Hey all! Three days of diving with Aaron's Dive Shop went really well. May 13th, 14th & 15th. First two days from the boat and last day from shore. This was my first shore dive and I was happy to have had the opportunity. The reason for the shore dive was to work on the rescue skills in a safer, calmer environment than what we typically experience when diving from a boat.

The purpose of the trip was to complete the Diver Stress & Rescue skills. I started this training with my local dive shop where we completed the classroom training and the pool training. When it came time for the open water part of this training, Hawaii was my first choice, for many reasons. Hawaii is easy to get to from the Southwest. Unlike trips to the Caribbean, Honolulu is a straight flight from Phoenix. I also like Hawaii better than the Caribbean because Hawaii is part of the U.S. and I prefer to deal with a business environment with which I am most familiar. Hawaii has some great reefs and wrecks to explore and Aarons Dive Shop is always my first choice because I know the nitrox they sell me will be reliable and the boat Captains will be safe. The instructors and other staff always aim to please and can be counted on to go the extra mile when it comes to reaching the customer's goals.

As a paraplegic, the Diver Stress & Rescue class was uncharted territory. I am still not sure how many Handi-Divers complete this training. It is a great class, especially for Handi-Divers. Whether a person can actually perform all the tasks or not isn't as important to me as actually making the effort to try. The staff at Aaron's was willing to go over and above the call of duty to help me at every junction as long as I didn't give up. I had to do my part and they certainly did theirs. I encourage all Handi-Divers to take the Stress & Rescue class, to study the material, practice the material in class, in the pool and in the ocean. Try your best, do what you can. Focus on what you CAN do.

The resuce breathing was hard. Not pushing the victim's head under water is hard. Towing the victim is also hard but it can be done. I made a rope especially for this class so that I could clip my BC to the victim's BC and still use both hands to tow that diver to shore or to the boat. I can tow another diver when I have this rope in my BC pocket. I CAN do it. I CAN give rescue breathes. I CAN direct others on the boat in an organized way. I can be part of the rescue team. I CAN be part of the solution and not part of the problem. You can too.