National Diving Officer Sophie Rennie and Head of Diving Sophie Heptonstall offer advice for instructing one of BSAC’ s most important rescue skills
A controlled buoyant lift in sequence:
TWOSOPHIES
Teaching the Controlled Buoyant Lift
National Diving Officer Sophie Rennie and Head of Diving Sophie Heptonstall offer advice for instructing one of BSAC’ s most important rescue skills
THE QUESTION:
What advice can you offer for teaching Controlled Buoyant Lift( CBL)?
Sophie Rennie answers
My first recommendation is to go to the Instructor Manual and open up the Instructor notes for OS5( the fifth Sheltered Water lesson). Everything you need to know is in that section. The skill should be broken down into small steps so that the important factors such as a really good grip on the casualty is achieved, as well as the ability to control the lift. Start in the shallows, so if by any chance the lift is a little fast, then you don’ t have so far to go to the surface.
Once the students can control the speed of the lift you can move into deeper water. As the instructor it’ s really important that, where possible, you have two students so that you can demonstrate on each one. Then they can have a go with each other while you maintain control of both students. Having a computer on your wrist is a good idea, as you can show the students how fast they are rising through the water column.
The second thing is to not just abandon the casualty once you get them to the surface. The surfacing drill is just as important, so that the casualty and rescuer are made buoyant and help can be called for and implemented as fast as possible.
This is such an important skill to learn; the more it is practised, the better it is for anyone involved in a real world rescue.
A controlled buoyant lift in sequence:
1
3
Approaching the unresponsive diver
Taking hold to prepare for lift
Sophie Heptonstall breaks it down
Start with the brief Before getting in the water, explain why the skill matters. Students often confuse CBL and AS( alternate source) lift skills, so make it clear. Talk about common scenarios, for example a diver becoming unresponsive underwater. Emphasize that the goal is to bring a diver safely to the surface under control.
22
5
Ascending to the surface