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Course Overview

Minimum age: 15

Other Prerequisites:

• Certified as PADI Advanced Open Water Diver or equivalent rating. "Equivalent" means proof of certification beyond entry-level, minimum of 20 logged dives, documented experience in night, deep, navigation.

Ideal number of students: individually or 2/3 (8 permitted)

Certification requirements:

• 12 open water exercises to be done in a minimum of 5 open water dives over a minimum of 2 separate days.
• Successful performance on PADI Rescue Diver final exam.
• Sanctioned CPR course completed within 1 year of certification.

Cost:

• For all my courses taught privately, I collect from each student a 500 dirham fee, or 400 if you've completed a course with me beforehand. This helps defray costs I bear in maintaining equipment which I and my students use during diving. Costs include maintaining regulators annually, testing tanks, replacing lost and damaged items, and purchasing new equipment for use in dive training. The fee assessed is close to the cost of an annual service to an octopus regulator set or pressure-test on a scuba tank. Students in training with me are welcome to use any equipment I have spare at any time they are diving with me unless the dive center we are using relies on gear rental to balance discounts on diving.
• In return for training, the instructor expects that the students will pay for all the diving involved in their training, including costs of air fills, any extra equipment rentals, and boat trips for themselves and the instructor. There is also a 80 dirham certification fee to cover the purchase of a PIC or positive ID card application from a local retail supplier, which PADI requires in order to process your certificate with the picture that you submit with the form.
• The cost to you for the course may vary depending on the number of students participating in the course, how much equipment you have to rent, and how many boat dives you make (vs. shore dives), and sometimes on the policy of the dive center we use (some allow instructors with students to dive for free or at a discount).

Brief Summary of the PADI Rescue Diver Scuba Course

The course consists of five modules, each with academic and open water components.  The course has recently been revised by PADI and these revisions are not reflected below, but the following still gives a good outline of what is involved:

The following open water exercises are spread over the 5 modules:

This is an overview - exact requirements can be found in the PADI Rescue Manual.

Exercise 1 - Tired Diver
Demonstrate appropriate response to a distressed but rational diver
approach, evaluation, contact, calm victim, assist, transport, equipment removal

Exercise 2 - Panicked Diver
Demonstrate appropriate response to a panicked (irrational) diver
same as above but practice releases, underwater approach, turning and knee cradling victim

Exercise 3 - Response from shore or boat (without scuba) to a conscious victim
Respond to a conscious, distressed diver
nonswimming assists, entry considerations, egress with conscious victim, post attendance

Exercise 4 - Distressed diver underwater
Demonstrate proficiency in responding to a distressed or overexerted diver under water
Conduct alternate air source ascent as donor

Exercise 5 - Missing diver
Demonstrate how to quickly search for and locate a missing diver using UW search pattern prescribed by instructor
Procedures include pinpointing where diver last seen, posting spotters to find bubbles, dispatch skin divers to initiate search and mark location if possibele, dispatch scuba teams when ready (establish recall system, terminate search in 30 min)

Exercise 6 - Surfacing the unconscious diver
Demonstrate use of controlled positive buoyancy to assist ascent and surface simulated unconscious diver using BC of either victim or rescuer
Procedure: mechanical and oral inflation, vent excess air, flare to slow ascent, keep reg in victim's mouth (but don't put it there if it's out), position head, if removing weights do so and establish slightly positive buoyancy constantly adjusted for depth OR leave weights on and discard at surface

Exercise 7 - Unconscious diver at the surface

Exercise 8 - Egress with an unconscious diver

Exercise 9 - First aid for pressure related accidents

Exercise 10 - Response from shore or boat to an unconscious victim

Exercise 11 - Diving accident scenario 1 (underwater search)

Exercise 12 - Diving accident scenario 1 (response, egress, and management)

More Details

Before the course begins:

Prior to beginning any PADI course: Each student must ...

• fill out the PADI Medical Statement, with doctor's signature if required
• fill out the Standard Safe Diving Practices Statement of Understanding
• fill out the Liability Release and Express Assumption of Risk

Before and during any PADI training dive:

You must:

• preferably complete the Knowledge Review for that dive (can be done afterward)
• Do a proper buddy check ("Begin With Review And Friend", which means to check buoyancy, weights, releases, air, and "friends" such as mask and fins, compass, etc.)
• Properly enter the water
• "Dive for Fun and Pleasure" (That's exactly what it says in the manual)

After any PADI training dive:

You must:

• Debrief with the instructor
• Clean your gear
• Calculate your repetitive group using the tables or wheel
• Log your dive, and have your logbook signed by the instructor.
  If you need to, you can use these logbook pages which you can keep in a notebook.

On completion of the course, congratulations!

Once you've completed all dives and paperwork, you get a temporary Scuba diver certification card on the spot.
You send your PIC form in to PADI with your picture and get your permanent card a few weeks later.