Course Overview:
The HSA Trained Buddy Diver is someone who dives, as a Buddy, with a Handicapped Diver. They usually dive in a three man Buddy team with another Trained Buddy depending on the Certification level of the handicapped Diver. This course covers the special needs and requirement for diving with a handicapped person. There is a full 8-12 hour day of classroom to educate you on the needs of various types of disabilities and how to aid the diver in overcoming them. There is also a day of pool training and a day of Open Water training. In the pool session, and OW, you are bound so that you have a better understanding of how a Handicapped Diver feels when they are in the water.
Prerequisites for course:
1. Be certified as a PADI Open Water Diver* or have a qualifying certification from another training organization.
2. Have 40 Open Water Dives
What the course will cover:
1. Empathy training to understand how a Handicapped diver might feel in the water.
2. What its like to dive without full use of your body.
3. How to dive with a partially paralyzed or fully paralyzed Diver
4. How to help prepare a Handicapped Diver for the dive conditions you will be diving.
