First Responder

Course Description

“Feces occur.” No matter what your level of experience, as a cave diver you may be among the first on the scene of an incident involving a lost diver or a fatality.

The good news is, in most parts of the cave diving world, there are dedicated teams who do the actual body recoveries. The authorities may ask you to take part in the search for a missing diver; however, in the case of a fatality, it’s unlikely you will need to perform any part of the extraction.

This doesn’t mean there aren’t you can do to help. Trained First Responders can:

• Help secure and manage the scene
• Interface with law enforcement (who are ultimately in charge)
• Begin the data-collection process
• Help prevent untrained individuals from making matters worse.

The First Responder course was developed in cooperation with the International Underwater Cave Rescue and Recovery (IUCRR) group. It teaches you to be the person who can help perform these vital tasks. It’s an important part of the instructor development process and included in the Advanced Cave Diver course.

Course Equipment Requirements

As this is a non-diving course, there are no equipment requirements.

Course Prerequisites

• Be at least 18
• Hold full Cave Diver certification or equivalent from a widely recognized diver training organization

How long will this take?

This course generally takes the better part of a day.