Hoodsport ‘N Dive offers specialized training to public safety divers through Emergency Response Divers International (ERDI). ERDI is a training organization through Scuba Diving International (SDI). ERDI utilizes training principals required by both federal state and local dive teams. The training complies with NFPA standards.
The lead instructor is Don Kinney. Don has been a police officer for over 30 years. He has been a police diver for over 29 years and in charge of a city dive team for the past 24 years. During this time he has conducted investigations and recoveries in numerous environments including lakes, rivers, oceans, retention ponds and a golf pond. He has experience developing SOP manuals and understands the standards to which a dive team must comply.
His greatest ability is to look at a team or individual diver and adapt the training techniques which will best suit their needs and environments.
ERDI is the Public Safety Diving (PSD) agency that trains Police, Fire and other public safety organizations in Search and Rescue techniques in just about every submerged environment known. ERDI trains departments on how to make and maintain their own PSD teams along with being the only Public Safety diving training agency that has their own insurance that endorses its own standards. All the programs are OSHA and NFPA compliant. Some of the most successful ERDI teams are the Chicago Fire Department, Chicago Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.
Many teams have fallen victim to the Rescue Diver Certification farce. Recognizing the need for additional training the administrator seeks out “professional assistance” from the local dive store. The dive store instructor provides all that he is able to provide, a recreational certification as a Rescue Diver. Most recreational training agencies define their Rescue Diver Course as a self and buddy rescue program. This is adequate for helping your buddy who gets in trouble at 45 feet on the coral reef in the Keys, but not much assistance in the Public Safety Environment.
