Rescue Diver Course
The Rescue Diver course not only teaches you how to deal with a number of diving emergencies, it helps you prevent them from happening in the first place.
- The course generally takes two days.
- Prerequisites include Advanced certificaiton (or equivalent) and current first aid, CPR, AED and O2 training.
You can sign up in person, over the phone or online by clicking the button below. If you sign up online, you will still need to call to schedule your class.
With sufficient notice, we can usually offer this course when it’s most convenient for you.
- Be at least 15 years old.
- Be certified to at least the Advanced Diver level or equivalent.
- Possess current first aid, CPR, AED and O2 certification.
- Be able to answer No to all the questions on the medical questionnaire or obtain a physician’s approval for diving.
$395.95/person plus $139.95 eLearning fee includes:
- All instruction
- Certification processing when earned
You supply:
- Mask and snorkel
- Adjustable scuba fins and wetsuit boots
- Adequate exposure protection
- Cylinder (one per dive)
- Regulator system with alternate air source
- BC with integrated weight system or weight belt
- Weights
- Dive computer
- Underwater compass
- Dive knife/cutting tool
- Dive light
- SMB
Items you don’t already own are generally available for rent. Students are also responsible for gas fills and boat fees or dive site admission.
The Rescue Diver course teaches you how to deal with a number of situations, including:
- Tired divers
- Panicky divers
- Unconscious divers at the surface
- Unconscious divers underwater
- Lost divers
The course goes beyond this, however. Because the best way to deal with emergencies is to prevent them, the Rescue Diver program also teaches you how to recognize potential problems and deal with them before they happen.
This course generally takes two days. There is no specified number of dives; however, you will spend time simulating a search for a lost diver and surfacing an unconscious diver. You will spend a lot of time on the surface, as this is where most problems manifest themselves.
With the knowledge and skills you gain in this program, it may well turn out to be the best course you never have to use.
In this course, the skills we cover include:
Self Rescue
- Entrapment removal
- Cramp removal
- Scuba unit removal/replacement
Surface Rescue
- Assist another diver with cramp removal
- Respond to stressed/panicky diver
- Demonstrate four towing methods 30 m/100 ft)
- Respond to diver simulating loss of consciousness
- Equipment removal while simulating resuscitation
- Tow another diver at least 30 m/100 ft in full equipment
- Two methods of removing incapacitated diver
Underwater Rescue
- Assist tired diver to surface
- Assist a stressed diver
- Assist a panicked diver
- Surface non-responsive diver who in respiratory arrest
- Conduct search pattern and locate an object/diver
- Demonstrate proper response to cramping
- Demonstrate proper response to vertigo
- Demonstrate proper response to loss of buoyancy
- Demonstrate proper response to loss of airway control
- Respond to a simulated diving accident scenario
- Sharing breathing gas while swimming (donor)
- Sharing breathing gas while swimming (receiver)
- Sharing breathing gas while ascending (donor)
- Sharing breathing gas while ascending (receiver)
Most importantly, we don’t practice these skills until you finally get them right. We have you repeat them until you can’t do them wrong.
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