PSA - Advanced Nitrox Diver Course 45m 

The Professional Scuba Association International’s Advanced Nitrox Diver course is designed for those divers who wish to utilize enriched air (Nitrox) at oxygen concentrations up to and including 100% by volume (EAN22 to Oxygen) in their diving activities including stage decompression procedures. It is highly recommended the Advanced Nitrox Diver students also take Narcosis Management® – Level III in order to expand and enhance their ERD knowledge, skills and training, and to prepare them for required deco stops.

Course Format

• Four day course
• 6hrs classroom and practical
• 4 open water dives

Course Cost

• £636
• £585 - Club Rate 

• Add £150 to package if you also want Tec 45 for dual passport

Course Objectives and Qualifications

This course provides the necessary information for a PSAI Advanced Nitrox Diver to know the proper procedures to:

A. Determine appropriate Nitrox gas for planned dives.

B. Determine appropriate diving equipment for planned Nitrox dives.

C. Plan dives based in established limits and cautions for Nitrox gases.

D. Analyze and verify Nitrox gases for diving.

A diver that successfully completes this PSAI Advanced Nitrox Diver program will be qualified to:

A. Plan and conduct dives with Nitrox mixtures up to and including 100% oxygen (EAN22 to Oxygen).

B. Obtain appropriate Nitrox gases, up to 100% oxygen, for diving.

C. Conduct Advanced Nitrox dives in environments and conditions that approximate those of training.

D. Undertake stage decompression techniques.

Prerequisites for Course Entry

A. Age - The student shall be of legal age of majority at the time and location of course entry and conduct.

B. Certification - The student shall have graduated from a recognized Nitrox Diver course.

C. Prior Dive Experience - The PSAI Advanced Nitrox Diver student shall have a minimum of fifty (50) logged open water dives of which at least 10 have been between 27m and 40m. These have to have been dives after being certified to these depths, not just logged.

Student to Instructor Ratio

A. Classroom.

No specific limits are in place for classroom and lecture, as long as the facilities provide the necessary comfort and environment for proper teaching of the academic material.

B. Practical Session. This course requires the student to demonstrate the proper use of an oxygen analyzer. The class may be sub-divided into multiple groups to allow for practical dive planning, equipment marking and oxygen analysis as long as sufficient qualified assistants and equipment are available to monitor all questions.

C. Open Water Dives

1. There shall be no more than 3 students per PSAI instructor.

2. For dives deeper than 30m or any dive requiring mandatory decompression, it is suggested, but not required to reduce the ratio to 2 students per PSAI instructor, with no allowances for additional students.

3. Diver ratios must be reduced with respect to environmental or situational factors including the ability of the ERDI to handle the team size.

Course Minimums and Standards

Classroom Hours

Approximately 6 hours for classroom and practical demonstration, (oxygen analysis and equipment marking) are required to complete the PSAI Advanced Nitrox Diver course.

Confined Water Dives

No confined water experience is required for the PSAI Advanced Nitrox Diver course. At the PSAI instructor’s discretion, confined water exercises may be conducted to familiarize the student with equipment rigging and placement, etc.

Open Water Dives

A minimum of four (4) open water dives are required for the PSAI Advanced Nitrox Diver course.

• Dive one (1) should be to 27m
• Dive two (2) should be to 30m
• Dive three (3) should be to 40m
• Dive four (4) should be no deeper than 45m

No dive depth shall exceed 45m. Total combined underwater run times shall be a minimum of 150 minutes.

Course Limitations

• All dive mixes shall ensure that the student does not exceed an oxygen exposure greater than 1.6 bar.
• All dive exposures shall be in accordance with the established NOAA time limits.
• All dives are limited to a maximum depth of 45 meters (150 feet).

Course Instructional Materials Requirements

• All students will use the PSAI Advanced Nitrox Diver manual and PSAI EAD Tables.
• PSAI Advanced Nitrox Instructors will use this Standard and the PSAI Advanced Nitrox Diver Course Guide, as a minimum.
• The PSAI Advanced Nitrox PowerPoint Slide Presentation is required to be presented in its entirety by the PSAI Advanced Nitrox Instructor for the classroom lecture portion of this course.

Course Equipment Requirements

A. Cylinders with sufficient volume to complete course requirements DIN valves are HIGHLY recommended, and both valves must be the same.

B. Oxygen clean stage cylinder with sufficient volume for dive plan.

C. Three regulators, one with a long hose minimum length 1.5m connected to primary second stage.

D. Pressure gauge x 2 (one for back gas and one for decompression gas). Three (3) must be used if diving an independent twin cylinder configuration.

E. LP hoses for BCD inflation and dry suit if used.

F. BCD with sufficient lift (a minimum of 23 Kg or 50 lb) to adequately support the required dive equipment and raise a fellow diver in an emergency.

G. A redundant inflation device in the form of a double bladder BCD.

H. Back plate and harness, or other type of BCD, (recommended to have at least one shoulder quick release clip).

I. Thermal protection suitable for dive environment.

J. Dive lights if required with a least one redundant.

K. Dive computer plus redundant timing and depth device(s). Computer must be suitable for course i.e. multi gas, and if a computer is not used then backup slates and tables must be carried.

L. Mask plus redundant mask.

M. SMB/lift bag (orange).

N. An additional SMB/lift bag (yellow) is highly recommended where conditions dictate the use of such. This can be used to alert surface team of an emergency.

O. Reel, two recommended.

P. Fins.

Q. Slate and pencil.

R. Cutting device.

Curriculum Requirements

The PSAI Advanced Nitrox Diver course requires the use of the PSAI Advanced Nitrox Diver manual. This manual will have all the necessary information to appropriately cover, in the detail necessary for this level of certification, the following areas of information:

A. History of Enriched Air Diving.

1. Early uses of Nitrox.

2. Popular acceptance of Nitrox.

3. PSAI’s involvement in Nitrox Education.

B. Physical Principles of Enriched Air Diving.

1. Pressure.

2. Boyle’s Law.

3. Dalton’s Law.

4. Formulas for Advanced Nitrox Diving.

a. Best Mix.

b. Oxygen Exposure.

c. Maximum Operating Depth.

C. Physiological Principles of Enriched Air Diving.

1. Benefits of Nitrox.

2. Hazards of Excess Oxygen.

3. Decompression Models.

4. Accelerated Decompression.

D. Decompression Fundamentals

E. Equipment for Enriched Air Diving.

1. Standard Equipment.

2. Cylinder Considerations.

3. Manufacturer’s Recommendations.

4. Stage/Decompression Cylinder Recommendations.

F. Dive Planning.

1. Equivalent Air Depth and Tables.

2. Computing Best Mix and Maximum Operating Depth.

3. Use of Dive Computers.

4. Dive Planning Tables.

5. Computer Generated Dive Profiles.

G. Methods of Generating Nitrox.

1. Partial Pressure.

2. Continuous Blend Technique.

3. Gas Permeable Membrane Technique.

4. Pre-mixed Gas.

H. Using Nitrox.

1. Gas analysis.

2. Limits, Maximum Operating Depth.

3. Dive Shop/Boat Procedures and Logging.

Skill Requirements

Land Based

A PSAI Advanced Nitrox Diver student shall:

1. Accurately calculate Best Mix, Oxygen Exposure and Maximum Operating Depth values for specified Advanced Nitrox dives.

2. Plan Advanced Nitrox dives based on specified gases and dive depths.

3. Properly analyze all Nitrox gases.

4. Verify equipment suitability and markings.

Confined Water

At the instructors’ discretion, no confined water dives are required.

Open Water

Four open water dives are required for the PSAI Advanced Nitrox Diver course. The skills for these dives are to be conducted as listed in the PSAI Advanced Nitrox Instructor Manual.

Maximum depths for the dives are:

1. Open Water Dive One (1): 27m

2. Open Water Dive Two (2): 30m

3. Open Water Dive Three (3): 40m

4. Open Water Dive Four (4): 40m to a maximum of 45m

Skills:

1. Demonstrate proficiency in a variety of finning techniques.

2. Demonstrate proper buoyancy control.

3. Simulate a complete regulator failure (where the diver has no access to his breathing gas at a depth no deeper than 9m

* If the diver has a spare mask (PSAI highly recommends divers carry a spare mask), he is to hand his primary mask to the instructor, don and clear his secondary mask. Once the spare mask is cleared the diver is to then commence a shared air ascent with his buddy. * If the diver has no spare mask, he is to simulate an out of air free ascent to the surface, without a mask.

4. On all OW dives, demonstrate the ability to properly plan and execute a dive:

a. Accurately calculate Best Mix, Oxygen Exposure and Maximum Operating Depth values for specified Advanced Nitrox dives.

b. Plan Advanced Nitrox dives based on specified gases and dive depths.

c. Properly analyze all Nitrox gases.

d. Verify equipment suitability and markings.

5. Perform a gas sharing ascent with out of air diver using the alternate second stage.

6. Perform valve shutdowns on each dive, if diving with a “Y” or “H” valve or 6.doubles (highly recommended). If the cylinder

containing the bottom mix only has a single outlet valve, the MOD of the stage/deco cylinder must NOT exceed 45m, or the maximum air depth the diver is certified to dive, and the diver is to make a gas switch to the stage/deco cylinder.

7. Deploy a surface marker buoy (SMB) at least on 2 dives, using it as an ascent platform as well as an SMB.

8. Demonstrate the ability to safely “Plan your dive ~ Dive your plan on every dive.”

9. Remove and replace tank and BCD at surface.

10. Demonstrate appropriate navigation skills.

10. Where depths may exceed the maximum planned depth of each dive, the student must demonstrate the ability to not exceed the maximum planned depth.

12. Demonstrate accident management / control techniques.

Course Completion Performance Requirements

To be awarded the Professional Scuba Association International’s Advanced Nitrox Diver certification, the student(s) must:

A. Attend all academic sessions.

B. Successfully master all academic and in-water skills.

C. Correctly demonstrate proper calibration of an oxygen analyzer and properly analyze the oxygen content of all cylinders (including air cylinders) used for requisite dives.

D. Complete the PSAI Advanced Nitrox Diver written examination with a score of at least 80%. All questions shall be correctly answered or remediated and explained.

E. Conduct the open water dives with appropriate skill and attention to all dive parameters and requirements, including maximum operating depths and adherence to decompression stop depths.

F. Log the required dives.

The PSAI instructor is responsible for ensuring that the Advanced Nitrox Diver student has demonstrated the appropriate respect and understanding for diving with hyperoxic diving gases. If the student fails to maintain proper depth control, gas management awareness, etc., the instructor must require additional training until the appropriate standards are achieved prior to certification.