ERDi - I have questions!

[lilkittydiver]

So for the past two years I've been very interested in emergency medicine & response. I'm working on getting my EMT certification, and hope to continue it all the way to a paramedic. For some reason, I just found out about the Emergency Response Diving. (I don't know why, considering all the research i've done).

Do you have to be a police officer to do these courses? If not, what do you have to be certified in to use ERD certifications to work in the emergency dive field?

And say you are "ERD I or ERD II", or "ERD Swift Diver OPS" certified.. What does that mean? What can you do with those certifications?

Also, if someone can please explain what types of jobs someone would be working with, and what not. The website I'm on only gives me general information.. I need something specific, but simple to understand. Kinda like reddit's Explain like I'm 5. Yet again, I've been big into Emergency medicine, and before I found out about this I wanted to be a Hyperbaric Technician. Anyone have any answers? If you do, and have resources, I'd love to see them.
Who is ERDi? | SDI | TDI | ERDI) < not exactly giving me answers I'm looking for.

 

[sheeper]

ERDI is probably the premier provider of certification and training for public safety divers. The ERDI courses cover a LOT of stuff; this is a very broad field. You don't "need" to be a police officer or firefighter to take most courses. Many dive teams are staffed by local volunteer divers. Others are staffed by professional paid LEOs, FFs. It depends what the local jurisdiction has and does.
I've been in this field for a long time and what these (or any courses) do is give you a baseline of knowledge and skills. Dive Teams will have more training, exercises, practice and procedures that come over time as one builds on the basic skills and knowledge.