Rescue Diver

The course where a diver stops thinking only about themselves. You learn to recognise an emergency before it becomes one, to stop it developing, and to deal with it when it happens — through drills and then through scenarios that behave like the real thing.

Most divers call it the hardest course they have enjoyed. It is also the one that changes how you dive for good.

What you'll learn

• Self-rescue, before anything else
• Reading stress and panic in another diver early
• Helping a tired diver, and a panicked one
• Assisting a diver in difficulty at the surface and underwater
• Handling an unresponsive diver, and bringing one up from depth
• Searching for a missing diver
• Taking charge of a scene and organising the people in it
• Getting a casualty out of the water by the right method
• Assessing them once they are out
• Diving emergencies specifically — and what makes them different
• Writing an emergency action plan for a dive site
• Calling emergency services and working with a rescue team

What the price includes

• Classroom theory
• Practical training in the water
• Four rescue training dives in open water
• Full scuba kit for the duration of the course
• Cylinders and air
• Your instructor and a practical assessment
• Rescue skills tests
• Full emergency scenarios
• Your certification card, issued through PADI or IANTD
• Your numbered SDA Diver ID
• A digital copy of your certificate

Before you enrol

• Advanced Open Water, or an equivalent advanced certification
• Enough open-water experience to be comfortable helping somebody else
• First aid and CPR training current within the last 24 months — our EFR course covers it
• The diving health questionnaire