Technical Diver Level 3

Course Outcomes

GUE's Technical Diver Level 3 course is designed to enhance and extend deep diving proficiency. This training must occur on GUE-approved passive semi-closed circuit rebreathers or GUE-approved closed-circuit rebreathers and appropriate bottom and decompression breathing mixtures. Other course outcomes include deep diving with a DPV; the use of multiple stages/deco tanks; the use of trimix with high helium and low oxygen percentages; hypoxic-zone protocols; gas management; oxygen management; extended decompression; accelerated, omitted, and general decompression strategies; in-water recompression strategies; and advanced dive planning.
 

Prerequisites

Applicants for a Tech 3 course must:

1. Submit a completed registration form, a medical history, and a liability release to GUE Headquarters.
2. Be physically and mentally fit.
3. Hold insurance that will cover diving emergencies such as hyperbaric treatment, e.g. DAN Master-level insurance or equivalent.
4. Be a nonsmoker.
5. Obtain a physician’s prior written authorization for the use of prescription drugs, except for birth control, or for any prior medical condition that may pose a risk while diving.
6. Be a minimum of 18 years of age. Documented parental or legal guardian consent must be submitted to GUE HQ when the participant is a minor.
7. Hold a GUE Closed-Circuit Rebreather Diver Level 2 certification if utilizing a CCR during the course, or hold a GUE Passive Semi-Closed Circuit Rebreather Diver certification if utilizing a PSCR during the course.
8. Hold a GUE Diver Propulsion Vehicle Level 1 or GUE Diver Propulsion Vehicle Cave certification. 
9. Have conducted at least 50 non-training Tech 2 or CCR 2 dives following completion of GUE Technical Diver Level 2 or GUE Closed-Circuit Rebreather Diver Level 2 certification, whichever is applicable.
10. Have conducted at least 500 non-training dives following completion of autonomous scuba diver certification. At least 100 dives must have utilized the rebreather configuration that will be used during the Tech 3 course, and at least 25 of these must have been at a depth of at least 250 ft/75 m.

Course Content

The Technical Diver Level 3 course is normally conducted over four days (excluding academics, which are conducted online prior to in-person training). It requires a minimum of four dives (including three trimix experience dives) and at least thirty hours of instruction, encompassing lectures, land drills, and in-water work. 
GUE CCR divers who hold certification under past versions of Standards will undergo an assessment of their CCR skills at the start of the course. The program is extended to seven days to encompass comprehensive training in CCR 2 skills before advancing to Technical Diver Level 3 lectures, land-drills, and in-water work.


Tech 3 Specific Training Standards

1. Student-to-instructor ratio is not to exceed 6:1 during land drill or surface exercises; it cannot exceed 3:1 during any in-water training.
2. Maximum depth is defined and limited by the insurance coverage of the participants and instructor(s).
   1. For courses where the diving insurance carried by all participants limits coverage to 330 ft/100 m, no diving activity is to exceed this limit. The instructor(s) must also carry relevant insurance to the appropriate depth.
   2. For courses where the diving insurance carried by all participants limits coverage to 400 ft/120 m, no diving activity is to exceed this limit. The instructor(s) must also carry relevant insurance to the appropriate depth. 
3. Dives must not be planned to incur more than 180 minutes of unadjusted decompression time, as established by GUE’s DecoPlanner.
4. Students must complete GUE Rescue Primer or equivalent from a recognized training agency prior to certification.

Training Materials

GUE training materials and recommended study as determined by the course study packet available online or via download after GUE course registration.

Academic Topics

1. Introduction: GUE project and exploration diving
2. Course overview (objectives, limits, expectations)
3. Extreme gas parameters, including hypoxic protocols with low oxygen content
4. Gas management during dives deeper than 300 ft/90 m:
   1. Thermal considerations
   2. Gas properties, including HPNS
   3. Deepwater CO2 risks
5. Risks of decompression diving
   1. Accelerated, omitted, and general decompression strategies
   2. In-water decompression sickness during ascent
6. Decompression consideration during dives deeper than 300 ft/90 m:
   1. In-water recompression
   2. Decompression stations
7. Logistics and planning during dives deeper than 300 ft/90 m
8. Support teams and emergency management
9. Considerations for lost-at-sea scenarios 
10. DPV considerations in deep diving

Academic Topics

1. Protocols for in-water and surface teams
2. Gas switching procedures and protocols
3. Low oxygen content, including protocols with 10% or less O2
4. Back gas, stage regulators, valve, and rebreather failures and management
5. Use of bottom stages and multiple decompression stages
6. Multiple rotation ascents
7. Unconscious diver recovery
8. Decompression gas sharing
9. Drop tank procedures and safety diver protocols

Required Dive Skills and Drills

1. Must be able to swim at least 500 yds/450 m in less than 14 minutes without stopping. This test should be conducted in a swimsuit and, where necessary, appropriate thermal protection.
2. Must be able to swim a distance of at least 60 ft/18 m on a breath hold while submerged.
3. Demonstrate a safe and responsible demeanor throughout all training.
4. Demonstrate basic equipment proficiency and an understanding of the GUE CCR or PSCR equipment configuration used during training.
5. Demonstrate proficiency in safe diving techniques, including pre-dive preparation, in-water activity, and post-dive assessment.
6. Demonstrate awareness of team member location and a concern for safety, responding quickly to visual indications and dive partner needs.
7. Demonstrate proficiency in underwater communication.
8. Demonstrate proficiency in proper ascents and descents while using a DPV and utilizing variable ascent rates and multiple tank rotations.
9. Demonstrate proficiency in conducting a bailout ascent while using a DPV and utilizing variable ascent rates, tank rotations, and multiple gas switches.
10. Demonstrate good buoyancy and trim, i.e., approximate reference is a maximum of 20 degrees off horizontal while remaining within a range of 3 ft/1 m from target depth. 
11. Comfortably demonstrate at least four propulsion techniques that would be appropriate in a delicate and/or silty environment, including competence in the backward kick, and helicopter turn.
12. Demonstrate appropriate strength required to recover an unconscious diver and to manage all required dive equipment during water entry and exit.
13. Demonstrate proficiency in the ability to plan Tech 3 level dives while accounting for environmental conditions and logistics, available gas, and required decompression.
14. Demonstrate clean and effective removal and exchange of multiple stage cylinders while maintaining depth in a horizontal position (tank rotations).
15. Demonstrate proficiency in gas failure and rebreather failure procedures.
16. Demonstrate proficiency in managing gas-sharing scenarios, particularly gas management during the ascent.
17. Demonstrate proficiency in effective decompression techniques, including depth and time management, while also managing multiple gas switches and other tasks such as tank rotations.
18. Demonstrate diver rescue techniques, including effective underwater management of an unconscious diver.
19. Demonstrate proficiency in setting up drop tanks, briefing the surface team, and effectively receiving and deploying drop tanks.
20. Demonstrate proficiency in working with safety divers and a surface team as well as effectively receiving and deploying extra gas and managing tanks during decompression.

 

Equipment Requirements

GUE CCR or PSCR configuration as outlined in Appendix A, plus: 

1. Five stages (bottom stages/decompression stages) with stage regulators
2. One primary reel per team
3. Three stage leashes
4. Drysuit inflation system independent from back gas cylinders (while breathing a helium mixture, if using a drysuit)
5. A minimum of 3 surface marker buoys (SMBs) and spools with appropriate line length to allow diver-to-surface communication
6. One GUE-approved DPV
7. At least one spare GUE-approved DPV per team

Prior to the commencement of the class, students should consult with a GUE representative to verify equipment requirements and the appropriateness of any selected equipment.