I completed my rescue diver training this past weekend.
The first step was finishing the pre-reqs. This involved taking Emergency First Responder. Its the American Heart Association class, and teaches, primary care, CPR, Oxygen use, and secondary assesment.
Then we started the pool portion of the Rescue Diver Class. We had classroom sessions that involved five knowledge reviews covering different ermegency situations that occur while diving. Then in the pool we covered different rescues, and how to handle the situations covered in the book. The finale was a 50 question test.
My open waters were at Chatfield Reservoir through A1 Scuba. I was suprised at the water temp, which was a balmy 65 degrees.
My buddy was a 6' 2" police deputy, but there were 5 of us and we rotated being victims.
The biggest challenge was searching for the missing diver in zero vis. The missing diver had silted up the water so bad that I was barely able to see the compass on my wrist. Plus there was an open water class that was doing their dives in the general area too which didn't help the situation.
I also was a assisting a rescue diver who emptied his BC out of air before handing it to me with 20 lbs of intergrated weights. So I sunk like a stone until I could get some air in my bc and figure out what happened, without my reg in my mouth with my hands full.
But the saves went well, we didn't lose anyone. We even had Denver Fire and Rescue show up, as they were doing practice work too.
It was definitely a worthwhile class and would recommend it.
