Ok, despite the blasphemous humor, I was not actually healing anyone, more saving their lives... and believe me Mr Matt Mendez needs a lot of Rescuing...lol. I mean, he got tired all of a sudden, so I towed him in a little way and reassured him, then he went back out and panicked, so I went out and got him and brought him back in, then he panicked again so I had to go under the surface and come up behind him to settle him down. Then he was tired again but when I got to him he went into a panic and tried to climb on me so again I had to submerge and come up around him to secure him and get his BCD inflated so he could calm down. No sooner was all this done, then he ran out of air at depth, so being the good buddy I was I shared mine and we made the gentle ascent to the surface.
The day didn't stop there, Matt first started over-exerting himself meaning I had to get him to calm down, then he tried to make a rapid, panic ascent to the surface so I had to deflate both our BCDs and arrest his ascent and then control our combined ascent to the surface! A short time later Matt ran out of air again, this time he was in a panic so I had to quickly grab my octo and just about ram it into his mouth, make sure he had it and then control our slow ascent to the surface.
I think all the activity on the day wore on Matt though, it wasn't long before I found him unresponsive on the bottom and after attempting to get his attention I had to grab his BCD and making sure his reg stayed in place and take him to the surface and inflate his BCD so I could assess further. Of course this whole time, Dennis was of no help, he just watched me save Matt over and over again and even (I suspect) led to some of Matts precarious situations...lol. Fortunately I think Matt was paying attention because when Dennis told us there was a "missing diver" (ankle weight), Matt was very useful in counting our kick cycles as I navigated across the bottom in our U shape search pattern. It wasn't long before we recovered our "missing diver," don't worry the ankle weights recovered just fine and will live to dive again! and Matt and I were even so careful with our recovery that after finding the "diver" we decided to have a safety stop even though we hadn't exceeded 20 feet, and played a couple rounds of Rock Paper Scissors before I felt the need to do a couple Mask R&R's (remove and replace) before taking the victim to the surface.
Honestly I don't think it was anybody's day, there were unresponsive divers everywhere, or at least in our group it seemed like everyone but Dennis and Matt (he finally learned) were having issues and were requiring their buddies to flip them over to get their faces out of the water, remove their masks and while administering rescue breathes move them to shore while pulling all theirs and their buddies gear off and passing it to someone else in the group to hold. Even I had a bout of unresponsiveness followed by an immediate recovery in time for me to find my buddy face down and in need of rescue! lol.
As all of you have probably assessed, all of these events were controlled and planned and very well supervised. This was class number one of two for my Rescue Certification with Dennis instructing and Matt surving as DM and buddy to me. No one was ever in any kind of danger, no one really ran out of air or became non-responsive or truly panicked...lol. This was probably one of my most exhausting days in the water but despite the sore muscles and hard work, this was probably one of my favorite courses as I definitely feel more confident in the water. I know I am still a baby as far as divers go but I certainly felt that getting through this first part of the course has raised me up a few bars and combined with my EFR course I am confident that I am becoming a better diver and a better buddy every time I am out.
Next week is Photography, which should be interesting considering I have a fairly solid grasp of photography on the surface, but underwater.... a whole new adventure!
Showing posts with label Rescue. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Rescue. Show all posts
Monday, May 2, 2011
Friday, April 29, 2011
Andrew to the Rescue part... Doh!!
Ok, so last night was classroom take #2...lol. As those of you who read Andrew to the Rescue.... Or Not?
you are well aware that in February I completed the classroom session with the one other student enrolled in the Rescue course at that time but the following weekend when Virpi was to take us to Wytecliff to drown us and have us rescue each other.... just kidding Moms, nobody drowns, we just pretend... my partner was unable to join us! So the course unfortunately, was put on hold until we could find a suitable date. So, inevitably, in March we finally settled on the end of April to get the Rescue course back on track, so then it was just time to hurry up and wait.... This brought us to Thursday where (since new people had joined the group) we had our second classroom time. Showing up right in time for class and greeted by my good friend Ward... apparently the Wonder Woman herself, the one who never catches anything and, through absolute sheer will, doesn't get sick.... got sick!! No worries though, Ward is an amazing teacher... and besides the irony still play true... he was one of the three divers from the shop that went into the water during Seals to Emergencies to demonstrate a live rescue scenario for us brand new students (how kind of them...) I had decided to attend class to brush up on my Rescue theory, besides, if I was gonna rescue you, wouldn't you want me to have as much training and knowledge as possible.... I thought so!
So as Ward took us through the book, the videos and the review questions, taking his time to highlight specific things and open others up for discussion, the group of us all reached a solid understanding of not only what to do, but why to do it and what to expect when it happens. All in all, as usual, a GREAT class!
The end of Wards class' always come too early, I don't think I could ever talk about diving too much, at least for me, I know it's too much for a lot of people who hear me talk about it but that is also why I type this, so I can talk and for anyone who's interested, they can listen (or read). Class ended and of course the question comes up, who's teaching on the weekend? Was Virpi going to be better by then? Unfortunately this is when things turned, you see Virpi was REALLY sick, so the weekend was out, Ward had a class to teach on Sunday and a previous, unchangeable (believe me we tried to convince him) commitment on the Saturday so he would not be available but as fortune would have it Dennis was available for Sunday! Another instructor you say.... yes, instructor number 3!! But would you believe the fates!!! Dennis, as some of you already knew and others have guessed, was diver number three from the shop that was involved in my famous Whytecliff Seals to Emergencies adventure.... what are the odds of all three of the shop divers involved in the rescue attempt at Whytecliff to be the ones to teach me how to rescue people! So it looks like I will only finish half of my Rescue dives this weekend... who knew you could spread a one evening and one weekend course across 4 months...lol. Talk to you Monday!!
you are well aware that in February I completed the classroom session with the one other student enrolled in the Rescue course at that time but the following weekend when Virpi was to take us to Wytecliff to drown us and have us rescue each other.... just kidding Moms, nobody drowns, we just pretend... my partner was unable to join us! So the course unfortunately, was put on hold until we could find a suitable date. So, inevitably, in March we finally settled on the end of April to get the Rescue course back on track, so then it was just time to hurry up and wait.... This brought us to Thursday where (since new people had joined the group) we had our second classroom time. Showing up right in time for class and greeted by my good friend Ward... apparently the Wonder Woman herself, the one who never catches anything and, through absolute sheer will, doesn't get sick.... got sick!! No worries though, Ward is an amazing teacher... and besides the irony still play true... he was one of the three divers from the shop that went into the water during Seals to Emergencies to demonstrate a live rescue scenario for us brand new students (how kind of them...) I had decided to attend class to brush up on my Rescue theory, besides, if I was gonna rescue you, wouldn't you want me to have as much training and knowledge as possible.... I thought so!
So as Ward took us through the book, the videos and the review questions, taking his time to highlight specific things and open others up for discussion, the group of us all reached a solid understanding of not only what to do, but why to do it and what to expect when it happens. All in all, as usual, a GREAT class!
The end of Wards class' always come too early, I don't think I could ever talk about diving too much, at least for me, I know it's too much for a lot of people who hear me talk about it but that is also why I type this, so I can talk and for anyone who's interested, they can listen (or read). Class ended and of course the question comes up, who's teaching on the weekend? Was Virpi going to be better by then? Unfortunately this is when things turned, you see Virpi was REALLY sick, so the weekend was out, Ward had a class to teach on Sunday and a previous, unchangeable (believe me we tried to convince him) commitment on the Saturday so he would not be available but as fortune would have it Dennis was available for Sunday! Another instructor you say.... yes, instructor number 3!! But would you believe the fates!!! Dennis, as some of you already knew and others have guessed, was diver number three from the shop that was involved in my famous Whytecliff Seals to Emergencies adventure.... what are the odds of all three of the shop divers involved in the rescue attempt at Whytecliff to be the ones to teach me how to rescue people! So it looks like I will only finish half of my Rescue dives this weekend... who knew you could spread a one evening and one weekend course across 4 months...lol. Talk to you Monday!!
Monday, April 25, 2011
Flutter kick, flutter kick goes the Easter Bunny....
Well, I guess if fish can lay eggs under the water, why couldn't a bunny... or bunnies... bunnies from Langley Diving. Last week I was fortunate enough to receive an email from Langley Dive inviting me to join them on the weekend for their Easter Egg hunt at Porteau Cove. I am assuming that because Langley Dive were involved in the Whites Demo that I participated in they ended up with my email address. However they got it, they did, and I was off to Porteau to hunt for eggs for the first time since being a kid, and for the very first time under-water.
Saturday was a beautiful day and with the meet time scheduled for 10:00 am it was late enough to get a good sleep and enjoy a leisurely drive and still have tons of time to assemble my gear before anyone else arrived for the day. Up at the dive site at just after 9:00 allowed me ample time to pull out my kit and take my time to assemble everything then walk out an look at the conditions, and then head over to the Langley Dive van to see what the plan was. After a couple of minutes, one of the Bunnies, Monique Score, having finished her dive, came over to say hello and welcome me to the dive. A few minutes later I met Rebecca Barrett, another Instructor from Langley Dive and the second Dive Bunny. Soon a group had formed, and Monique and Rebecca called everyone together to welcome us and let us know the details of today's adventure.
Earlier in the day Monique and Rebecca had placed twenty-seven (27) eggs beneath the surface of the water, no deeper than 50 feet, on the surfaces of the Granthall, Centennial, Sailboat Hull, Jungle Gym, Tire Reef and along the Fire Hose. The idea was simple, go, collect, return, YEAH!...lol.
Monique had already introduced me to my dive buddy for the day, a recent graduate of the Open Water program at Langley Dive in January and excited about his 5th dive and first time in Porteau Cove. I was also able to meet another diver, excited to get back in the water for his 6the dive following his completion of his Open Water back in September. Both divers (and even Monique) seemed a bit surprised to hear I have not been certified all that long myself (end of August) and was headed out for dives 36 and 37...lol. I was also delighted to speak with one of the new divers as he is also a Detroit Red Wings fan, and amidst a sea of Canucks fans these days as the team throws away game after game it was interesting to see the Red Wings hat from across the parking lot... too bad I forgot mine. After some hockey talk and more importantly red Wings nostalgic talk, he headed to meet up with his buddy and me with mine as we all donned gear, finished our buddy checks, being very thorough as this was the most junior group of divers I had been out with to date, odd being the experienced diver for once...lol. With everything secure where it needed to be and dive plan discussed it was time to get in the water.
Our plan for dive one, to keep it simple, was to swim out to the first marker buoy descend and follow the fire hose out and over to the sailboat and reef and eventually the Granthall and all going well and air holding out, slowly make our way back in and reduce our surface swim as much as possible. For those divers who have only ever done Porteau Cove, their first dive at Whytecliff is a shock because there is a long walk to the beach with all your gear on, for those who have only ever done Whytecliff Park and come to Porteau, you are blessed by the amazingly short walk (unless the tide is way out) but the ground slopes so slowly you need to surface swim a good distance before you can get anywhere that has some depth... all about what you want...lol. So my new buddy and I got in the water, fins on, masks on and started our surface swim... fortunately doing the first buoy it is not really a long swim and we managed to talk a bit on the way out comparing Whytecliff to some of the things he would see here at Porteau. Once close to the buoy, we caught our breath, put in our regulators and signaled for descent and BAM! it hit me... I was in charge of this dive... I was the senior diver... if we got lost... or had issues... or got eaten by a ravenous squid-a-pus (you can meet Kraken in Diving, Dinner, Demo's and the RCMP...) it would all be my fault...lol. My nerves were not really put at ease when we descended either, as we broke the surface I quickly realized that seeing my buddy 5 feet away was a bit of a struggle, never mind seeing something further away than that....like the chain we were supposed to be following down...lol. So on the ground we headed in what I "thought:" was the right direction... and with a couple glances at my compass.. someone had moved the hose!...lol That had to be it.. there was no way I was lost... could I be?... yup... I was lost....and realizing nothing was where I left it...lol.. I signalled to my buddy and we ascended back up to re-orient to our target.
We actually didn't end up too far off target, we were further North-East then I had planned so a little plan change and a solid compass bearing marked us dead online to the second buoy. Descending again and watching my compass we made a straight line to the 2nd marker, found the fire hose with no issue and continued on through the jungle gym and to the surface of the Centennial where I found a rock painted like an Easter egg. With the egg in my pocket, and my buddy beside it was off to the Granthall where I managed to find 2 plastic Easter eggs that had been placed beside the Plumose Anemone so they were each almost invisible as the colors were blending in. Our return trip over the Centennial led to my buddy finding a painted rock similar to mine before we turned towards shore and then towards the surface for a decent surface swim.
Back up at the vehicles with the tanks off our back it was time to grab our lunches and check in with Monique and Rebecca. A couple sandwiches later, a nice cup of hot chocolate and a couple cookies and I was all good to go again...lol. Gathered around the Langley Dive van Monique showed us where the numbers were on the bottom of our plastic eggs, turned out the painted rocks... not part of our search...lol, must have been another group out earlier in the week, perhaps Friday, that missed a couple...lol. So with two plastic eggs I gave one to my buddy (we were a team after-all) and listened as Rebecca called out numbers and passed us all prizes. Then when all the eggs (the ones that had been returned at least) were called, Monique and Rebecca gave out prizes to anyone who was unable to come across an egg in their first dive, so everyone got something anyways.
Dive 2 was my Navigation challenge, I knew (this time) that visibility was going to be tough. So with the plan being similar to dive 1 we decided we would get right up to the buoy and follow the chain to the ground, with a little searching (it's not attached right at the bottom) we found the hose. Then following it we made our slow swim towards the 2nd buoy over the Sailboat hull, passed the Centennial, over the tire reef, through the jungle gym, and around the Granthall (where we each found another egg.) The return trip, with my compass bearing in mind, came almost natural, after looping the Granthall, we headed back through the jungle gym, above the tires around the Centennial (man there are some HUGE ling cod sleeping on that deck) passed the sailboat hull and right back onto the fire hose... Then, following the hose, we made the trek back to the first buoy which was not hard to find this time. You see, this buoy is often used by Open Water classes, so really all you have to look for is large clouds of disturbed silt and you can see where the students are landing at the bottom...lol. A turn to the left through the cloud and sure enough there fighting for their buoyancy were a couple Open Water students..lol. Then keeping on that line it was a straight swim all the way back in. We were able to get so close in that my computer actually turned off, I guess I had been swimming in less than 5 feet of water too long...lol. We actually had to back out into the bay again to take our fins off but it was definitely the closest I have ever come to swimming to the stairs, and certainly without a doubt the best navigation I have ever done.
The route we followed is below:
Well, I always say, it's a great dive if you learned something new and I learned that I can navigate and with a little practice I might actually get good at it. Here's looking forward to Rescue this weekend, Photography the weekend after along with a fun dive and very soon.. the Aquarium!
Saturday was a beautiful day and with the meet time scheduled for 10:00 am it was late enough to get a good sleep and enjoy a leisurely drive and still have tons of time to assemble my gear before anyone else arrived for the day. Up at the dive site at just after 9:00 allowed me ample time to pull out my kit and take my time to assemble everything then walk out an look at the conditions, and then head over to the Langley Dive van to see what the plan was. After a couple of minutes, one of the Bunnies, Monique Score, having finished her dive, came over to say hello and welcome me to the dive. A few minutes later I met Rebecca Barrett, another Instructor from Langley Dive and the second Dive Bunny. Soon a group had formed, and Monique and Rebecca called everyone together to welcome us and let us know the details of today's adventure.
Earlier in the day Monique and Rebecca had placed twenty-seven (27) eggs beneath the surface of the water, no deeper than 50 feet, on the surfaces of the Granthall, Centennial, Sailboat Hull, Jungle Gym, Tire Reef and along the Fire Hose. The idea was simple, go, collect, return, YEAH!...lol.
Monique had already introduced me to my dive buddy for the day, a recent graduate of the Open Water program at Langley Dive in January and excited about his 5th dive and first time in Porteau Cove. I was also able to meet another diver, excited to get back in the water for his 6the dive following his completion of his Open Water back in September. Both divers (and even Monique) seemed a bit surprised to hear I have not been certified all that long myself (end of August) and was headed out for dives 36 and 37...lol. I was also delighted to speak with one of the new divers as he is also a Detroit Red Wings fan, and amidst a sea of Canucks fans these days as the team throws away game after game it was interesting to see the Red Wings hat from across the parking lot... too bad I forgot mine. After some hockey talk and more importantly red Wings nostalgic talk, he headed to meet up with his buddy and me with mine as we all donned gear, finished our buddy checks, being very thorough as this was the most junior group of divers I had been out with to date, odd being the experienced diver for once...lol. With everything secure where it needed to be and dive plan discussed it was time to get in the water.
Our plan for dive one, to keep it simple, was to swim out to the first marker buoy descend and follow the fire hose out and over to the sailboat and reef and eventually the Granthall and all going well and air holding out, slowly make our way back in and reduce our surface swim as much as possible. For those divers who have only ever done Porteau Cove, their first dive at Whytecliff is a shock because there is a long walk to the beach with all your gear on, for those who have only ever done Whytecliff Park and come to Porteau, you are blessed by the amazingly short walk (unless the tide is way out) but the ground slopes so slowly you need to surface swim a good distance before you can get anywhere that has some depth... all about what you want...lol. So my new buddy and I got in the water, fins on, masks on and started our surface swim... fortunately doing the first buoy it is not really a long swim and we managed to talk a bit on the way out comparing Whytecliff to some of the things he would see here at Porteau. Once close to the buoy, we caught our breath, put in our regulators and signaled for descent and BAM! it hit me... I was in charge of this dive... I was the senior diver... if we got lost... or had issues... or got eaten by a ravenous squid-a-pus (you can meet Kraken in Diving, Dinner, Demo's and the RCMP...) it would all be my fault...lol. My nerves were not really put at ease when we descended either, as we broke the surface I quickly realized that seeing my buddy 5 feet away was a bit of a struggle, never mind seeing something further away than that....like the chain we were supposed to be following down...lol. So on the ground we headed in what I "thought:" was the right direction... and with a couple glances at my compass.. someone had moved the hose!...lol That had to be it.. there was no way I was lost... could I be?... yup... I was lost....and realizing nothing was where I left it...lol.. I signalled to my buddy and we ascended back up to re-orient to our target.
We actually didn't end up too far off target, we were further North-East then I had planned so a little plan change and a solid compass bearing marked us dead online to the second buoy. Descending again and watching my compass we made a straight line to the 2nd marker, found the fire hose with no issue and continued on through the jungle gym and to the surface of the Centennial where I found a rock painted like an Easter egg. With the egg in my pocket, and my buddy beside it was off to the Granthall where I managed to find 2 plastic Easter eggs that had been placed beside the Plumose Anemone so they were each almost invisible as the colors were blending in. Our return trip over the Centennial led to my buddy finding a painted rock similar to mine before we turned towards shore and then towards the surface for a decent surface swim.
Back up at the vehicles with the tanks off our back it was time to grab our lunches and check in with Monique and Rebecca. A couple sandwiches later, a nice cup of hot chocolate and a couple cookies and I was all good to go again...lol. Gathered around the Langley Dive van Monique showed us where the numbers were on the bottom of our plastic eggs, turned out the painted rocks... not part of our search...lol, must have been another group out earlier in the week, perhaps Friday, that missed a couple...lol. So with two plastic eggs I gave one to my buddy (we were a team after-all) and listened as Rebecca called out numbers and passed us all prizes. Then when all the eggs (the ones that had been returned at least) were called, Monique and Rebecca gave out prizes to anyone who was unable to come across an egg in their first dive, so everyone got something anyways.
Dive 2 was my Navigation challenge, I knew (this time) that visibility was going to be tough. So with the plan being similar to dive 1 we decided we would get right up to the buoy and follow the chain to the ground, with a little searching (it's not attached right at the bottom) we found the hose. Then following it we made our slow swim towards the 2nd buoy over the Sailboat hull, passed the Centennial, over the tire reef, through the jungle gym, and around the Granthall (where we each found another egg.) The return trip, with my compass bearing in mind, came almost natural, after looping the Granthall, we headed back through the jungle gym, above the tires around the Centennial (man there are some HUGE ling cod sleeping on that deck) passed the sailboat hull and right back onto the fire hose... Then, following the hose, we made the trek back to the first buoy which was not hard to find this time. You see, this buoy is often used by Open Water classes, so really all you have to look for is large clouds of disturbed silt and you can see where the students are landing at the bottom...lol. A turn to the left through the cloud and sure enough there fighting for their buoyancy were a couple Open Water students..lol. Then keeping on that line it was a straight swim all the way back in. We were able to get so close in that my computer actually turned off, I guess I had been swimming in less than 5 feet of water too long...lol. We actually had to back out into the bay again to take our fins off but it was definitely the closest I have ever come to swimming to the stairs, and certainly without a doubt the best navigation I have ever done.
The route we followed is below:
Well, I always say, it's a great dive if you learned something new and I learned that I can navigate and with a little practice I might actually get good at it. Here's looking forward to Rescue this weekend, Photography the weekend after along with a fun dive and very soon.. the Aquarium!
Monday, February 28, 2011
Andrew to the Rescue.... Or Not?
Ok, so last week I was able to achieve a new high in diving, assisting one of my instructors in keeping an eye on a diver who had the potential to be under additional (unwelcome) stress. This week I was to actually be trained on working with and dealing with people who were under stress. Saturday and Sunday were scheduled to be "dive" days. I put dive in quotations as the weekend was going to be less about diving and more about Rescuing. Not necessarily my favorite topic or class, but one that is necessary to make me a well rounded diver and essential for me to make Master Scuba Diver and eventually Dive Master, Instructor, MSDT, etc....
So here I was, meeting one of the best instructors imaginable, Miss Virpi Kangas! If you don't know Virpi or haven't heard me talk about her you obviously haven't been reading my blog...lol. Pretty much click on any of my previous blogs and you'll read all about her, or better yet, go back to the beginning and get the whole story from there. Anyways, I arrive at the site, Virpi is already there and we start building our kits and begin to chat about the day and the plans. As we start planning out the day she advises that she has pulled some strings and my good friend and another amazing instructor of mine Ward Conley is going to be our DM for tomorrows training, which prompts my question, "Do we have a DM coming today as I am the only diver?" You see, as a little background, there was scheduled to be two of us in the class, as mentioned in The Master Scuba Diver Challenge!!, but while I was at the shop grabbing my gear the day before I found out that buddy had some family issues and wuld be unable to join us for the weekend... unfortunately due to some mis-communication, Virpi was not aware that I would be the only diver for the day! So needless to say, her initial answer to my question was a stunned look, followed up with, "Huh?"....lol. Needless to say, trying to do a Rescue class that requires demonstrating elements is very difficult with only the instructor and student... So with a quick call to Shannon Virpi set out to sort out our action plan while I completed assembling my kit. Once completed on her call Virpi confirmed what I figured the suggestion would be, which was to post-pone the in-water part of the training until such a time as all of us could be there. But Virpi, being the amazing person she is, offered to still go for some recreation dives since we were already there.
Part two of the plan was for me to,bum bum bum, yes you guessed it, write my final....
Well.... as has been the case before, my worry was for nothing, I managed to write my test and after reviewing my answers and struggling intently over questions 14, 15 and 16 for which I was unsure of the answer, I ended up with a perfect 50/50!
At this time Virpi and I took a look at the water, felt the bitter cold wind and decided, nope... not gonna dive!... lol. I know, I know I hear all of you out there who have heard me talk about how I would dive every chance I got and how I wish I were a fish so I never had to leave the water... and... and ... and... then I go ahead and call off a dive while already standing in the park with my kit nearly built... but I have it a really good reason... it was freakin' cold!!!...lol.
After deciding to forgo a dive for the day and stowing our gear it was time to head for home, so before heading out I decided to message home to let the family know I was on my way. You think having to reschedule my Rescue class would be tough to handle, or skipping a dive would be a tough thing to miss... Jenn messages me back to let me know that while I was not Diving and not completing my Rescue class Joshua scored his first ever soccer goal... and I missed it! Needless to say driving home my 50 didn't feel so special anymore, I had missed his first goal on a quickly ending season and who knows when the next one will come.... Arriving home the first thing I am greeted with was Josh jumping into my arms and with his mouth moving at the speed of light I heard all about the game and how players had gone home because it was too cold (told you it was cold..lol) and how he had been running to the spot he'd been practicing in his FIFA 2010 soccer video game and bang, the ball was right there and right off his foot and into the net. Apparently he was ok with me missing the goal, and I was ok with him chatting my ear off for the rest of the day as we relived the moment over and over again. I didn't get a dive in yesterday, but instead of others living their adventure through me, I got to live one through a 10 year old soccer star and his first goal, a goal in a 1-0 victory to send his team into the final game of the play-offs. One of my greatest loves is diving, that's plain to see, but my greatest love is my family, so it was a great weekend after-all.
So here I was, meeting one of the best instructors imaginable, Miss Virpi Kangas! If you don't know Virpi or haven't heard me talk about her you obviously haven't been reading my blog...lol. Pretty much click on any of my previous blogs and you'll read all about her, or better yet, go back to the beginning and get the whole story from there. Anyways, I arrive at the site, Virpi is already there and we start building our kits and begin to chat about the day and the plans. As we start planning out the day she advises that she has pulled some strings and my good friend and another amazing instructor of mine Ward Conley is going to be our DM for tomorrows training, which prompts my question, "Do we have a DM coming today as I am the only diver?" You see, as a little background, there was scheduled to be two of us in the class, as mentioned in The Master Scuba Diver Challenge!!, but while I was at the shop grabbing my gear the day before I found out that buddy had some family issues and wuld be unable to join us for the weekend... unfortunately due to some mis-communication, Virpi was not aware that I would be the only diver for the day! So needless to say, her initial answer to my question was a stunned look, followed up with, "Huh?"....lol. Needless to say, trying to do a Rescue class that requires demonstrating elements is very difficult with only the instructor and student... So with a quick call to Shannon Virpi set out to sort out our action plan while I completed assembling my kit. Once completed on her call Virpi confirmed what I figured the suggestion would be, which was to post-pone the in-water part of the training until such a time as all of us could be there. But Virpi, being the amazing person she is, offered to still go for some recreation dives since we were already there.
Part two of the plan was for me to,bum bum bum, yes you guessed it, write my final....
EXAM!!
So positioned nice and warm in my van, Virpi and I reviewed some of the Rescue material and then, as if I wasn't stressed enough about tests...lol... Virpi sat right beside me in the passenger seat of my van while I wrote the 50 question multiple guess exam on what to do in an emergency.
At this time Virpi and I took a look at the water, felt the bitter cold wind and decided, nope... not gonna dive!... lol. I know, I know I hear all of you out there who have heard me talk about how I would dive every chance I got and how I wish I were a fish so I never had to leave the water... and... and ... and... then I go ahead and call off a dive while already standing in the park with my kit nearly built... but I have it a really good reason... it was freakin' cold!!!...lol.
After deciding to forgo a dive for the day and stowing our gear it was time to head for home, so before heading out I decided to message home to let the family know I was on my way. You think having to reschedule my Rescue class would be tough to handle, or skipping a dive would be a tough thing to miss... Jenn messages me back to let me know that while I was not Diving and not completing my Rescue class Joshua scored his first ever soccer goal... and I missed it! Needless to say driving home my 50 didn't feel so special anymore, I had missed his first goal on a quickly ending season and who knows when the next one will come.... Arriving home the first thing I am greeted with was Josh jumping into my arms and with his mouth moving at the speed of light I heard all about the game and how players had gone home because it was too cold (told you it was cold..lol) and how he had been running to the spot he'd been practicing in his FIFA 2010 soccer video game and bang, the ball was right there and right off his foot and into the net. Apparently he was ok with me missing the goal, and I was ok with him chatting my ear off for the rest of the day as we relived the moment over and over again. I didn't get a dive in yesterday, but instead of others living their adventure through me, I got to live one through a 10 year old soccer star and his first goal, a goal in a 1-0 victory to send his team into the final game of the play-offs. One of my greatest loves is diving, that's plain to see, but my greatest love is my family, so it was a great weekend after-all.
Friday, February 18, 2011
The Master Scuba Diver Challenge!!
So Many Things To Think About... So Little Time! For anyone who has ever said this to themselves or out loud... you are one step closer to becoming a Rescue Diver. Thursday night was my Rescue class with none other than Virpi Kangas, for any of you who are not aware of who Virpi is, you need to go back to the beginning of my blog and start over again, she is mentioned in almost every blog and is the reason I made it through my Open Water course and one of the ones who got me started on my road to Master Scuba Diver.... in short, she is a very important diver in my life. Now again, having Virpi as my Rescue instructor has a little irony to it, for any of you who don't know why this is ironic, you probably didn't take my advice from a moment ago to go back and re-read my blog so you could get to know a little more about Virpi. But for those of you who just like the direct route, those of you who watch Daytona and are left wondering why anyone would drive 500 laps around a course only to end up where they started... read this entry Seals to Emergencies and you will understand why it is interesting that Virpi would be teaching me to rescue people. So this was a small class, me Virpi and one student whom I had met when we did our EFR class together back in January. So after short introductions and some chat about diving experience and what we were hoping to achieve through the class we moved on to our chapter reviews... all 5 of them.... plus video.... all leading up to the... dum dum dum...
The evening went by surprisingly quick, moving through so many questions and discussion points and video clips that your head began to spin... and this is where the title comes in. You see, to be an effective rescuer you need to be able to make split second decisions and follow through on them while being alert to everything that is going on around you. When you hear that call for help... you need to start making decisions and answering the internal questions immediately. You need to figure out are they panicked or just tired, what's wrong, where are they, can you reach them, what if you used a branch or an oar, can you wade in and reach them, can you throw them something, do you have to swim to them, can you use a boat, is a boat available, etc.... the list goes on of internal questions to ask yourself so that you can successfully plan and execute a rescue without getting yourself or anyone else in danger. So your brain is full of questions (and hopefully answers) and you haven't even started the rescue yet... this is why it takes split second timing, reactions, and thinking. So once you have decided on your course of action... like Nike said... Just Do It! Put your action plan in place, delegate responsibilities, coordinate responses, assign tasks. Then will all the action over, you need to be able to slow your mind down and rethink back through every step of the process so that you can document and report exactly what happened and only what you witnessed and not what others are telling you happened.
They say that as you move through and complete the Rescue and EFR programs you begin to view yourself and other divers differently. You start to evaluate and look closer at things you never would have thought about before. Is that persons gear on right, does it fit right, has it been altered, is that alteration going to be an issue in an emergency or cause an emergency... It all sits in your head when you look around. But for me it also hit me personally, I started to look at my personal health and well being. I'm not going to be much help if my excessive weight tires me out before I can get to them or get them back. What if my lack of Cardio or poor swimming is the difference between getting to someone in time and not.... So, it is my new goal, not only to become a Master Scuba Diver this year, but to look the part as well. When I enrolled in the Master Scuba Diver challenge I read the requirements, complete 5 specialty certifications, 50 dives and become a certified Emergency First Responder and Rescue Diver. I thought that would be an uphill battle, and on my own it would have been, but with support from home and my dive family I have completed more than the required certifications, more than half the dives, I am EFR certified and, if all goes well, next weekend I will be Rescue Certified as well. With all that considered I am a little less than 25 dives away from certifying as a Master Scuba Diver. But when I think Master Scuba Diver, I am left with the image of Gerard Butler in the shape he was in for 300.
So... all that considered, I am going to create my own "Master Scuba Diver Challenge" and commit to working hard on my own physical fitness so that should I ever be in a situation where I am needed I can perform with maximum efficiency and if I am unable to make a difference then I will know that it was not because of my training or conditioning. So I guess, long and short, I have only just begun my Master Scuba Diver Challenge and only learned that it is me that needs rescuing as much as anyone I will meet in the water. Hopefully before long I will be able to proudly accept my certification as a Master Scuba Diver and will somewhat resemble Mr Gerard Butler... without the chest hair, I can't grow chest hair.. but that's another conversation. This weekend is Boat Diver, should be a whole new adventure, but I'll tell you all about it next week as I prep to write my Rescue exam and complete my dives.
TEST!!!
The evening went by surprisingly quick, moving through so many questions and discussion points and video clips that your head began to spin... and this is where the title comes in. You see, to be an effective rescuer you need to be able to make split second decisions and follow through on them while being alert to everything that is going on around you. When you hear that call for help... you need to start making decisions and answering the internal questions immediately. You need to figure out are they panicked or just tired, what's wrong, where are they, can you reach them, what if you used a branch or an oar, can you wade in and reach them, can you throw them something, do you have to swim to them, can you use a boat, is a boat available, etc.... the list goes on of internal questions to ask yourself so that you can successfully plan and execute a rescue without getting yourself or anyone else in danger. So your brain is full of questions (and hopefully answers) and you haven't even started the rescue yet... this is why it takes split second timing, reactions, and thinking. So once you have decided on your course of action... like Nike said... Just Do It! Put your action plan in place, delegate responsibilities, coordinate responses, assign tasks. Then will all the action over, you need to be able to slow your mind down and rethink back through every step of the process so that you can document and report exactly what happened and only what you witnessed and not what others are telling you happened.
They say that as you move through and complete the Rescue and EFR programs you begin to view yourself and other divers differently. You start to evaluate and look closer at things you never would have thought about before. Is that persons gear on right, does it fit right, has it been altered, is that alteration going to be an issue in an emergency or cause an emergency... It all sits in your head when you look around. But for me it also hit me personally, I started to look at my personal health and well being. I'm not going to be much help if my excessive weight tires me out before I can get to them or get them back. What if my lack of Cardio or poor swimming is the difference between getting to someone in time and not.... So, it is my new goal, not only to become a Master Scuba Diver this year, but to look the part as well. When I enrolled in the Master Scuba Diver challenge I read the requirements, complete 5 specialty certifications, 50 dives and become a certified Emergency First Responder and Rescue Diver. I thought that would be an uphill battle, and on my own it would have been, but with support from home and my dive family I have completed more than the required certifications, more than half the dives, I am EFR certified and, if all goes well, next weekend I will be Rescue Certified as well. With all that considered I am a little less than 25 dives away from certifying as a Master Scuba Diver. But when I think Master Scuba Diver, I am left with the image of Gerard Butler in the shape he was in for 300.
So... all that considered, I am going to create my own "Master Scuba Diver Challenge" and commit to working hard on my own physical fitness so that should I ever be in a situation where I am needed I can perform with maximum efficiency and if I am unable to make a difference then I will know that it was not because of my training or conditioning. So I guess, long and short, I have only just begun my Master Scuba Diver Challenge and only learned that it is me that needs rescuing as much as anyone I will meet in the water. Hopefully before long I will be able to proudly accept my certification as a Master Scuba Diver and will somewhat resemble Mr Gerard Butler... without the chest hair, I can't grow chest hair.. but that's another conversation. This weekend is Boat Diver, should be a whole new adventure, but I'll tell you all about it next week as I prep to write my Rescue exam and complete my dives.
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Seals to Emergencies
Today marked one of my most exciting days of diving to date, our schedule today was meet at Whytecliffe Park, check out the site, discuss our dives, gear-up and hit the water. Upon arrival we were greeted by a smiling face saying "You must be Andrew?", with surprise and a little trepidation I agreed and laughing and obviously realizing my surprise, Ward Conley (again another in the long line of amazing staff and DM's from Ocean Pro) introduced himself and advised that he was just speaking with Virpi and had had noticed us and Virpi figured it was me. Once our whole team arrived, we geared up and headed out for our first dive of the day. Our morning dive was fan-freakin-tastic! The wildlife we saw on our tour with Dennis including nudibranchs, crabs, jelly fish and a few of our team even saw (and a couple swam with) a seal.. of course I didn't see it... some partners they turned out to be... lol. We moved through our skills, complete mask removal and replace, and our open water C.E.S.A. (Controlled Emergency Swimming Ascent) finishing the ascent by manually inflating our BCD's to maintain buoyancy. We finished our morning moving into shallower water for our weight belt removal and recovery and then our BCD removal and recovery. Weight belts are much harder to replace in open water, with current and waves from the ferries banging into you, plus the additional weight in the BCD makes it hard to lift to get the weight belt secured above the hips. I was able to finish the weight belt and move on to my BCD, now this would have been a viral YouTube video if someone had caught it... here I am trying to squirm my way out of my floating wet, vest while battling current and waves... OH, HAPPY HAPPY JOY JOY!!! I probably looked like a hippo having a seizure... lol. Now it pays to note at this point in time, especially for family and friends who read this and are going to ban me from diving... lol, there are releases on the shoulders of the BCD that I could have released and would in an emergency, but given that I knew I had to put this back on... and not wanting to have to wrestle with getting the clips back together, I chose the seizing hippo method.
Now with the BCD off, and me trying not to sink.. lol, it is time to show Virpi it is off and then... get it back on. YEAH ME, more hippo imitations! Actually truth be known, getting it back on wasn't nearly as hard as it was in the pool, I went one step at a time, pushed my tank down, sat on it, spun it around behind me, put my arms in the straps and slid off letting the tank and BCD rise to my back... bing, bang, boom... straps done up and I was done... and then.. oh yeah.. the words I have been wanting to hear... Virpi looks me in the eyes, shakes my hand and says, "Congratulations on becoming a certified open water diver." YEEHAW!! I'm sure I was smiling from ear to ear when I got out of the water and headed up to switch tanks and grab a snack and water before kitting up for my last open water dive and my Dry suit certification.
The afternoon was not what any of us were expecting, we managed our trek up the hill with our empty tanks and back down with our incredibly heavy full tanks, got them attached to our BCD's, regs fitted, pressure on, gauges checked and ready to dawn our kits and gear for our last Open Water dive and the final step in our Dry suit certification, when the worst sound you can ever hear crossed the bay and reached our ears....
HELP!!
The details of what happened to cause the emergency are unclear, and not mine to share even if they were not. What details have been made public, and the most accurate account out of all the reports I have seen so far of what happened can be read in the Vancouver Province's article ~ Woman critical after West Van scuba diving accident. What I will say though, and I hope this is apparent in my writing, I am SO proud to be a part (however small) of Ocean Pro Diving. The reactions and selfless actions of Ward and Dennis (our Dive masters for the day) who went in the water to assist with just masks and fins, of Virpi who co-ordianated our team (her students) on the beach in seconds sending one for the first-aid kit and emergency air, while another to phone 911 and me to assist at the shore as divers came in and to relay messages. I applaud the efforts and actions of the men and woman of the Police, Fire and Rescue, Ambulance Service and Coast Guard, I was honored to see how tight the dive community is, and how it pulls together to help a diver in need, I was proud to see how quickly my dive family responded, I was excited to see the rescue boat and hovercraft and BC Ambulance helicopter and if I never see any of it again..... it'll be too soon!
I have been asked a couple times since the incident, "How are you doing?" and "Are you still going to Dive?". The answers to those are, "I don't know" and most resoundingly "YES!." This incident this weekend has shaken me, in my life and various work I have seen far too many people hurt, injured, dying and in many cases gone, but despite this it does not desensitize you but only further reminds you of the reality that we are only mortal and accidents can happen. The Ocean Pro staff did an amazing job debriefing everyone after the incident and Shannon has even phoned to ensure everyone is ok. Dennis was able to point out that in his 15+ years of diving and over 1500 logged dives he has only seen the Ambulance Helicopter called in 4 times. So all things considered I don't see diving as any more dangerous now than I did when I started my course, it is an amazing world down there, but like most amazing things in this world it must be approached with the respect and preperation it deserves. I will continue to dive, hopefully for many, many, many years and hope I am never in a situation like I was this weekend again. But I will be prepared! This is why, despite any other decisions or courses to take, i will be completing my EFR (Emergency First Response), Rescue and Emergency O2 Provider courses as soon as possible.
Stay tuned for the continuing adventures on diving... after all.... I still need to log my final Dry suit dive for my Dry suit certification...
Now with the BCD off, and me trying not to sink.. lol, it is time to show Virpi it is off and then... get it back on. YEAH ME, more hippo imitations! Actually truth be known, getting it back on wasn't nearly as hard as it was in the pool, I went one step at a time, pushed my tank down, sat on it, spun it around behind me, put my arms in the straps and slid off letting the tank and BCD rise to my back... bing, bang, boom... straps done up and I was done... and then.. oh yeah.. the words I have been wanting to hear... Virpi looks me in the eyes, shakes my hand and says, "Congratulations on becoming a certified open water diver." YEEHAW!! I'm sure I was smiling from ear to ear when I got out of the water and headed up to switch tanks and grab a snack and water before kitting up for my last open water dive and my Dry suit certification. The afternoon was not what any of us were expecting, we managed our trek up the hill with our empty tanks and back down with our incredibly heavy full tanks, got them attached to our BCD's, regs fitted, pressure on, gauges checked and ready to dawn our kits and gear for our last Open Water dive and the final step in our Dry suit certification, when the worst sound you can ever hear crossed the bay and reached our ears....
HELP!!
The details of what happened to cause the emergency are unclear, and not mine to share even if they were not. What details have been made public, and the most accurate account out of all the reports I have seen so far of what happened can be read in the Vancouver Province's article ~ Woman critical after West Van scuba diving accident. What I will say though, and I hope this is apparent in my writing, I am SO proud to be a part (however small) of Ocean Pro Diving. The reactions and selfless actions of Ward and Dennis (our Dive masters for the day) who went in the water to assist with just masks and fins, of Virpi who co-ordianated our team (her students) on the beach in seconds sending one for the first-aid kit and emergency air, while another to phone 911 and me to assist at the shore as divers came in and to relay messages. I applaud the efforts and actions of the men and woman of the Police, Fire and Rescue, Ambulance Service and Coast Guard, I was honored to see how tight the dive community is, and how it pulls together to help a diver in need, I was proud to see how quickly my dive family responded, I was excited to see the rescue boat and hovercraft and BC Ambulance helicopter and if I never see any of it again..... it'll be too soon!
I have been asked a couple times since the incident, "How are you doing?" and "Are you still going to Dive?". The answers to those are, "I don't know" and most resoundingly "YES!." This incident this weekend has shaken me, in my life and various work I have seen far too many people hurt, injured, dying and in many cases gone, but despite this it does not desensitize you but only further reminds you of the reality that we are only mortal and accidents can happen. The Ocean Pro staff did an amazing job debriefing everyone after the incident and Shannon has even phoned to ensure everyone is ok. Dennis was able to point out that in his 15+ years of diving and over 1500 logged dives he has only seen the Ambulance Helicopter called in 4 times. So all things considered I don't see diving as any more dangerous now than I did when I started my course, it is an amazing world down there, but like most amazing things in this world it must be approached with the respect and preperation it deserves. I will continue to dive, hopefully for many, many, many years and hope I am never in a situation like I was this weekend again. But I will be prepared! This is why, despite any other decisions or courses to take, i will be completing my EFR (Emergency First Response), Rescue and Emergency O2 Provider courses as soon as possible.
Stay tuned for the continuing adventures on diving... after all.... I still need to log my final Dry suit dive for my Dry suit certification...
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