How do you start ERD / Public Safety Diving?

[LordHavoc]

I have seen the ERDI courses and they look very exciting. It is also community service. Do you have to be in the fire department or police to start into those or can anyone take those courses and become a ERD or safety diver? How do you apply that training in world?

 

[lowviz]

Do you have to be in the fire department or police to start into those or can anyone take those courses ...//...

I've taken many PSD courses by contacting the agency first and offering to be a paying add-on. Typical for the agency that I trained with, a fire company hosts the class and advertises within the profession. Other companies send paid participants. They often come up a diver or two short of break-even and accommodate outsiders.

It is a peek into a world that few divers ever experience...

 

[Marie13]

You need to check with the agencies in your area. Some states allow volunteer public safety divers, while in others you have to be a cop or firefighter to be on a dive team

 

[lowviz]

you have to be a cop or firefighter to be on a dive team

or nurse, sheriff, or most any type of first-responder. They have all the basic training down pat. Doesn't mean that now and again one can't wangle into training with them if your safety courses are up to date.

The stories alone are worth the price of admission.

 

[Resqdivemedic]

ERDI prerequisites for the ERD 1 course are Open Water or equivalent, CPR, First Aid and oxygen administration and minimum age of 18. There is no requirement for being a first responder. I know of other training agencies that require affiliation with a public safety agency (PD, EMS, Fire). For non first responders it is a different style of diving and can teach you different safety techniques and the experience of diving in zero visibility. In the PSD field we call it solo tethered diving. Your buddy is the rope that connects you to the tender. Public safety diving is a combination of recreational, technical, and scientific diving.

 

[Trace Malinowski]

You'd think getting on a volunteer dive team would be a piece of cake for an experienced diver if that was the road you wanted to take. I tried twice. The first department's point of contact spent phone time telling me how awful he thought my first instructor was (I disagreed based upon 30 years of hindsight & training with world-class and famous instructors). The second dive team just told me they didn't have enough in their budget for another diver. My friend Jimmy was the PSD director for our training agency and could supply me with any gear they needed. No dice. I found out later, given my experience, the team leader thought I was a threat to his position. All I wanted to do was show up & help. The last thing I needed was any sort of leadership position. I can take orders from 20-year-old lifeguards when I just want to sit in a chair on the sand and twirl a whistle, so I was no threat. Politics.

 

[kelpdog]

In my area, one of the sheriffs offices has an all volunteer PSD team that i eventually joined. I found it by googling around, expand your area that you are interested in. You might be surprised and find something that fits!

 

[Resqdivemedic]

You'd think getting on a volunteer dive team would be a piece of cake for an experienced diver if that was the road you wanted to take. I tried twice. The first department's point of contact spent phone time telling me how awful he thought my first instructor was (I disagreed based upon 30 years of hindsight & training with world-class and famous instructors). The second dive team just told me they didn't have enough in their budget for another diver. My friend Jimmy was the PSD director for our training agency and could supply me with any gear they needed. No dice. I found out later, given my experience, the team leader thought I was a threat to his position. All I wanted to do was show up & help. The last thing I needed was any sort of leadership position. I can take orders from 20-year-old lifeguards when I just want to sit in a chair on the sand and twirl a whistle, so I was no threat. Politics.

That is too bad. Volunteers in general are getting harder and harder to come by so I figured you would be a welcome addition. Unfortunately politics plays a big role in public safety, trust me on that one, 38 years both volunteer and career firefighter. The team I run is a public safety based team, we are not allowed to take non-first responder personnel due to insurance reasons. I would keep looking around for other volunteer teams in your area if PSD is the way you want to go. If it were me running a volunteer team, I would take you in a heartbeat.