Public Safety Diver

This course is designed for divers who, as part of their job, need to know what searching for and retrieving victims and submerged objects. The purpose of the course is to train trainees to move freely in waters with limited visibility. The course presents structured search methods to recover victims and evidence submerged in water (depth up to 30 meters) for use in court.

Prerequisites for the IANTD Public Safety Diver course

1. To enter the course, the candidate must meet one of the following requirements:
   1. Be a police officer.
   2. Be a firefighter.
   3. Be a member of a paramilitary organization.
   4. Work as part of a public safety team.
   5. Work as part of a professional rescue team.
2. Participation in the course requires you to be at least 18 (with diver qualifications) and to have an IANTD Rescue Diver or equivalent license.

Safety Public Diver training program and rules

1. 1. The course will include theoretical and practical training.
   2. If a trainee uses the Trainee Workbook designed for the course, they are not required to use the presentation designed for the training. It is important that the trainee has mastered all of the training material and completed knowledge tests before the practical training begins.
   3. Theory covers safe diving techniques and environmental analysis, as well as crime scene methods. Methods for safe search and retrieval of submerged items and belongings are discussed.
   4. Practical exercises are performed until they are properly mastered by the trainee. Practical exercises include learning how to apply the theory in practice, which is included in the IANTD presentation found in the IANTD Public Safety Diver Student Kit. Practical exercises include diving in limited waters (pool conditions) and open water diving.
   5. Trainees must pass the IANTD Public Safety Diver Program exam and score at least 80%..
   6. The course may be completed after performing six dives with SCUBA equipment (minimum 100 minutes bottom time in open waters. Course maximum depth 30m, no decompression dive with direct access to the surface.
   7. You must meet the equipment requirements as outlined in the IANTD General Standards for Sport Programs with the addition. Full list below.

Equipment required for the IANTD Public Safety Diver course

• Automatic equipment with alternative air source
• Jacket/ harness
• ABC – mask, snorkel, fins
• Dry suit in open waters
• Diving cylinders: 15 l or 2×12 l
• Ballast
• Computer
• Compass
• Diving slate
• Safety rope (provided by the organizer)
• Appropriate environmental protection (HAZMAT)
• 2 cutting tools
• Corpse bag (provided by the organizer)
• Buoy or rising bag
• Reel or spool
• Spare mask
• Resuscitation mask
• Oxygen kit and first aid kit (provided by the organizer)

The exercises you will do during the IANTD Public Safety Diver course

SWIMMING POOL

• Out of air at 9 meters

• Breathing from a buddy’s long hose

• BCD failure while swimming for 2 minutes

• Regulator failure – switch to octopus

• Deploying a surface marker buoy (SMB) mid-water

• Removing and donning equipment underwater

• Diver entangled in a net or line

• Blacked-out mask – freeing an entangled diver

• Two divers on tether lines – body bagging procedure

• Body recovery to the surface using a lifting device (irodine)

• Setting up a search line (1 or 2 divers)

• Performing two search methods

OPEN WATER

• Performing all assigned roles as a student diver

• Underwater search methods

• Body packaging and recovery

• Evidence search and retrieval