Just Bubbles, No Troubles. Spotlight on: PADI Rescue Diver Course
Diving in Koh Tao is an incredible experience for most of us. When we go underwater, we’re exposed to an entirely new world and experience the thrilling feeling of weightlessness. But despite all our training and practice, situations often require the assistance and support of a more experienced diver. Welcome to the PADI Rescue Diver Course.
In the PADI Advanced Open Water Course, you learned and practiced new skills. The Advanced Open Water Course opens up a new diving world for many. But as we become more skilled divers, we can turn our attention away from ourselves to others. In the PADI Rescue Diver Course, you’ll learn just that. While we take every precaution to check and recheck our equipment and buddies, diving incidents occur frequently.
Knowing how to assess and respond to everyday incidents is valuable, not just in the ocean. All PADI rescue divers will complete the Emergency First Response Course (EFR). In the EFR course, you’ll learn the basics of primary and secondary response and gain the confidence to deal with emergencies wherever you arise.
The practical side of the PADI Rescue Diver course involves out-of-water and in-water scenarios. First, you will ensure that you are a capable and confident diver who can self-rescue should the need be. Having demonstrated these skills, you will learn how to recognize and respond to other distressed divers. You’ll also have the opportunity to fine-tune many skills learned in previous PADI courses, like navigation.
Many Rescue Divers describe the course as the most challenging yet rewarding one they have completed. That’s because the course is designed to produce genuinely skilled and confident divers able to save the lives of others if need be. Emergency scenarios like surfacing an unconscious diver or providing rescue breaths on the surface can be truly stressful. But practicing these help develop the physical AND mental skills required to be a confident rescue diver.
So if you’re looking for the next challenge in your dive life, the rescue diver course might be the right one. It’s a serious but enjoyable and rewarding few days!
Posted by Ernesto Soriano III, PADI Divemaster Candidate
