PADI Rescue Diver course - March 2021

Many asked me why I want to be a Rescue Diver.. 

Many have also said they are contented with what they are - Advanced Open Water Diver.. I mean, great and fine! Many do not want the responsibility of having to take care of another diver.. Being a diver means you are in for yourself, to enjoy and explore the underwater world that non-divers do not get to see.. 

For me, it wasn't just about being a diver.. Having witnessed a diving accident first hand in the water together when I was doing my Open Water, I told myself that if I could have done something differently that day, I could have made a difference.. 

But being an Open Water student yet to be a diver, there was nothing I could do that time.. I couldn't contribute to the rescue efforts because I did not have any dive rescue training and I did not know how to provide oxygen..

Even as I am a lifetime Malaysian Red Crescent Society member and even though I have a valid Advanced First Aid certification and trained in using the Automated External Defibrillator (AED), nothing prepared me for diving-related accident.. 

That day on I made up my mind - I will become a Rescue Diver, and 21 months later, I did. 

Last week, I underwent the Emergency First Responder and Rescue Diver course spanning over 4 days in Tioman Island.. And now I am very proud of myself for having the right training and knowledge to look out for other divers to prevent and help in a diving accident.. 

I would agree the Rescue Diver course is very challenging, on the extreme end of being physically and mentally exhausting.. You need to be as fit as you can be with a strong mind to think and assess what you need to do.. 

The course is broken down into 10 skills and 2 scenarios, both scenarios can be combined into 1 to make a full rescue exam.. 

Rescue Exercises 1- 10

• Intro: Self Rescue 
• Rescue Exercise 1: Tired Diver Tow
• Rescue Exercise 2: Panicked Diver (including how to push victim away and descending immediately to approach victim)
• Rescue Exercise 3: Response from Shore, Boat or Dock (throwing buoy which must reach victim), swimming with floatation devices, towing victim using the three towing methods and carrying victim out of the water..
• Rescue Exercise 4: Distressed Diver Underwater
• Rescue Exercise 5: Missing Diver (including doing U-Search, Expanding Square Search and Circular Seach patterns).. I had to search for 4 lead tied to the weight belt..
• Rescue Exercise 6: Surfacing the Unresponsive Diver
• Rescue Exercise 7: Unresponsive Diver at the Surface (dubbed the Scary Rescue Exercise 7, because need to practise and perfect giving mouth-to-mouth and mouth-to-pocket mask rescue breathing while towing, and ensuring victim face and eyes remain above water!)
• Rescue Exercise 8: Exiting the Unresponsive Diver (climbing ladder with victim sitting on your lap and dragging the victim onto the deck alone.. 
• Rescue Exercise 9: First Aid for Pressure-related Injuries and Oxygen Administration
• Rescue Exercise 10 (combine #3, #7, #8, #9): Response from Shore/Boat Unresponsive Diver

There are 2 Rescue Diver training dives that will need to be completed before one can become a Certified PADI Rescue Diver. 

• Dive One: SCENARIO 1 – UNRESPONSIVE DIVER UNDERWATER: Search for and locate a missing diver during an accident simulation.. your instructor will tell you approximately where the victim was last seen, and it's up to you to enact your emergency action plan, call for help, fully gear up FAST and jump into the water and begin your search, dive down and bring victim up to the surface.
• Dive Two: SCENARIO 2 – UNRESPONSIVE DIVER AT THE SURFACE: effectively responding to an unresponsive, non breathing diver during an accident simulation. Evaluation, tow, in water rescue breathing, removing equipment, exiting and carrying victim onto the boat, assembling oxygen kit, providing CPR.

For me, I was instructed to combine both scenarios into 1 continuous rescue.. by the time I finish in about half an hour, I was completely and totally flat.. 

By the way, for any skills or scenario, if done incorrectly or for missing any steps, including forgetting the right words to use when calling for help, you have to repeat the whole thing all over again, and again until you get it right in one-go.. 

and that is why the Rescue Diver course is so physically and mentally demanding..

As I was finishing the course and continue on with fun dives, Tioman Island was suddenly placed under the Enhanced Movement Control Order (EMCO) effective 16 March.. It was only announced on the evening of 15th March, hence preventing anyone from leaving the island that day.. 

Whatever remaining opened shops, restaurants, dive centers are immediately closed.. 

Even though EMCO takes effect the next day, many chose to shut the moment news broke.. We suddenly found ourselves stuck in the dive center.. Food were delivered to us that night courtesy of the dive centre and we had to stay in our rooms, and no going out is allowed anymore.. 

We were on the verge of being stranded in Tioman, without any news or confirmation if there will be a ferry the next day to get divers and non-residents out of the island.. 

The next morning, the ferry operator confirmed they would be sending 2 rescue ferries to Tioman to get people out. Ferry #1 picked up people in Paya, Genting before pulling in in Tekek while Ferry #2 picked us up from Air Batang and Salang before meeting in Tekek..

After stopping for about half an hour in Tekek, both ferries then depart Tioman together at around 4.15pm towards Tg Gemok.. and reached Tg Gemok around 6pm.. 

It was a narrow escape before the island was sealed off.. 

Hopefully all those who remained in Tioman are doing ok..