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GUE Rebreather Diver

Purpose

GUE’s Rebreather Diver course is designed to 1) educate individuals in basic rebreather technologies and

2) cultivate diver proficiency in the use of Halcyon’s semi-closed-circuit technology. The course assumes

that divers are not experienced in the use of rebreather technology but are very capable open-circuit divers.

 

Prerequisites

1. Must meet GUE general course prerequisites as outlined in section 1.6

2. Must be a minimum of twenty-one years of age

3. Must have passed GUE Tech 2 (or equivalent)

4. Must have at least 300 scuba dives beyond open-water qualification. Fifty must have been in

doubles, with twenty-five involving stage decompression.

5. Must be able to swim a distance of at least 60 feet/18 meters on a breath hold

6. Must be able to swim at least 500 yards/365 meters in under fourteen minutes without stopping.

This test should be conducted in a swimsuit and, where necessary, appropriate thermal protection.

 

Duration

The Rebreather class is normally conducted over a five-day period. It involves a minimum of forty hours of

instruction, encompassing both classroom and in-water work.

 

Course Limits

1. General training limits as outlined in section 1.4

2. Student-to-instructor ratio is not to exceed 3:1 during any in-water training

3. Maximum depth 100 feet/30 meters

 

Course Content

The GUE Rebreather course is normally conducted over a five-day period, and cumulatively involves a

minimum of forty hours of instruction designed to ensure a working knowledge of rebreather diving,

failures and life-saving solutions. Course requirements include a minimum of twelve hours of academics

and at least eight open-water dives.

 

Required Training Materials

 1. Doing it Right: The Fundamentals of Better Diving. Jarrod Jablonski, GUE, 2001, High Springs,

Florida.

2. Getting Clear on the Basics: The Fundamentals of Technical Diving. Jarrod Jablonski, GUE,

2001, High Springs, Florida.

3. Recommended rebreather training materials.

 

Academic Topics

 

1. Purpose

• Risk

• Benefit

• Advantages

• Disadvantages

2. Common components of the Halcyon RB80 and how they function

• Mouthpiece and hoses

• Counter lung

• CO2 canister and chemical removal by the scrubber

• Gas-addition system

• Gas-management and information system

3. Inherent risks of rebreathers

• Hypoxia

• Hyperoxia

• Hypercapnia

• Hyperventilation

4. Introduction to the Halcyon rebreather

• Halcyon design

• Gas circulation during inhalation

• Gas circulation during exhalation

• Gas changes

• Passive gas addition

• Diving logistics

5. Halcyon rebreather alarms and warnings

• Intrusion

• Failure susceptibility

• Information content

• Verification

• Physiological monitoring

6. The physics behind a Halcyon rebreather

• O2 toxicity

• Decompression

• Theory and review

• Rebreather vs. open circuit

• Oxygen consumption (RMV)

7. Configuration

• DIR foundation

• Halcyon configuration

• Rebreather configured DIR style

8. Halcyon rebreather physical design

• Components, functions, failures, problem recognition and alarms, problem-solving

• Mouthpiece, double hoses, check valves and bailout regulators

• CO2 canister and scrubber bed

• Inner bellows and overpressure dump valve

• Counter lung actuated gas addition regulators

9. Problem recognition and management

• Scrubber flooded, leading to Hypercapnia

• CO2 absorbent failures leading to Hypercapnia

• Check-valve failure leading to Hypercapnia

• Addition failures leading to Hypoxia

• Mechanical failure leading to Hyperoxia

• Gas-supply failures

• Diving conditions leading to Hypoxia

• Bailout scenarios

• Physiological monitoring

10. The importance of instinctive physiological monitoring

• Pre-dive planning and preparation

• Gas duration

• Gas choice

• CO2 absorbent management

• Pre-dive checks

11. Pre-dive planning

• Gas choice

• Gas duration

• Gas-management scenarios

• Decompression procedures

• CO2 absorbent management and duration

• Pre-dive checks and vacuum checks

• Open-circuit bailouts

12. Diving the Halcyon rebreather

• Initial in-water verification

• Descents/ascents on OC

• Flow-checks

• Buoyancy control

• Breathing characteristics

• Monitoring the unit and alarms

• Flooding and failures

• Monitoring the gas

• Loop purging with mask

• Gas switches

13. Post-dive procedures

• Rinse hoses between dives on same day

• Rinse unit after one day’s use

• Disinfect and dry hoses and unit after five days’ use

14. Need for continuing education and skill reinforcement

 

Land Drills and Topics

 

1. Flow-checks

2. Manifold failures

3. Gas-addition failures

4. Gas-sharing

5. Rebreather functions

 

Required Dive Skills and Drills

 

1. All skills and drills as outlined in General Diving Skills, section 1.5.

2. An understanding of diving limitations.

3. Skill required to manage gas failures, including valve manipulation, gas-sharing, and regulator

switching as appropriate.

4. Demonstrate the ability to deploy a lift bag/surface-marker buoy in under two minutes while

hovering stationary. Participants should not vary in depth more than 5 feet/1.5 meters.

5. Demonstrate the ability to recognize, evaluate and correct floods, and then discharge excess water.

6. Demonstrate the ability to diagnose and correctly respond to simulated rebreather problems.

7. Gas-sharing scenarios to include breath-hold management for gas-sharing for at least 200 feet/60

meters.

8. Demonstrate effective valve-management by switching regulators, shutting down a valve in under

fifteen seconds and returning the valve to the open position again in under fifteen seconds.

9. Demonstrate proficiency in removing/attaching stage and/or decompression bottles while hovering

horizontal. Trainees must be capable of removing, replacing and plugging in a deco bottle in under

ninety seconds.

10. Demonstrate the ability to comfortably switch gases using the gas-addition manifold while

maintaining good trim and neutral buoyancy.

11. Demonstrate proficiency in safe diving procedures, including assembly, vacuum and pressure test,

pre-dive preparations, pre-dive vacuum test, flow check, in-water activity, and post-dive

assessment and breakdown.

12. Comfortably swim for at least 50 feet/15 meters without a mask while diving, breathing on semiclosed

circuit.

13. Demonstrate the ability to safely switch between semi-closed circuit and open circuit; i.e., flow

check.

14. Efficiently and comfortably demonstrate how to donate gas to an out-of-gas diver in multiple gassharing

episodes from semi-closed circuit, with one or more experiences to include a distance of at

least 30 feet/9 meters.

15. Be able to comfortably demonstrate use, manipulation and failures of the gas-addition system.

16. Demonstrate awareness of a team member’s rebreather function and a concern for safety,

responding quickly to visual cues and dive-partner needs during diving and failures.

17. Demonstrate reasonable proficiency with use of the rebreather during ascents, descents and diving.

18. Demonstrate good buoyancy and trim, i.e. approximate reference maximum of 20 degrees off

horizontal while remaining within 3 feet/1 meter of a target depth. Frequency of buoyancy

variation as well as general diver control remain important evaluation criteria.

 

Equipment Requirements

 

Each student should have, and be familiar with, all of the following required equipment:

1. Rebreather: Halcyon semi-closed circuit rebreather.

2. Tanks/Cylinders: Students are required to use dual tanks/cylinders connected with a dual-outlet

isolator manifold, which allows for the use of two first-stages. The double cylinders must be

accessible by both the rebreather and the open-circuit regulators. Two aluminum cylinders of 30

cubic feet/840 liters or greater are required for deco gases.

3. Regulators: Two first-stages, each supplying a single second-stage. One of the second-stages must

be on a 7-foot/2-meter hose. One of the first-stages must supply a pressure gauge and provide

inflation for a dry suit (where applicable).

One first-stage regulator for shallow decompression gas and one first-stage regulator for

travel/decompression gas; each one is to supply a single second-stage and a single pressure gauge.

4. Backplate System: A rigid and flat platform of metal construction with minimal padding, held to a

diver by one continuous piece of nylon webbing. This webbing should be adjustable through the

plate and should use a buckle to secure the system at the waist. A crotch strap attached to the

lower end of this platform and looped through the waistband would prevent the system from riding

up a diver’s back. A knife should be secured to the waist on the left webbing tab. This webbing

should support five D-rings; the first should be placed at the left hip, the second should be placed

in line with a diver’s right collarbone, the third should be placed in line with the diver’s left

collarbone, the fourth and fifth should be affixed to the crotch strap to use while scootering or

towing/stowing gear. The harness below the diver’s arms should have small restrictive bands to

allow for the placement of reserve lights. The system should retain a minimalist approach with no

unnecessary components.

5. Buoyancy Compensation Device: A diver’s buoyancy compensation device should be backmounted

and minimalist in nature. It should come free of extraneous strings, tabs, or other

material. There should be no restrictive bands or “bungee” of any sort affixed to the buoyancy cell.

In addition, diver lift should not exceed 80 lbs / 40 kgs. Wing size and shape should be appropriate

to the cylinder size(s) employed for training.

6. At least one time/depth-measuring device

7. Decompression tables

8. Mask and fins: Mask should be low-volume; fins should be rigid, non-split

9. At least one cutting device

10. Wet Notes

11. One spool with 100 feet/30 meters of line per diver

12. One primary reel per team, with a minimum of 300 feet/90 meters of line

13. One primary light: A primary light should be minimalist in design; its power source should consist

of a rechargeable battery pack residing in a canister, powering an external light head via a light

cord. Primary lights should produce the equivalent output of 50-watt halogen/10-watt HID lighting

or greater.

14. Two reserve lights: Reserve lights should be non-rechargeable with a minimum of protrusions and

a single attachment at its rear. The light should be activated by twisting the front bezel toward the

body and deactivated by turning it away from the body.

15. Exposure suit appropriate for the duration of exposure

16. At least one surface-marker buoy per diver

17. Diver’s breathing Helium mixtures and utilizing a dry suit must have a separate (from the back

gas) dry suit inflation source, such as an argon/air bottle. Divers may not inflate the dry suit from

the back gas.

Note:
Prior to the commencement of class, students should consult with a GUE representative to verify

equipment requirements. Whether or not a piece of equipment fulfills GUE’s equipment requirement

remains at the discretion of GUE and its instructor representatives. Participants are responsible for

providing all equipment or for making provisions to secure all necessary equipment before the start of the

course. In general, it is better for the student to learn while using his or her own equipment. However,

students should exercise caution before purchasing new equipment to avoid acquiring substandard

equipment. Please contact a GUE representative prior to making any purchases. Information about

recommended equipment can be obtained from the equipment considerations section of GUE’s Web site.