Right you are. It may very well be EFR in the PADI manual, not DAN. But I haven't been doing this long and I already picked up DAN from somewhere, so they are doing a good job letting new divers know they exist.
I realize I'm new and have a lot to learn, so that's a given. I was just trying to point out that just because you have someone who is an EMT in "real life," that doesn't mean that they think they know everything automatically. Of course you'll always get those that do, but for example, after reading muddiver's original post, I discovered that DAN has a three-level course on diving medicine for divers that looks pretty interesting, as well as a diving emergency specialist recognition for divers who have demonstrated a commitment to learning about diving safety. I think that is really cool, and despite my initial training will undoubtedly be taking some of their courses throughout my diving career.
I'm not pretending to be an expert in dive medicine because I'm an EMT any more than I'm claiming to be an expert diver b/c I can swim. I hope to log a lot more safe dives in my lifetime, and I want to be a good buddy. I already figured out from my first few dives after open water that diver attitudes toward safety vary greatly, and I never want to be "that guy" who leads my buddy into an unsafe situation. I'll do whatever I need to do to prevent that from happening.
GrandCanyonDiver, it seems you got me a bit wrong.
I never argueed against taking any training from agencies other than PADI. But first the prerequisites for PADI Rescue Diver don't have anything to do with dive medicine and second the initial question simply was:
Do I have to have the PADI - EFR certificate as prerequisite for the PADI Rescue Diver training or are their any equivalencies acceptable?
And for answering this question it is helpfull to have a look in the PADI IM.
Obviously the first look should be into the Rescue Diver Course Instructor Guide and there you will find as prerequisite: EFR Primary and Secondary Care.
But if you now have a look into the section I mentioned before, you will find the following definitions:
EFR Primary Care — proof of current CPR training.
EFR Secondary Care — proof of current first aid training.
So that means every respective training of any agency would fullfill the prerequisite requirements for the PADI Rescue Diver. And for to find out that, nobody has to assume anything. It's just reading the manual.
