Our goal is to provide high quality public safety dive team training that is geared towards the public safety diving profession. We do offer many recreational classes and welcome all students. The goal of our training is to start from the very beginning to introduce your team to the PSD environment. A simple example might be gear assembly in Open Water Scuba Diving. We routinely teach PADI objectives and PAIDI states that a students must be able to assemble their gear a certain number of times by the end of their confined water sessions. As long as a student accomplishes this task, we will provide certification, but we aim to increase the challenge for our students. We turn the gear assembly into gear drills. You might remember firefighter I class and having to don all your PPE include SCBA in under a certain timeframe, we will do the same with SCUBA.
As a team your goal is to effect a safe rescue in the least amount of time possible. We are going to show you how to do that and make sure you are incredible at it. Please browse the course descriptions below for more information.
Rescue Diver
This is the first course that really begins to train you to do the job you are going to be doing. While all the major recreational agencies consider this class a self-rescue / basic recreational rescue class, it does get you a basic understanding of some issues that we will encounter. In addition, it gives the student an opportunity to hone their skills.
Emergency Response Diver
ERD I
This entry level emergency response diving course is designed to give the public safety diver the fundamental skills needed to safely function as part of a public safety dive team and is OSHA and NFPA compliant. Topics such as problem solving, tender skills, search patterns and evidence handling are covered just to name a few. Dive skills include executing search patterns, victim recovery, emergency procedures and decontamination procedures among others. ERD I also serves as a prerequisite to ERD Ops Components courses.
ERD II
This ERDI course enables the public safety diver to develop detailed knowledge and advanced skills in emergency response diving. Among the topics covered are manner of death, physiological changes a submerged body undergoes, mechanics of drowning, handling of remains environmental issues, encapsulation, full face mask and drysuit use. As part of the certification requirements during the six dives, students will also master drysuit and full face mask skills.
ERDI Awareness Level Course
ERD Tender
The ERD Tender course trains team personnel to properly line tend and participate within the public safety dive team in a non-diving roll. ERD Tender is also part of the ERD I course curriculum so that an entire team can participate and train to their individual needs. Crime scene recognition, search patterns and decontamination procedures are some of the topics covered. In addition, ERD Tender students learn and master tending skills in both confined water and open water settings.
ERD Ice/Surface Rescue OPS
This non-diving ERD course will train and prepare rescue teams to properly respond and execute operations to retrieve victims who have broken through thin ice conditions. Subjects that are discussed in the classroom include ice characteristics and formation, types of victims both human and animal, team operations, equipment and rescue techniques. During the practical training portion, students will perform a variety of roles and master skills such as proper donning of protective gear, victim extrication and self rescue to name a few.
ERDI Ops Component Courses
ERD Drysuit OPS
The ERD Drysuit OPS course is designed to develop the knowledge and skills that are necessary for drysuit diving operations in emergency response diving. In addition to the fundamental skills of drysuit diving, other important topics include encapsulation, contaminated environments, protecting potable water supplies and decontamination procedures. Drysuit OPS training is also part of the ERD II curriculum.
ERD Full Face Mask OPS
The ERD Full Face Mask course provides the skills and knowledge for the ERD diver to utilize full face masks for emergency response diving. While basic full face mask topics and skills are presented, other topics and skills include encapsulation, communications with a full face mask, selecting proper masks for emergency response diving and decontamination procedures. Full Face Mask OPS training is also part of the ERD II curriculum.
ERD Ice Diving OPS
Conducting emergency response operations in an overhead environment, such as ice diving, presents hazards and challenges to the ERD team not found in normal situations. Important topics and skills that are presented during this course include physiological aspects of cold-water diving, appropriate equipment for ice diving, surface support procedures as well as scene preparation and lost diver drills.
ERD Swift Water OPS
This course is designed to provide information and hands on training to students / team members who may be called upon to respond to a swift water call where no water entry is practical or possible. This is defined by NFPA 1006/1670 guideline as “water moving at a rate greater than 1 knot.â€
Swift water is typically found in high hills, mountain areas or in flash flood areas designed for moving water away and represents water in a natural setting moving downhill. With large scale flooding now common in rural and urban environments, moving water may be swift and the need for safe and effective training programs are in demand.
The purpose of the ERDI Swift Water program is to provide necessary skills and knowledge in performing life saving operations in swift water, and the importance of understanding the dangers of moving water such as strainers and hydraulics.
After successful completion of the ERDI Swift Water Ops program, responders are expected to understand how to recognize the presence of hazardous conditions, protect themselves, secure the area, call for additional resources, activate an emergency plan, assess conditions and attempt a rescue.
Contact Us today to begin your Dive Team Training.
