OVERVIEW AND QUALIFICATIONS

This course is to provide the diver with the information necessary to utilize EANx as a breathing medium. The course may be taught as a stand-alone specialty course to certified divers or the knowledge and skills training may be integrated into other NAUI certification courses including the NAUI Open Water Scuba Diver course. <If this class is being integrated with another NAUI course, the total cost for both courses will be included in the fees. This is considered dual enrollment.>

Upon successful completion of this course or program, graduates are considered competent to utilize EANx (up to EAN40) in open water diving activities without direct supervision, provided the diving activities and the areas dived approximate those of training.

Prerequisites

• Age. Minimum is 15 years by the water phase of the course. (Junior certification for ages 10-14 years is allowed. Talk to one of our instructors abou Junior Certification.)

• Certification/Experience/Knowledge. Current enrollment in a NAUI Instructor conducted scuba course or certification as a NAUI Open Water Scuba Diver or the equivalent is required. The instructor is to ensure adequate student knowledge and capability before any open water training and shall use skill or other evaluations to do so. One open water dive (which does not count toward the minimum number of dives required for the course) may be used as a screening and evaluation dive. This is not required when the student’s diving proficiencies are well known to the instructor.

• Equipment. Students shall furnish and be responsible for the care and maintenance of their own diving equipment. The instructor shall initially assist the student in checking all student gear to ensure it is adequate and in proper working order.

REQUIREMENTS – ACADEMIC

The following topics are to be covered:

• History of nitrox as a breathing gas

• Dalton’s law of partial pressures

• Physiology of oxygen and nitrogen

• EANx depth limits,

• EANx advantages,

• EANx disadvantages

• EANx risks

• Oxygen toxicity

• Hazards and precautions of handling oxygen

• Equivalent Air Depth

• Use of EANx with standard air, EANx, or RGBM-based dive tables

  • It is acceptable for students be instructed in the use of personally-owned dive computers

• Common gas mixing procedures

• Gas analyzing procedures.

• Dive Planning

  • Utilize the ODIGTML Dive Planning format or address each of the elements in the ODIGTML format

    • Oxygen

    • Decompression

    • Inert Gas Narcosis

    • Gas Management

    • Thermal

    • Mission

    • Logistics.

REQUIREMENTS – SKILLS

• Practical Skills

  • Demonstrate the use of ODIGTML Dive Planning or address each of the elements in the ODIGTML format

    • Oxygen

    • Decompression

    • Inert Gas Narcosis

    • Gas Management

    • Thermal

    • Mission

    • Logistics

  • For the EANx certification at least two dives are to be planned using EANx, one of which must be a repetitive dive.

  • Demonstrate the ability to analyze breathing gas

• Scuba Diving

• Two dives are to be safely executed Adhering to the dive plan using EANx, one of which a repetitive dive.

• The Student is to analyze of their own breathing mixture.

SOS-ER Requirements

• The class sessions (in addition to eLearning) will consist of

  • A Minimum of 2 open water dives on the first day with the instructors using Air.

  • A Minimum of 2 open water dives on the second day with the instructors using EANx.

  • The maximum depth for any open water dive during this course is not to exceed the MOD for the given Nitrox mix.

Provided Gear

• We can provide buoyancy compensator (BC), regulator sets, cylinders (tanks), as well as air and EANx fills for the course.

Students must provide their own:

• Mask, snorkels, fins, dive boots, weight belts, and soft weights (we will assist in where to obtain this gear).

• Wetsuit or any other rental gear.

• Open water Checkout Dive options:

  • Local Quarry check out dive fees (usually a daily fee per diver) are not included in the cost of the course.