The PADI Rescue Diver Course

Who should take this course?

The PADI Rescue Diver course is a scuba diving certification for scuba divers aged 12 and up, which emphasizes emergency response and diver rescue.

Scuba divers describe the PADI Rescue Diver course as the most challenging yet most rewarding course they’ve ever taken. Why? Because you learn to prevent and manage problems in the water and become more confident in your skills as a diver, knowing that you can help others if needed. During the course, you learn to become a better buddy by practicing problem-solving skills until they become second nature. Plus, the course is just fun – it’s serious but still allows for lots of laughter in between the focused learning.

Kids Sea Camp recommends that one parent be a certified rescue diver if they plan to dive with their kids outside of a KSC week. Here are more details for all dive training by Kids Sea Camp.

Who can take this course: PADI (Junior) Adventure Divers who are at least 12 years old and have completed the Underwater Navigation Adventure Dive may enroll in a Rescue Diver course. You also need to have Emergency First Response Primary and Secondary Care (CPR and First Aid) training within the past 24 months. Your instructor may also offer the PADI Emergency Oxygen Provider Specialty diver course at the same time.

What will you learn?
The PADI Rescue Diver course prepares you to deal with dive emergencies, minor and major, using a variety of techniques. Through knowledge development and rescue exercises, you learn what to look for and how to respond. During rescue scenarios, you put into practice your knowledge and skills.

Topics include

• Self-rescue
• Recognizing and managing stress in other divers
• Emergency management and equipment
• Rescuing panicked divers
• Rescuing unresponsive divers

You may be able to get college credit for the Rescue Diver course – ask your KSC instructor at 803.419.2556.

Kids Sea Camp offers the PADI Rescue course in Bonaire, Cayman Islands, The Philippines, and St. Lucia each year based on availability, so request early.

Why Every Diver Should Take the Plunge (and Maybe Save a Life!) By Holly Wakely

“There is zero chance I am going to be able to pull him out of the water; he is 3 times my size!” –Holly Wakely, 12 years old, Kids Sea Camp PADI Rescue Diver course, Day 1.

I remember whispering this to my dad as I got introduced to my instructor for the Rescue Diver course, with little to no hope I would ever complete it. I was about 4 foot 3 inches after all! Fast forward six years, and now I’m teaching the PADI Rescue Diver course to divers just as young and small as I was then.

Children in diving has always been a slightly controversial subject. Are they old enough or mature enough to handle all the information thrown their way, about gear, skills, hand signals, buddy checks, buoyancy, marine life, and so on? But in reality, the most important aspect isn’t what you see or how good your bubble rings are (though those are important too!), it’s your safety and the safety of those around you.

Think back to the last time you were on an airplane. Every airline has its own safety video covering specific points about safety on the plane, but one thing they all note is to help yourself before those around you when the oxygen masks drop. They don’t explain why; they just expect you to listen. It’s made by professionals, after all. If we take this idea and move it into scuba diving, it’s also true. Your safety is the top priority. The Rescue course taught me from a very young age that I need to put my safety first; otherwise, I risk putting myself in danger and becoming another victim. A victim cannot help another victim.

Learning points like this allow divers to become more aware and prevent problems before they happen, which can be life-saving. So why wait until you’re older to take the course? Not only did I learn how to be a safer diver, but I also took away from the Rescue course one of the most important lessons I have ever learned: teamwork. Let’s look back at the quote that started this story. Not a chance I could pull my instructor out of the water and save his life all on my own. But I can with help, so why not ask for it? You’re taught to call for help after assessing a diver and to use your resources, skills that not only relate to scuba diving but can be carried through many aspects of life.

For those of you wondering, I did go on to complete the Rescue course, and at Kids Sea Camp, I had so much fun doing so! It took my diving up a level and made me much more confident in my abilities as a diver, wanting to shoot for the next level as either a Master Scuba Diver or Divemaster.

Having taught a Rescue course to a 14-year-old at Kids Sea Camp just this week, I have seen her become much more confident in the water, ready to respond to any problems that may arise. This is an amazing trait to develop from a young age and makes for a much safer diver, now and in the future.

One super cool thing about the course is you can teach it anywhere, whether in the calm waters of a bay or out in the choppy ocean on a stormy day, because accidents are not limited to a specific type of condition or dive. I remember being caught in the waves during my Rescue course and getting a bit of sand stuck in my inflator hose. My BCD auto-inflated, and I asked if I could pause the skill, with the response, “There are no pauses in life-saving, roll with it!” from my instructor. In our debrief, he asked me what the first part of Rescue Exercise 7 covered, and I went on to explain how to establish positive buoyancy. Looking on the bright side, I realized my BCD was doing this for me, and I only had to focus on the victim at that point.

In writing this story for Kids Sea Camp families, or really anyone considering taking this course, I have covered just a few points about the Rescue course and why I would recommend it to any diver, whether newly certified or with a certification card that still has the retro designs on it. Everyone can benefit. As an instructor, I love to teach this course and watch the students’ diving be taken to the next level, learning how to take control of a situation and deal with various types of problems underwater and on the surface.

I am eternally grateful that I was able to take this course with Kids Sea Camp at age 12 and that my instructor was teaching me to push my limits and work the hardest I possibly could to help others, all the while keeping myself safe. I hope more kids will learn how to help themselves and others in the water through the PADI Rescue course to make our oceans a safer place for families to dive. Rescue divers are like safety officers of the sea. Let’s make ours young and old, big and small. Teamwork makes the dream work, after all.

Holly Wakely- 2021