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RESCUE

PRIMER

WHY TAKE THIS COURSE?

Scuba diving is a safe outdoor activity with low accident rates, but as with all activities, participants should be prepared to handle emergencies and perform rescues to assist team members. The awareness of your ability to help will increase your confidence and make your dives safer and more enjoyable.

GUE’s Rescue Primer is a course designed to teach divers basic rescue techniques relevant to scuba diving emergencies.

WHO IS IT FOR?

Being able to prevent or handle stressful situations and emergencies underwater is one of the most meaningful skills you will ever learn, so the Rescue Primer should be high on every diver’s to-do list.

This course is recommended to all who are planning to pursue diving at any level. This primer is best taken after the Navigation Primer, as it requires competence in navigational skills.

WHAT WILL I LEARN?

Course outcomes include, but are not limited to: assisting distressed divers on the surface and underwater, including unconscious diver recovery; missing diver protocols; surface management of a diving emergency; and diving BLS skills for DCI.

PREREQUISITES AND DURATION

Applicants for a GUE Rescue Primer must:

  • Be a minimum of 16 years of age.

  • Be physically and mentally fit.

  • Be a non-smoker.

  • Be able to swim.

  • Obtain a physician’s prior written authorization for use of prescription drugs, except for birth control, or for any medical condition that may pose a risk while diving.

  • Have passed the GUE Recreational Diver 1 course or a GUE Fundamentals course at the “recreational” level.

  • Have completed at least 25 non-training dives.

  • For a full list of course prerequisites, click here.

The Rescue Primer is normally conducted over two days. It requires a minimum of four in-water sessions (including three dives) and at least 16 hours of instruction, encompassing classroom lectures, land drills, and in-water work.

This course can be conducted as part of GUE Recreational Diver Level 2 program.

COURSE SCHEDULING & COSTS

Please see the Course Scheduling & Costs page for more information about how to schedule a class and costs related to taking a GUE course.