ERDI Public Safety Courses

This first level Emergency Response Diving Course is designed to give  the certified open water diver, or open water certified public safety  diver, the fundamental skills needed to safely function as part of an  OSHA and NFPA compliant public safety dive team in both the diver and  tender roles.

• A certified open water diver who is currently a public safety professional
• A certified open water diver who would like to operate and support persons within a dive team organization

• Minimum age 18
• SDI Open Water Diver certification or equivalent
• Current CPR, first aid and oxygen administration certification

• Equipment preparation and selection, problem solving, tender skills,  responding to a call, search patterns, scene evaluation, environmental  risks, evidence handling
• Dive skills including line signals, diver communications, executing  multiple search patterns, victim recovery, emergency procedures, and  decontamination procedures
• How to continue and transition your ERD I training into ERD Ops Components courses

• Structured training that solidifies diver and tender abilities in  the participation of planning and executing dive team operations

• Diver evaluations 
• Demonstrate mastery of scuba skills, line signals, diver touch communications, and search patterns
• 800 metre mask, snorkel and fins swim, 500 metre distance swim no aids, 100 metre buddy tow in scuba equipment
• Tender swimming evaluations
  • 200 metre swim without aids, 100 metre buddy tow in personal flotation device (PFD), 10-minute survival float
  • Demonstrate effective line communications with divers, proper tending techniques

• Course Cost: $123.55 USD for eLearning only. Pool  and open water training not included. 
• Contact Crystal Blue Diving for details (224) 333-0800.

The ERD II Course furthers the public safety diver’s knowledge and  advances skill sets for emergency response diving. The ERD II Course  will examine lifting techniques, encapsulation, a victim’s death, as  well as, physiological changes a submerged body undergoes, mechanics of  drowning, handling of remains, environmental issues, full face mask and  dry suit use.

• Any certified ERD I Public Safety Diver or team member who engages in rescue and recovery operations
• Any certified ERD I Public Safety Diver or team member looking to increase their diver awareness and skills
• Any certified ERD I Public Safety Diver or team member who is seeking the ability to enroll in ERDI II Ops Component training
• Any certified ERD I Public Safety Diver or team member looking to become an ERDI Supervisor

• Minimum age 18
• ERD I or equivalent
• 10 or more logged public safety dives, either training or operational dives, beyond ERD I with a recognized public safety team
• CPR, AED, O2, AND first aid certified or equivalents

• Mechanics of drowning, including near drowning
• Physiological changes to human remains
• Crime scene identification and removal of crime scene evidence
• Encapsulation considerations
• Lifting techniques and considerations
• Advanced skills for dry suit and full face mask diving
• Learning decontamination procedures

ERD II students will successfully locate an object, rig a lift bag  and lift the object to the surface while maintaining evidence  continuity. They will discuss the potential hazards and benefits of  various lifting techniques and considerations for evidence recovery.  Students will also learn physiological changes that occur to human  remains and how to handle a body/body bag. ERD II students should  prepare to spend several hours in their dry suits, full face mask, and  personal protective equipment.

• After successful completion of the ERD II course, participants will  be able to enroll in ERDI Ops Components, ERDI Supervisor courses as  well as engage in rescue and recovery operations with their recognized  public safety dive team

• Minimum of 80 percent on the ERD II written test, 100 percent remediation
• Watermanship skills: 
  • 800 metre mask, snorkel, and fins swim non-stop. Use of arms is not permitted; recommend completion time is 16 minutes
  • 500 metre distance swim, non-stop, without use of swim aids; recommended completion time is 16 minutes
  • 100 metre buddy tow in full scuba equipment; recommended completion time is 4 minutes
  • Survival float without aids for 15 minutes; during the last two minutes the student will keep their hands above the waterline
• Confined water skills: 
  • Evaluation of basic scuba skills including redundant air source use
  • Dry suit skills including: 
    • Proper donning, proper weighting, inflation and deflation,  simulation stuck inflation valve, recovery from inverted position, and  buoyancy skills
  • Full face mask skills including: 
    • Equipment set up, proper donning and adjustment, entry technique,  equalization, clearing partially flooded, remove and replace mask  underwater, remove mask, and utilization of redundant air source
• Open water skills: 
  • Successful completion of 6 open water dives in simulated to actual incident response
  • Students are required to successfully complete the following skills: 
    • Scene size-up, team briefing, deploying the team, inflate/deflate  dry suit, disconnect/connect dry suit hose underwater, recover from  inverted position, clear a partially flooded full face mask, remove and  replace full face mask, remove full face mask and utilize redundant air  source to ascend, locate an object, successfully rig a lift bag and lift  the object to the surface while maintaining evidence continuity,  debrief and record each dive with team log and diver log, and perform a  post diver evaluation both medical and psychological

• Contact Crystal Blue Diving for details (224) 333-0800.

The ERD Dry Suit Ops Course develops the knowledge and skills that are  necessary for dry suit diving operations in emergency response diving.  Introducing fundamental skills of dry suit diving and other important  topics such as; encapsulation, contaminated environments, protecting  portable water supplies and decontamination procedures.

• A certified ERD I diver who has completed their Dry Suit Ops component
• A certified ERD I diver who engages in missions in potentially hazardous water conditions

• Minimum age 18
• ERD 1 or equivalent
• Current CPR, first aid and oxygen administration certification

• Environmental factors and hazards, types and features of dry suits,  addressing diver insulation, dry suit maintenance, buoyancy controls and  managing dry suit emergencies
• How to begin filling requirements towards enrolling in ERD II training

• Controlled training that solidifies diver and tender abilities in  the participation of planning and executing dive team operations

• Demonstrate proper dive planning
• Dry suit donning and a complete understating of all dry suit functions
• Dry suit emergency procedures to make sound judgments

• Course Cost: $144.15 for eLearning only.  Pool  and open water training not included.  
  Contact Crystal Blue Diving for details (224) 333-0800.

The ERD Full Face Mask Course provides the skills and knowledge for  the ERD diver to utilize full face masks for emergency response diving.

• A certified ERD I diver who will complete missions requiring a full face mask
• A certified ERD I diver who engages has not been formally trained on a full face mask
• A certified ERD I diver working towards ERD II Ops

• Minimum age 18
• Certified as ERD I or equivalent
• Current CPR, first aid and oxygen administration certification

• The knowledge and skills necessary to plan and execute full face mask diving operations

• Regulated training that involved team members in understanding functions and benefits of a full face mask
• The ability to have each team member comfortable with full face masks diving operations
• The ability to have each team member understands the advantages of full face mask diving operations

• Demonstration of proper donning and equalization
• Perform controlled mask partial flood and clear, full mask flood and clear, mask removal and replacement
• Switch to back up mask
• Remove mask and utilize alternate source of air

• Course Cost: $144.15 USD for eLearning only.  Pool  and open water training not included.  
• Contact Crystal Blue Diving for details (224) 333-0800.

The ERDI Diving in Contaminated Water Ops Component is one of the most challenging public safety diver training programs.

• Any PS diver that enters a: river, stream, pond, or lake and disturbs the bottom
• Any PS diver that enters the water where a vehicle, light aircraft, or human/animal remains could be
• Any PS diver who is not familiar with the four generally accepted classifications of contaminated water

• How to prepare for contaminated water before you enter
• What to do once you are out of the water
• Proper cleaning, storage, and maintenance of your PPE

Divers should be prepared to spend long hours in their PPE as well as  cleaning PPE and demonstrate proficiency in all contaminated water  skills and techniques, dive assessment and parameters, and a high level  of awareness. Dives incorporate hazard recognition and handling, use of  specialized equipment; decontamination equipment, full face mask and  surface supplied air delivery systems require additional training.

What’s in it for you and your team: safety and awareness, giving you  and your team more tools for environmental risk assessment resulting in  short and long term health benefits.

• One confined water session
• Two dives with a minimum of 30 minutes bottom time
• Post dive decontamination exercises

• Course Cost: $123.55 for eLearning only. Pool  and open water training not included. 

Contact Crystal Blue Diving for details (224) 333-0800.

The ERD Tender Course trains team personnel to properly line tend and  participate within the public safety dive team in a non-diving roll. The  ERD Tender role is so critical to the success of the mission and the  team, some teams utilize their most experienced diver to fulfill the  role.

• Any team that is deploying divers into the water
• Any team that has not been formally trained on the proper tending of divers

• Team structure
• Effective communication with the diver via, line signals and electronic communication
• Diver safety by: choosing the right diver for the conditions, air consumption calculations
• Mapping and documentation
• Scene evaluation

Tenders should expect to take lots of notes and spend time analyzing  outcomes to be prepared for the next callout. Learning the proper PPE  for the tender and spending long hours in that PPE, crime scene  recognition, search patterns and decontamination procedures are some  more of the topics covered. In addition, ERD Tender students learn and  master tending skills in both confined water and open water settings.

What’s in it for you and your team: a stronger team structure that is better rounded and prepared to handle any situation.

• One confined water session
• Four hours confined water training
• Six hours open water training

• Course Cost: $123.55 for eLearning only.  Pool  and open water training not included.  
• Contact Crystal Blue Diving for details (224) 333-0800.