Advanced rescue training – When weather turns against us

Instructors and Divemasters at Nemo Classic Diving in Bergen, Norway, wanted to see what they were able to do in case of emergency, and under rough conditions. Some of the instructors are also working at a safety center for the offshore industry, Nosefo Bergen (Norwegian Senter for Offshore-training). Nosefo has a wave pool that is being used for offshore sea-survival training, and instructors and divemasters at Nemo were lucky enough to get to use this pool for a night of very realistic, but controlled practice. The pool can make waves of 90 cm height, and wind reaching a speed of 30 m/s. Temperature of the water were 6 degrees Celsius.  Staff at Nemo were in for a big reality check.

Conditions in the pool were quite similar to what we can get at some of the most used dive sites in Bergen, and instructors and divemasters were looking forward to test them selves.

The group was divided into victim and rescuer, not very different from a regular rescue course. The victim was lying at 2 meters depth, and the rescuer had to swim about 15 meters to get to the victim. After surfacing the victim, the rescuer were to tow the victim 25 meters to shore, and get them onto the dock. The dock was about 40 cm high. Waves were breaking, and 90 cm high.

The rescue training a diver recieves during the Rescue Course, Divemaster Course and also during the Instructor Course is usually given in an area with little or no waves at all, because we have to learn the techniques first. Now we moved from ”driving in the streets, to driving in a rally slope”, and instructors and divemasters found out first hand that doing a rescue in rough conditions was very difficult, and extreamly exhausting.

It didn´t take long before the rescuer concluded that the mask was an item worth keeping, both for the rescuer and for the victim. The waves was constantly breaking and both rescuer and victim felt that drowning could be the result if the mask were lost. Routine steps like getting the dry-suit hose off suddenly was a challenge itself, because protecting the airways and preventing the victim from drowning took all of the rescuers attention. The same could also be said about getting the victim back on land. With the waves splashing around, it took a lot of strength, technique and stamina to get the victim out of the water.

Luckily, every victim was breathing in this case, but if they had not – ventilation in the water would be really difficult under such conditions. All the participating instructors and divemasters felt that in a situation with a lot of wind, low temperature and heavy waves – giving ventilations would not only be very difficult, but would also delay getting the victim out of the water to start CPR.

One of the most important lessons learned this night was that the limits for what instructors and divemasters find acceptable has to be lowerd. Even small waves may be to much in some circumstances. Another point that was reinforced this night was the importance of knowing the equipment we are using – not only your own, but your buddy´s as well. With waves splashing over your head, it is practicly impossible to get a good look at clips and releases, so you have to know where to find them, and how to release them. One of the biggest challenges was actually to get all the equipment of at the same time as the rescuer shold secure the victim in a safe position. And last but not least, if there is an emergency – it is all about choices, what to do in different circumstances, and that every rescuer must find the solution that works for him/her. There is no single right way to do this…

The instructors and divemasters that took part in this ”advanced” rescue training got a new perspective of what a rescue situation like this means, and they all agreed that this was a very valuable experience. Skills and techniques that are easily done in calm water is a completely different scenario when the elements turn against us. After this experience – they are all able to make better decisions if they ever find them selves in a situastion like that.

Christine Hopeland. PADI MI, Nemo Classic Diving. Bergen, Norway