths, and bottom times. More importantly, it opens our minds to a new way of planning, facing, and experiencing dives, even those not purely technical.

Becoming a technical diver is a process, and like in other aspects of life, we should find the proper entry point that suits us best based on our knowledge and experience. The Introduction to Technical Diving course from TDI -the world’s largest and most recognized technical diving teaching organization- is the best option for divers who have yet to gain experience in the fundamental aspects of this new practice. The course’s content and its embrace of new techniques and technologies make it possible to acquire a solid foundation to learn and gain experience in this practice properly.

Becoming a technical diver is not something that happens overnight, whether deciding to become one or receiving a certification card stating we are now technical divers. It is a slow process extending farther away than any introductory course. It requires effort and dedication. But it will bring us satisfaction from day one -or two.

It is a matter of mentality

First, we must understand and accept that technical diving, involving greater depths, longer bottom times, exotic gases, virtual or real ceilings, and more, comes with higher levels of risk than the sport diving we have been practicing until now.

Although this discussion usually starts with a warning about risks, as I’ve done in the previous sentence, our practice is not a game of chance.

Technical diving is a rational activity that requires maturity and good judgment, and we will put everything into ensuring that each dive is a successful one -meaning we return from it safe and sound. With this understanding, we will strive to establish a mental attitude more aligned with our practice and its realities.

This new “technical diver” mindset we will develop will lead us to be more cautious in our executions, more analytical in our plans, more rational in our strategies, and more detailed in our procedures.

Experience will keep teaching us to know ourselves better, to keep our anxiety and other emotions under control, and to manage our impulses. Over time, our senses will sharpen, and we will be more attentive to the particulars of the situation we find ourselves in.

tech diving

Strategies and procedures

Our strategies, those broad guiding lines tracing the path to follow, from how to approach planning to where, with what, and how we are willing to get there, will be more specific and more practical. Not because they magically become so, but because we will consciously and deliberately frame them that way.

We will establish clear, concise, and realistic procedures. Not only for the undesirable situations that may present themselves but also for those that are part of our dive objectives.

Even though, as technical divers, we often use equipment different from what we were previously accustomed to, it is essential to note that the gear does not make the diver. In a way, we could consider such equipment as the necessary tools to implement what our goal seeks to achieve, according to our strategies and procedures.

Technique plays an important role

We must put our greatest effort into learning and perfecting the different techniques we will be acquiring. Buoyancy, trim, propulsion, cylinder handling, deploying DSMBs and lift bags, valve drills, and more are essential skills we must begin to master to progress in our art. What we cannot do, when we need to do it, can harm us.

Our techniques must be effective and achieve the purpose for which they were devised. But they must also be efficient and require the least resources possible, including the time they take and the effort they demand. Effectiveness and efficiency will prevail over beauty and other considerations that may come to mind, although none of them should be mutually exclusive. A technique executed efficiently and effectively tends to have an inherent beauty.

Refining techniques is a lifelong mission. Some of them will be easy to master from the go; others, on the other hand, will be our life mission and will require many repetitions just to resemble the idea we have in mind of how they should be executed.

We must consider the environment

Our learning, the needs and musts of the practice we engage in, the experience we gradually gain, our strategies and procedures, and even our equipment and tools change with the environment.

Diving in the ocean, everything about us must be suitable for ocean dives. Conditions there rarely emulate those found in a pool, lake, or river. Variable winds and currents, greater depths, visibility conditions, other divers with uncertain skills around us, marine life, maritime traffic, distance from the coast, and many other factors add complexity and uncertainty.

It is never necessary to master the pool on the first day, but planning and aspiring to gradually cope with the ocean’s conditions is essential.

The cost of good training

We are aware that our resources are often scarce in relation to the possibilities of use we could give them if they were not. To a greater or lesser extent, we are part of the economic reality in which we are embedded.

Fortunately, the cost of good technical diver training is not an entry barrier. Comparing training and equipment costs, we see that the former are generally lower. Yes, lower cost for personalized service, essential to our future

performance and safety, than for a series of mass-produced products that are mere, albeit necessary, tools for an end.

The value of good training

The value of the training we received encompasses a range of characteristics, from emotional and methodological to technical and technological. TDI and its Introduction to Technical Diving course offer a deep and modern approach, with a teaching strategy that aims to create thinking divers, not merely obedient ones.

As technical divers, our knowledge is our primary tool. In this type of activity, what we don’t know can harm us.

Is this course optional?

Unfortunately, the fact that this Introduction to Technical Diving course is not a prerequisite for any subsequent training is an invitation to consider it optional. And we all know what usually happens to “optional” under budget constraints.

However, this course should be seen as optional only by those divers who are somehow familiar with the use of technical equipment, who have a mindset more in line with the requirements of this type of diving, who plan and execute the dives the proper “technical” way, who know their gas consumption rate, who are not intimidated by non-decompression tables, who feel comfortable using their dive computers, and know the techniques and have at least an acceptable level of buoyancy, positioning, and propulsion. Those can go straight to a more advanced training course, such as TDI’s Advanced Nitrox.

We must ask ourselves whether or not we are in that group.

Remember our goal: to have fun

Recreational diving is our passion. Jumping into the water carrying heavy equipment and having properly dotted our I’s and crossed our T’s have only one ultimate goal: fun. This is the activity we have chosen as a hobby. We must enjoy it; it must give us pleasure and make us vibrate.

Having a good time is not optional!