Deco Procedures
What you can expect to learn
- Decompression dive planning including:
- Decompression gas choices
- Tables vs. personal dive computers
- Emergency and contingency planning (equipment failure, omitted decompression, etc.)
- Decompression diving procedures
- Equipment selection
- Pre-dive checks and drills
- Stress analysis and mitigation
- Following a decompression schedule
- Gas switching
- Team awareness and communication
- SMB/lift bag deployment
- Refining your proper trim, buoyancy and finning techniques
- Emergency procedures (equipment failures, catastrophic gas loss, omitted decompression, navigational errors, etc.)
- Equipment considerations, cylinder labeling, analyzing nitrox mixtures, and gas blending procedures
Course Equipment Requirements
The following equipment is required for each student:
- Primary cylinder(s), cylinder volume appropriate for planned dive and student gas consumption
Note: Independent and isolated back-mounted doubles, are allowed to be used.
- Decompression mix cylinder(s)
- Cylinder volume appropriate for the planned dive and student gas consumption with submersible pressure gauge
- Labeled in accordance with TDI Standards
- Depth gauge and automatic bottom timer and / or dive computer
- Regulator(s)
- Primary and alternate 2nd stage required on all primary cylinders
- Submersible pressure gauges are required on all primary cylinders
Course Prerequisites
- Minimum age 18
- Minimum certification of SDI Advanced Adventure Diver, Advanced Diver, or equivalent
- DA requires a tech pass in GUE Fundies
- Proof of 25 logged open water dives
Over the last 20 years of teaching Decompression Procedures class, we have noticed an almost 100% consistent lack of preparedness of divers coming into this level. Most often, these divers were lacking in the fundamental diving skills, such as:
- Equipment configuration and use
- Trim and buoyancy
- Propulsion techniques including backwards kick
- Valve management
- Gas sharing
- SMB deployment
The Decompression Procedures class should be about how to plan for and execute Decompression dives, and how to refine and apply your diving fundamentals to planned decompression diving. Through teaching hundreds of students, we came to the conclusion that we needed to require more of the students coming into the Decompression level training so that we could spend the allotted time focusing on planned decompression specific techniques and procedures.
The GUE Fundies training has explicitly defined and objectively measurable standards. Requiring that our students enter the Decompression Procedures course with a GUE Fundies tech pass, was the most effective way to ensure that all students are diving and operating at a minimum level of proficiency and competency before beginning planned decompression diving.
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