Tuesday 10 June 2008

Rescue Diving, Day Two...

Well, I made it through day two. I have to confess that I felt black and blue last night after I came home from day one. I sat down and then found that getting up was hard! I am pleased to say though that all went well today and I actually managed all I had to do without running out of steam!

Today saw me practising mouth to mouth, mouth to pocket mask and mouth to nose resuscitation on Dougy, the owner of Special D Divers, the dive company I learn with. He and I now know each other a lot better than we did! Dougy's boat captain, known as Punky, videoed some of our session and has threatened to put the video on You-Tube! Haha!

As usual, Rob, my instructor, was a soul of patience but I do not think he quite understands me (saying that, does any man understand a woman? Hemmmmm.... I am digressing, so back to the story). My way of working through things I am not sure of, have little confidence in my ability to do or I am just plain apprehensive of, is to talk through them. I work them through aloud and hope other people understand that this is my way of coping with a problem. Rob reckons I am 'blustering' when I do this. Oh dear. Oh well, he was very patient with me when I could not get my lefts and rights correct with compass drills and when I managed to do the expanding square search for a missing diver, he was really pleased for me (and more than a little relieved too I am sure!). Thank you Rob for bearing with me. It is appreciated.

Dougy deserves an 'Oscar' for his performance as a diver in distress. So far, he has been a tired diver, had cramp, been panicked, been found 'unconscious' on the bottom and been 'rescued,' had me lug him up on the deck of a boat and up on to the beach (and put up with me dropping him on the sand when I lost my footing!) and has not broken his act once. Even when I nearly drowned him trying out some of the manoeuvres, he took it well!

I think Rob and Dougy make a really good team. They have not trained too many rescue divers and so I am a bit of a novelty. Saying that, Rob is a stickler for doing things properly and I have had to do things over and again to get them just so, but we have all enjoyed ourselves while going through the course. Punky too has joined in, something I was not anticipating. I have learnt that there is much more to a dive operation than just turning up and going out on a boat to a pretty stretch of reef, popping into the water and looking about. It has given me new insight into how these professionals think and with it, a new respect for them.

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