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Technical Diver Level 1
Purpose
The Technical Diver Level 1 (Tech 1) course is structured to prepare
divers for the rigors of technical diving and to familiarize them with
the use of different breathing and decompression mixtures. Tech 1
training focuses on expanding the fundamental skills learned in the DIR
Fundamentals course (or elsewhere), and is designed to cultivate,
integrate, and expand the essential skills required for safe technical
diving. This will include problem identification and resolution, and
building the capacity for progressively more challenging diving. In
this class, students will be trained in: a) the use of double
tanks/cylinders and in the potential failure problems associated with
them; b) the use of Nitrox for accelerated and general decompression
strategies; c) the use of Helium to minimize narcosis; and d) the
applications of single decompression stage diving with respect to
decompression procedures.
The class will focus on enriched air and TriOx (Helium enriched gas),
as flexible and beneficial breathing gases for dives in the 40 foot/12
meter to 150 foot/45 meter depth range, and provides an excellent
foundation on which divers can build their technical diving experience
and prepare for GUE's Technical Diver 2 course (Tech 2).
Prerequisites
1. Must meet GUE General Course Prerequisites :
General Prerequisites for All GUE Courses
The following are prerequisites for all GUE Courses (any additional
and/or course specific course prerequisite, as well as any deviations
from the following, will be listed under the appropriate section of the
specific course):
- Must submit a
completed registration form, medical history, and liability release to
GUE Headquarters.
- Must be physically and mentally fit.
- Must hold DAN Master level insurance or equivalent.
- Must be a nonsmoker.
- Must obtain a physician's
prior written authorization for the use of prescription drugs,
except for birth control, or for a prior medical condition that
may pose a risk while diving. A partial list of such conditions
may be found on GUE's medical history form; if a student answers
in the affirmative to any of these, they must obtain a
physician's approval to dive and disclose this to their GUE
instructor before the onset of training. Physician approval
for a specific condition is valid for one year from the date it
is given assuming there are no further changes to the student's
medical conditions.
- Must be CPR/First Aid trained (except for DIR Fundamentals).
2. Must be a minimum of 18 years of age
3. Must be GUE DIR Fundamentals qualified
4. Must have a minimum of 100 dives beyond open water qualification
5. Must be able to
swim a distance of at least 50 feet/15 meters on a breath hold
6. Must be able to
swim at least 300 yards/275 meters in less than 12 minutes without
stopping. This test should be conducted in a swimsuit and, where
necessary, appropriate thermal protection.
Duration
The Tech 1 class is normally conducted over a 5-day period. It
involves a minimum of forty (40) hours of instruction, encompassing
both classroom and in-water work.
Course Limits
1. General Training Limits as outlined in Section 1.4
2. Student to
instructor ratio is not to exceed 3:1 during any in-water training
3. Maximum depth 150 feet (+/- 10 feet)/45 meters (+/- 3 meters)
4. No overhead environment diving (excepting decompression)
Course Content
The GUE Tech 1 course is normally conducted over a 5-day period, and
cumulatively involves a minimum of forty (40) hours of instruction
designed to provide a working knowledge of enriched air diving,
normoxic and hyperoxic Trimix and decompression mixtures, including
history, physics, physiology, tables, and operational considerations.
Course requirements include ten (10) hours of academics and eight (8)
dives, six (6) of which will be critical skill dives and two (2) will
be experience dives.
Initial dives will be conducted in shallow water to test diver ability
and to fill in any deficits in skill levels. The last two (2)
dives are to be Trimix dives at depth for experience.
Required Training Materials
1. Doing it
Right: The Fundamentals of Better Diving.
Jarrod Jablonski, GUE, 2001, High Springs, Florida.
2. Getting Clear on
the Basics: The Fundamentals of Technical Diving. Jarrod
Jablonski, GUE, 2001, High Springs, Florida.
Academic Topics
1. Physics
2. Pressure and gas law review
3. Equations relevant for planning, mixing, and using enriched air
4. Physiology
5. Hypoxia
6. Hyperoxia
7. Oxygen toxicity
8. CNS
9. Pulmonary toxicity
10. Tracking multilevel, multi-dive, and multi-day exposures
11. Inert gas narcosis
12. Inert gas absorption and elimination
13. Carbon dioxide toxicity
14. Carbon monoxide toxicity
15. Hyperthermia
16. Hypothermia
17. Decompression illness
18. Accelerated and general decompression strategies
19. Decompression practices on air, enriched air, and Oxygen
20. Generic tables, computers, and custom tables
21. Introduction to normoxic and hyperoxic Trimix
22. Advantages over deep air
23. Equipment considerations (DIR emphasis)
24. Singles
25. Doubles
26. Decompression stage bottles
27. BC/harness
28. Regulators, depth gauges, pressure gauges, and hose routing
29. Manifolds
30. Surface marker buoys and spools (for deco platforms)
31. Computers and bottom timers
32. Exposure suit appropriate for the environment
33. Dive planning
34. Operational planning
35. Support
36. Teams
37. Team planning
38. Gas matching
39. Oxygen limits
40. Nitrogen limits
41. Emergency procedures
42. Omitted decompression procedures
43. Miscellaneous
issues including limited deco gas, out of gas, team separation,
etc.
44. Procedures
45. Bottom and deco gas
46. Normal operations
47. Procedures for failure, loss, or inadequate supply
48. Gas mixing
49. Analyzing and labeling gas supplies
50. Line following
Land Drills & Topics
1. Reel and guideline use
2. Dive team order and protocols
3. Touch contact
4. Manifold operation and failures
5. Use of safety spools and reels
6. Basic navigation skills
7. Pre-dive drills
Required Dive Skills & Drills
1. All skills and drills as outlined in General Diving Skills:
General Diving Skills
With the exception of DIR Fundamentals, GUE courses must all ensure
proficiency in the following diving skills; a final grade of three (3)
(satisfactory) or better is required to demonstrate the requisite skill
in each. Any other and/or course specific skills, as well as any
deviation from a particular diving skill, will be listed under the
appropriate section for the specific course. DIR Fundamentals has
a more restricted skill set, one outlined in section 2.1.2.9.
- Demonstrate
proficiency in safe diving practices; this would include pre-dive
preparation, in-water activity, and post-dive assessment.
- Demonstrate
awareness of team member location and a concern for safety,
responding quickly to visual cues and dive partner requirements.
- Efficiently and
comfortably demonstrate how to donate gas to an out-of-gas diver
in multiple gas-sharing episodes, with one or more of these to
include a distance of at least 30 feet/9 meters.
- Demonstrate a
comfortable demeanor while swimming for at least 100 feet/30
meters, without a mask, while gas-sharing.
- Be able to
comfortably demonstrate at least two propulsion techniques that would
be appropriate in delicate and/or silty environments.
- Demonstrate
knowledge of dive rescue techniques, including effective management of
the following situations: assisting a convulsing diver and an
unconscious diver.
- Demonstrate a safe and responsible demeanor throughout all training.
All GUE instructors are encouraged to exceed minimum training standards
when by doing so they are promoting the best interests of the student.
Instructors are actively encouraged to deny qualification to students
when students have not met the standards of the certification level
they are pursuing to the satisfaction of the instructor.
2. Procedures for gas
failures, including valve manipulation, gas-sharing, and
regulator switching as appropriate.
3. Surface marker buoy deployment.
4. Buoyancy and trim.
5. Be able to comfortably
demonstrate at least two propulsion techniques appropriate for
delicate and/or silty environments.
6. Use of touch contact for limited and simulated zero visibility situations.
7. Reel and guideline use.
8. Demonstrate familiarity with required course equipment.
9. Gas-sharing
scenarios to include gas-sharing for at least 200 feet/60 meters.
10. Demonstrate the
effective deployment of a reserve light in less than 30 seconds.
11. Demonstrate good buoyancy control skills.
12. Demonstrate
effective valve-management by switching regulators, shutting down a
valve in less than 15 seconds and returning the valve to the open
position again in less than 15 seconds.
13. Demonstrate reasonable proficiency with a single decompression bottle.
14. Demonstrate
proficiency with effective decompression techniques, including
depth and time management.
Equipment Requirements
Each student should have, and be familiar with, all of the following required equipment.
1.
Tanks/Cylinders: Students are required to use dual
tanks/cylinders connected with a dual outlet isolator manifold,
which allows the use of two first-stages. All dives must start with
a minimum of 80 cubic feet/2250 liters of gas. Divers must also
have access to one deco tank/cylinder of 50% Nitrox.
2. Regulators: Two
first-stages, each supplying a single second-stage. One of the
second-stages must be on a 7-foot/2-meter hose. One of the
first-stages must supply a pressure gauge and provide inflation
for a dry suit (where applicable). One first-stage regulator for
shallow decompression gas, supplying a single second-stage and pressure
gauge.
3. Backplate System:
A rigid and flat platform, of metal construction with minimal
padding, held to a diver by one continuous piece of nylon
webbing. This webbing should be adjustable through the plate and
should use a buckle to secure the system at the waist. A crotch
strap attached to the lower end of this platform and looped
through the waistband would prevent the system from riding up a
diver's back. A knife should be secured to the waist on the left
webbing tab. This webbing should support five D-rings; the first
should be placed at the left hip, the second should be placed in
line with a diver's right collarbone, the third should be placed
in line with the diver's left collarbone, the fourth and fifth
should be affixed to the crotch strap to use while scootering or
towing/stowing gear. The harness below the diver's arms
should have small restrictive bands to allow for the placement of
reserve light powered by three in-line c-cell batteries (where
necessary). The system should retain a minimalist approach with
no unnecessary components.
4. Buoyancy Compensation
Device: A diver's buoyancy compensation device should be
back-mounted and minimalist in nature. It should come free
of extraneous strings, tabs, or other material. There should be
no restrictive bands or "bungee" of any sort affixed to the
buoyancy cell. In addition, diver lift should not exceed
80lbs. Wing size and shape should be appropriate to the cylinder
size(s) employed for training.
5. At least one depth-measuring device
6. One timekeeping device
7. Decompression tables
8. Mask and fins: Mask should be low volume; fins should be rigid, non-split
9. At least one cutting device
10. Wet Notes
11. One spool with 100 feet/30 meters line per diver
12. One primary reel per team, with a minimum of 300 feet/90 meters of line
13. One primary
light: A primary light should be minimalist in design; its
power source should consist of a rechargeable battery pack residing in
a canister powering an external light head via a light cord.
Primary lights should produce the equivalent output of 50 watt
halogen/10 watt HID lighting or greater.
14. Two reserve lights:
Reserve lights should be non-rechargeable in-line three c-cell
battery lights with a minimum of protrusions and a single
attachment at its rear. The light should be activated by twisting
the front bezel towards the body, deactivated by turning it away
from the body.
15. Exposure suit appropriate for the duration of exposure
16. At least one surface marker buoy per diver
Note: Prior to the commencement of class, students should consult with
a GUE representative to verify equipment requirements. Whether or not a
piece of equipment fulfills GUE's equipment requirement remains at the
discretion of GUE and its instructor representatives.
Participants are responsible for providing all equipment or for making
provisions to secure all necessary equipment before the start of the
course. In general, it is better for the student to learn while using
his or her own equipment. However, students should exercise
caution before purchasing new equipment to avoid acquiring substandard
equipment. Please contact a GUE representative prior to making any
purchases. Information about recommended equipment can be obtained from
the equipment considerations section of GUE's web site.
info@portofinodivers.com
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