NAUI Basic SCUBA

Catalog description

KINES 45 introduces students to the fundamental academic concepts and practical skills of SCUBA diving as described by NAUI (National Association of Underwater Instructors) standards. Students explore the importance of fitness and wellness and their personal fitness needed to succeed in SCUBA. Water safety and emergency response skills are emphasized. Students must be able to tread water, swim the front crawl for an extended time, and be able to swim underwater for a length of the pool. This course addresses academic elements and applied sciences such as: the gas laws, Archimedes' principle, physics (light, sound, heat, aquatic pressure relationships), physiology (arterial gas embolism, miscellaneous barotrauma, decompression illness, hypo and hyperthermia), dive planning, equipment configuration and function, environmental considerations (salt vs. fresh water, dangerous plants and animals, water temperature and visibility, and altitude). In addition, this course introduces practical confined water skills including: basic skin-diving skills, fundamental SCUBA skills (regulator clearing and retrieval, emergency out of air ascents, buoyancy control, rescue techniques, ditch and don of gear, underwater communication, and proper partnership), and equipment preparation and assembly. Students may only earn credit in either KINES 45 or KINES 45A.