Guest Post by Rishabh Kamath. Rishabh is a very talented and young diver who is addicted to the sport. He has a lot of speciailities to his credit as well. He is counting his bubbles until he turns 18 and moves on to the pro stage with his DM Internship!!
“When I started the Rescue Diver course, I had no inhibitions at all. I would never have guessed how alert you need to be to get through a course this tricky, made no easier by Jonah, my instructor. The classroom session was pretty boring, quite contrary to the rest of the course, and the pool session didn’t do much to put me on my guard, but then we hit the water.
The first taste of reality came deep in the waters of the Quarry, when Jonah just collapsed. After my buddy, Tracy hooked her arm under his shoulder and secured his regulator, we began the ascent while I monitored our ascent rate. When we got to the surface, I realised just how serious diving can get. Five more mock collapses (courtesy of Jonah) got me prepared for the next day.
From the following experience I learnt that keeping my mask, snorkel, and fins close at hand is of paramount importance, especially when someone ‘falls off’ off the boat, which is exactly what Jonah proceeded to do. Scrambling into my mask, snorkel and fins, I sped off after my instructor (a stellar actor), who was flailing in the distance, and somehow managed to avoid being drowned, and successfully managed to tow him back to the now stationary boat.
I’ve honestly never enjoyed an attempted drowning more.
Of course it didn’t get any easier during the next dive, where we simulated Nitrogen Narcosis, and more collapses. It’s only during a Rescue course that you gain the confidence to deal with any unforeseen situations underwater – like when a diver goes missing (simulated by a weight belt).
EFR was a breeze. Dealing with people collapsing on land tends to be a bit easier than in the water, but after both the courses you truly feel a sense of security for your next outing on the high seas.
Rewarding is the word, all right. I’ve never been so prepared for any eventuality as I was during the Rescue course, and every moment of that course was exhilarating.
Kudos to Temple Adventures, they’ve ensured all my future dive buddies will make it back to the boat. 
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