BASIC LIFE SUPPORT

The remote nature of dive accidents, whether a few hours from shore or days from civilization, frequently requires more advanced levels of care than are offered by traditional or entry-level CPR programs. DAN Instructors and Instructor Trainers will now be able to offer a healthcare provider-level basic life support program for their student and divers.

Called Basic Life Support for Dive Professionals (BLSPRO), this program is ideal for dive professionals and divers interested in understanding professional-level resuscitation techniques. This program is designed to be applicable to the diving market, including scenes and scenarios from dive situations, as well as the non-diving/healthcare market.

Coupled with DAN’s existing Training Programs and the new Advanced Oxygen First Aid program, DAN Instructors and Instructor Trainers will now be able to offer a complete diving emergency program.

This program also addresses basic life support skills for adults, children and infants.

Objectives
Basic Life Support for Dive Professionals is a professional-level basic life support program designed to teach advanced skills to dive professionals, divers who find themselves in remote situations where emergency help is not immediately available and interested others who are involved with diving.

Recommended Minimum Hours of Training
Knowledge and skills development hours = 8

This is an 8-hour program, although it is skills dependent program, not time dependent. It is video driven. The instructor shows short video segments, demonstrates the skills in real-time, does a second skill demonstration breaking down key steps as appropriate and then conducts student practice.

With a small number of trained students, the course could be completed in less time. With large groups or adult learners, it is possible that the course could take more than 8 hours to complete. There are also shorter options for retraining and a direct challenge for professional rescuers with a tremendous amount of experience and skill providing basic life support.

Required Curriculum Subject Areas
The program covers the broad skill areas including:

• Initial assessment
• Airway management
• Breathing and ventilation
• Circulation
• Including AED use
• Control of bleeding
• Shock management
• Ongoing assessment

There are two AED options with this program. The instructor can choose to include the AED information included with the program, or integrate the dive specific information from DAN’s Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) for Scuba Diving course.

Skills learned in this program that set it apart from lay-provider level CPR courses include:

• two-person CPR;
• ventilation using a bag valve mask;
• finger sweep;
• suctioning;
• cricoid pressure; and
• the technique for caring for an unconscious choking victim.

Who can take these courses?
Anybody - Scuba divers, friends of scuba divers, boat enthusiasts and bubble watchers.
DAN First Aid Programmes also provide an excellent opportunity for experienced divers and instructors to continue their education.