Work with local authorities, be part of a rescue team and, quite possibly, assist in underwater criminal investigations.
If you have the opportunity to work with local authorities and be part of a scuba diving rescue team, or conduct search and recovery dives, and maybe even underwater criminal investigations, this is the course for you. Although public safety diving can be a fun and exciting adventure, it’s serious and requires special training. The Indian Valley Scuba Public Safety Diver Specialty course gives you a solid foundation to build upon and teaches you both surface and underwater skills that you may need on the job.
To enroll in a Public Safety Diver course, you must be certified as an Advanced Open Water Diver and at least 18 years old. You also need to earn your Rescue Diver certification by the end of the course.
You’ll be introduced to the special procedures, equipment, scene handling, communications and documentation requirements for a public safety diving operation. During the required open water dives you’ll practice compass navigation, knot tying, search techniques, victim recovery, rope-pull communications, and rescue techniques for a distressed public safety diver, plus plenty more.
The program starts with an Introduction to Public Safety Diving, and then the sky’s the limit as to how far you wish to take your PSD training with IVS.
Intro to Public Safety Diving
Public Safety
This free seminar introduces Public Safety Diving to the diving and non-diving community. The participants learn firsthand what is involved in PSD, are introduced to some of the equipment and techniques required for Public Safety Diving, including hardhat diving setups, surface support systems, communication devices, and more.
Dive Tender / Surface Support Specialist
Public Safety
The Public Safety Diver Dive Tender / Surface Support Specialist program is designed to provide the skills and training necessary to function in a surface support role in a public safety diving situation. Logistics, site safety, diver health concerns, exposure protection and containment, communications, haz-mat awareness, and more are covered in this exciting, enlightening entry course to the fascinating world of Public Safety Diving. No dives are required in this course, making it perfect for both divers and non-divers alike. This program is a prerequisite for the Public Safety Diver Level I program.
Public Safety Diver Level 1
Public Safety
PSDA Public Safety Diver Level I training is designed to provide entry-level public safety divers with the basic skills and knowledge to effectively function on scuba diving calls for service. Topics covered include differences between recreational diving and PSD, environmental considerations, fitness, OSHA-required documentation, equipment selection, management of scene safety & security, witness interviewing, crime scene awareness, vehicle recovery, search patterns and more.
The Public Safety Diver Underwater Communications program addresses the needs for effective communication between diver to diver, surface to diver, and diver to surface. Candidates will learn standard procedures, skills and knowledge to communicate underwater using different techniques, lights, lines, hands, touch, and slates. This will standardize the signals being used by public safety divers to communicate underwater, minimizing confusion and misunderstanding. Hardwire communication equipment will also be reviewed, and divers will learn the proper voice techniques for diver to diver and diver to surface communications.
This PSDA - Level 2 specialty course is designed to give the public safety diver the skills, knowledge, planning, organization, procedures, techniques, problems and hazards with processing an underwater crime scene. Our course is intended to serve as a safe and supervised introduction into the underwater crime scene and how to investigate and process it correctly. For your final exam, we will be having you process a simulated underwater crime scene to determine what actually occurred.
This Public Safety Diver - Level 2 specialty course is designed to teach the public safety diver how to conduct a search operation using a boat as your diving platform. Through the use of a buoy grid system you will be able to clear large search areas in a short time. You will also become familiar with how to proper anchor your boat platform using various anchoring systems. This course is intended to serve as a safe and supervised introduction into boat based PSD operations.
PSDA’s Full Face Mask specialty course introduces the certified public safety diver to an AGA-type full face mask system. Topics covered include the proper procedures needed to don, operate, and maintain a full face mask system, bailout procedures, gas valve switching, and underwater mask clearing and removal & replacement techniques. Phase II then involves completing a public safety dive using a full face mask. Underwater hardwire communications may be combined in this program at the instructors discretion.
Public Safety Diver Dry Suit Ops
Public Safety
(same description as Full Face Mask) PSDA's Full Face Mask specialty course introduces the certified public safety diver to an AGA-type full face mask system. Topics covered include the proper procedures needed to don, operate, and maintain a full face mask system, bailout procedures, gas valve switching, and underwater mask clearing and removal & replacement techniques. Phase II then involves completing a public safety dive using a full face mask. Underwater hardwire communications may be combined in this program at the instructors discretion.