31/05/2026
One of the most important skills we teach during the PADI Rescue Diver course is Rescue Exercise 7: managing an unresponsive diver at the surface. And one of the hardest parts of that exercise is maintaining rescue breaths while towing and removing equipment.
That's why we teach students a simple counting rhythm: "One-thousand-one, one-thousand-two, one-thousand-three, one-thousand-four, breath." As instructors, we don't teach this rhythm just because it's part of the standards. We teach it because in a real emergency, your brain shuts down and adrenaline takes over. You need something simple, repeatable, and automatic to hold onto, and this rhythm gives you that.
The counting keeps you calm and consistent. And most importantly, it keeps you delivering breaths at the correct interval even while you're managing everything else: towing, removing equipment, staying afloat, and getting the victim to safety.
During the IDC, we train candidates to demonstrate this skill flawlessly. That means doing it correctly yourself while also coaching someone who's learning it for the first time. You need to recognize when a student loses the rhythm, help them reset, and keep them focused under pressure.
It's one of those skills that looks simple on paper but is incredibly difficult to execute well in the moment. And that's exactly why we practice it so extensively! For more information about our IDC program, visit our website or send us a message.
