What every diver needs to know about the Rescue Course
What are the Prerequisites ?
Age 13 + with Jr Advanced or Advanced Certification
How long does it take?
3-4 days (plus some at home study time and homework) Usually all classroom and confined water are completed over 2 days. If you are also taking the CPR, EFR Primary & Secondary Care (First Aid), and or Emergency Oxygen Administration (for Divers) courses this will extend the program by 1/2 or full day.
What will I learn during the course?
In the PADI Rescue Diver Manual - or online learning is where PADI lays out the nitty gritty of what you are about to learn and why, you will watch videos, see the skills you about to undertake in your ‘in water’ classes and learn visual cues for certain forms of panic and distress as well as get a better theoretical understanding of all things related to dive or in water rescues.
What will I learn/ do in the confined open water sessions?
This is where we learn our building block rescue skills from self rescue to approaching a distressed or injured diver. You learn how to assess a variety of surface and underwater scenarios and several rescue techniques for each scenario. We practice these skills individually until they become second nature, then we start to link them together to prepare you for realistic dive scenarios.
What will I learn / do in the 2 Dive scenarios ?
The Open Water scenarios are the point at which we test our students abilities to search & locate a missing diver, safely assess the situation, bring them to the surface and demonstrate a full array of rescues & assists practiced in the confined water sessions.
What is special about the Rescue Diver Certification?
In the Open Water & Advanced Open Water courses divers are really learning the basics, learning skills and information they need to feel confident in themselves and their gear. Open Water and Advanced Open Water divers are taught to mitigate risks through safe diving practices, and to get the attention of their divemaster, instructor or other more qualified diver in case of emergency, incident or accident. The Rescue Diver Course is really the first time divers are taught to potentially take control of situations involving others or at the very least be a qualified assistant to someone more experienced or more highly qualified. Rescue Diver Course is as much about preventing incidents and accidents as it is about reacting to them and figuring out solutions if and when something does happen. In some areas like Dominica, Rescue Diver is the minimum certification qualification to work as a dive guide - so for some people this certification means employment qualification. Not only can it mean a potential job, the emergency Action Plan you write up in this course can actually fulfill the requirement for one if you continue on to the Divemaster Course. The rescue course really gets you outside of yourself as a diver, primes you to take on new challenges and opens you up to hands on learning, its a great way to see if you have what it takes to start working towards the Master Diver Challenge or going pro with the Divemaster Certification.
What other courses or certifications require Rescue Diver as a prerequisite?
Master Diver - highest non-professional level of diving - requires divers 12 years or older to complete their rescue diver or jr rescue diver certification + 5 specialties and 50 logged dives to attain this special certification!
Divemaster - you must be a rescue diver at least 18 years old with a minimum of 60 dives at the time you submit your Divemaster Application to PADI
Sign up for the RESCUE DIVER Certification Course NOW !