By becoming a PADI rescue diver, you can have the very satisfying and rewarding experience of saving people's lives. Every year, divers get in trouble and have to be rescued, boating accidents happen, air planes crash into water and boats sink. Whenever such disasters occur, rescue divers are called upon to save lives or, in the worst cases find the bodies of those lost in water related accidents or incidents.

How do you become a PADI rescue diver? It's simple: take the PADI rescue diver course and become certified in rescue diving. It is a very serious course but you can have fun taking it too. It will increase your knowledge and experience level significantly and allow you to begin concentrating on the safety of others while diving.

Before you can take the PADI rescue diver course, you must have a certification in open water diving. You also have to work on obtaining your advanced open water certification while working on the rescue diver course. During this period you will dive in confined spaces only. Once you obtain your advanced open water certification, you can begin training in open water rescue dive training. You must be at least 15 years of age to become certified but there is a junior program for those 12 to 15 years of age. You must be CPR certified as well.

During your PADI rescue diver training you'll attend five open water training sessions where you will learn self-rescue and diver stress, emergency oxygen delivery, diver first aid, and how to get an unconscious person to the surface safely. You'll learn both swimming and non-swimming techniques and emergency management and equipment. Panicked diver response and underwater problems will be covered as well as missing diver search procedures. The first aid techniques to use in pressure related accidents and diver accident scenarios offer important training as well. You'll learn all about how to egress safely from the many situations where you may find a person in trouble under the water.

This sounds like a great deal to cover during your PADI rescue diver training, but it all is covered through the time proven methods of the PADI trainers. You'll attend at least 25 hours of training and the five open water sessions must include two days or more.

You'll need to have a PADI rescue diver crew-pack and get a DVD about rescue diving as well. The DVD is a PADI product.

After obtaining your PADI rescue diver certification, you can advance to PADI dive master certification if you wish. With the divemaster certification, you can work with divers that want to dive with you to see the great sights and water life underneath the many bodies of water in the world. Who knows, you might find yourself becoming a professional diver!