Murex to the Rescue

You are in safe hands!

Here at Murex Dive Resorts the last month has been a busy time as our amazing dive teams in both our Bangka and Manado resorts have been completing their annual rescue training reviews and practices. Our boat teams and dive teams are made up of dive guides, boat captains, boat crew and ground operations staff and we believe that ALL of them should be able to handle medical emergencies in the resorts, on boats and in the water. For that reason we train and practice with all staff year after year.

“Whilst many resorts advertise that their dive guides have rescue training it is easy for this training and for procedures to be forgotten if they are not repeated again and again” comments dive operations manager Pim van Schendel. “It is also often the case that whilst guides are trained the remainder of the staff are not and we don’t think that’s enough – that’s why we give training to all staff related to dive activities so that they are confidently able to manage an emergency, we also carry out training in Indonesian to be sure that ALL staff have fully understood it – it’s also teaching them skills that they can use just as easily at home, in their villages or in other situations and that is something we are proud to be able to offer”.

The staff were put through their paces with morning sessions that involved setting up oxygen delivery systems, administering oxygen to both breathing and non-breathing patients, CPR techniques and CPR with oxygen procedures. In the afternoon sessions it was time to hit the water and all staff practised rescues at the surface and from underwater which included surfacing unresponsive divers, towing them back to the boat or shore whilst removing dive gear and providing rescue breaths in water with both the use of a pocket mask and mouth to mouth. Once on the shore our operations staff leapt into action, carrying the “victims” to safe areas where they could administer oxygen and provide CPR. The training days were long and tiring but we all had a lot of fun along the way!

For some of our new boat staff this was their first introduction to first aid and emergency training – when asked about it they all agreed that whilst they never wanted to be confronted with an emergency they felt confident in their abilities following the training.

As divers we are all aware of the potential risks of diving and whilst prevention is always better than cure, if an emergency should occur, wouldn’t you want to be with a team that had rehearsed procedures together and new exactly what to do? Here at Murex we believe that safety should be at the forefront of all diving activities and that is why you can rest assured that you are in safe hands when you book your diving vacation with us.

Are you interested in learning more about emergency first aid and rescue techniques and procedures yourself? We also offer the PADI Rescue Diver and Emergency First Response courses at all of our centres in North Sulawesi – for more information contact us on [email protected] The courses are fun and many divers will tell you they are the most rewarding training programmes that they have completed – have a look at our pictures below to see what our training involved and what you could be taking part in during training yourself!