The last 4 days have been very early starts and late finishes. Was it worthwhile? I'll let you be judge.....
Day 38 - I took Jen in to Crystal to start her 1st ever Open Water course, and while I was there I checked the board to see if I was down for anything... I wasn't :-(
Then Kiwi (New Zealand instructor) came around the corner. He suggested that I Team Teach his Rescue Course with 7 students!! Very daunting....
Of course, I said "Yes".. and had a couple of hours free before the students arrived, So I hooked remotely into work and finished a DVD for a client. Upon finishing, I had 10 minutes to grab an Egg sarnie, and shoot into the classroom.
Feeling quite shy at this point, I sat in the corner making mental notes of how Kiwi teaches in class. They spent the morning completing the first 3 chapters of their Rescue Diver manual., before breaking for lunch.
After lunch, it was time to go the pool for Rescue Scenarios. This is where they learn techniques and procedures for rescuing, but in a safe environment.
We spent 6 hours in the pool teaching stuff like "Surfacing the Unresponsive Diver" and "Quick Reverse" etc... before packing up... Then just as the students were about to chill out, we dragged them down to the beach to work on "Beach Exits". Tired and aching, they were glad Day 1 was out of the way.
For Jen and I, the day was not over, and we went to Rocky Horror rehearsals for a couple of hours, before grabbing takeaway food, and sleep.
DAY 39
Up early, and met the students... they were all very excited about spending another few hours in class. Instead of being in the back like yesterday, it was my turn to Teach. So the next few hours was spent with me saying words like Emphysema, Pneumothorax, Mediastinal, Sub Cutaneous... it was a mouthful...! Then I sat them through their final exams. They all passed. That was the theory out of the way.
The students sitting the exams..
We broke for lunch, and then went on to the boat with 2 DMT's (Divemaster Trainees). After arriving at Japanese Gardens, where mayhem started.. The DMT's and instructors all get in the water (secretly) and do various scenarios for example, A panicking diver on the surface, or Unconscious diver on the surface.
These scenarios certainly put them through the mill and they were extremely disorganised at first. Very typical. They nearly 4 minutes to kit up and get in the water to "save" someone. Once they arrived at the various "victims"... they would usually approach incorrectly, in which case they would get dunked underwater, whether they were wearing equipment or not!.
With me keeping them busy, Kiwi disappeared to place a safety sausage as a "missing diver".. Once he had resurfaced it was time for all of them to find the "missing diver".. The correct procedure is to ask the buddy (Kiwi) for relevant information... These guys just dropped down in to the water... fiddled with compasses for about 10 minutes, having no clue where to go... eventually I used my tank rattle and got them to get a move on... They went in a random search pattern, and the lucky gits, came across the safety sausage. Then the DMTs, Kiwi, and I became the "missing divers" and the students had to safely bring us up to the surface. This is a dangerous procedure, similar to an Emergency Ascent, but because we are "unresponsive", the students have to inflate our BCD to bring us up... On the way up, I had my hand on my dump valve, in case I needed to drop my air as quick as possible. We went from 16m to the surface, in about a minute, with my computer screaming at me.... Once on the surface, the students had to carry on with rescue breaths etc, and drag me back to the boat.... Then we stopped the exercise, and all jumped back on board to head to the next dive site.
At "Twins" , we moored up and spent more time practicing surface scenarios like the previous dive site. Once we were satisfied with there performance, we took them for a fun dive. Along the way we would introduce problems like spitting the regulator out, or ripping our masks off, simulating out of air problems, to get them to deal with potential underwater situations.
At the end of this, it was time for "missing diver" again... So after another quick ascent, with my computer going bonkers again... it was time to get the "victims" up the ladder of the boat.. This is a single person exercise, and can be VERY DIFFICULT.. We spent about an hour encouraging the students through this painful task to carry another person up a ladder. There were nearly tears, and pained looks... but once they had done it... they were very proud of themselves..
That was the end of the day for them, and they all retired to bed.. Me, I did more work, and almost fell asleep into my dinner!
DAY 40
In at 6.30am to pack the students bag.... I was super sleepy... The students arrived exhausted and due to the tiring day previously, we decided to go on a fun dive.. I led the 1st dive at Southwest Pinnacle with a total of 11 people in our group (standard group is 4-6).. I have never led such a big group, and in poor visibility... I was constantly alert..
The next dive was Shark Island, and Kiwi led this time... at the end of the dive, we split up and I surfaced nearer the boat than he did!! YAY!
Day 41
The final day for the Rescue Divers, and it was very tough on them.. same scenarios as the previous dives but with more pressure, and sneaky tricks... we pushed them, and pushed them. They were stellar, and at the end of the day, bruised and battered, they were very proud to be Rescue Divers, and I was very proud to teach them. 7 students certifed! SWEET!
After filling out paperwork, Jen and I went to the bar, to watch her first Open Water Course.. I was amazed at how professional, and efficient she looked. Totally blown away.... it looked like she had been doing it for years.. I was quite choked... :-)
We then went for dinner at Dirty Nellys, and chatted with Jens students, before trying to leave early... when I got collared by John from Deep Down Productions... who was very merry... and bought several beers and Sambuca for Jen and I... we arrived in bed at 1.30am...
3 comments:
Well done guys, almost makes me want to be taught by Jen and do the rescue diver course, almost :) lol
Ditto to what Phil said, We are very proud of you guys, all your work and exams are now paying off xx
After reading that, you've taught me! Interesting blog, bro. And well done to the both of you. By the way - if he was buying Sambuca and I was there - I would have done my party trick!!
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