PADI recreational rebreather courses will cover semi-closed (SCR) and closed-circuit rebreathers (CCR) which are fully electronically controlled, known as eSCR and eCCR.
Third party testing for all units will be required. There will also be a list of features rebreathers should have for recreational diving (and a different list for the Tec courses) and manufacturers will need to ensure their units have these before applying for them to be used during PADI Rebreather Courses.
Rebreathers that meet the requirements for PADI recreational rebreather courses will be called Type R Rebreathers. These could be eSCRs, eCCRs or hybrids of both.
The courses will be generic but due to differences between rebreathers the qualifications will be unit specific. Divers and instructors will use manufacturer user manuals in addition to PADI materials to cover both information that applies to all rebreathers and that which applies to the specific unit being taught.
Diver Courses
PADI Rebreather Diver
•Aimed at qualified entry level divers and above who have some open circuit scuba diving experience.
•Teach divers to use Type R rebreathers to a maximum of 18m/60 feet depth within no-decompression limits.
•Responses to problems will be simple. In most cases this means switching the mouthpiece to open circuit mode and ascending.
PADI Advanced Rebreather Diver
•With a pre-requisite of PADI Rebreather Diver (on the same Type R rebreather) this course expands on the basic knowledge they have already learned to teach divers to carry a bailout cylinder and dive to 30m/100 feet max (40m/130 feet max with PADI Deep Diver).
•Responses to problems will be very similar – bailout to open circuit – the main difference is that they will have a bailout cylinder to enable them to bailout from greater depth.
PADI Rebreather Qualifier program
• Divers wishing to cross-over to another Type R rebreather will need to do the Rebreather Qualifier program which covers unit specific skills and knowledge.
•Additional modules for divers with PADI Advanced Rebreather Diver.
•Divers will be certified at their current level on the new unit.
PADI Rebreather Refresher
•Similar to a Scuba Review this program refreshes rebreather divers’ skills if they have not dived on a rebreather for a while.
Instructor level
PADI Rebreather Instructor – will be able to teach all recreational rebreather diver programs on the specific unit(s) they have qualified on.
• There will be no direct applications for this rating.
•Candidates will need to be qualified rebreather divers with experience on the specific unit. Experience will probably need to be in excess of 50 hours, however precise requirements are still to be confirmed.
•Candidates will attend a rebreather instructor course conducted by a Rebreather Instructor Trainer.
•Instructors crossing over from one unit to another will attend a shorter program ensuring they have the required skill and knowledge on the new unit.
•Instructors crossing over from other organisations will attend a shorter program ensuring they have the skill and knowledge to teach PADI rebreather courses.
•Instructors will be required to use the same rebreather as the students when teaching a course.
Instructor level products:
Rebreather Diver Instructor Guide
Rebreather Diver Course Wetnotes
There will be one Instructor Trainer level:
PADI Rebreather Instructor Trainer
•There will be no direct applications for this rating.
•Course Directors or TecRec Instructor Trainers who are also PADI rebreather Instructors will attend a Rebreather Instructor Trainer program to orient them to teaching rebreather instructors.
•Providing they meet PADI and manufacturer experience requirements Rebreather Instructor Trainers will be able to teach instructors on any unit for which they are PADI rebreather instructors.
I.T level products:
Rebreather Diver Instructor Trainer Guide
Launch
The estimated launch for these courses is 3rd Quarter 2011.
PADI Staff will conduct programs to teach the first rebreather instructors and trainers at events organised by the Rebreather Advisory Team and Instructor Development teams in each Regional Head Quarters.
These events will be at strategic locations throughout each region and will be scheduled as soon as possible after launch, however, we will need to allow for product delivery times.
Tec CCR programs will be launched later in 2011. Courses will follow a similar format, however, instructor and trainer qualifications are more complex as there will be several levels.
Read more about TecRec on the TecRec Blog, see right corner for links.
