Training for fire brigade divers

Stay up to date with what is changing in fire brigade diving. In one half-day session we bring you up to speed on new procedures, equipment and regulations — and what that means for your own operations.

Required per 2 years:

fire brigade diver 2, dive team leader 2

Duration:

1 half-day session

Location:

Theory room

Learn from what went wrong, so it does not happen again. We discuss real (near-)accidents, reports and the risk inventory and evaluation (RI&E) — and translate the lessons into your own operations.

Required per 2 years:

fire brigade diver 2, dive team leader 2

Duration:

1 half-day session

Location:

Theory room

Recognise a diving illness in time and know what to do. Theory and practice with the oxygen kit, focused on your role as first responder at the waterside.

Required per 2 years:

fire brigade diver 2, dive team leader — ¹¹ Dive team leader: diving-medical proficiency in accordance with DMB-B1 (Stcrt. 2024-39685).

Duration:

1 half-day session

Location:

Theory room

As a dive team leader you make major decisions in a short time. In this virtual training you practise situation assessment and decision-making using realistic scenarios.

Required per 2 years:

fire brigade diver —, dive team leader 3

Duration:

1 half-day session

Location:

Theory room (virtual training and case studies)

Direct preparation for your re-registration. In our 9-metre dive tower you train trim, malfunctions and emergency procedures in reduced visibility — controlled and repeatable.

Required per 2 years:

fire brigade diver 2, dive team leader —

Duration:

1 practice day

Location:

Dive hall 9 metres (dive tower)

Practise the emergency procedure step by step, in a safe and controlled environment. With unexpected events, so you are also prepared when things do not go as planned.

Required per 2 years:

fire brigade diver 4, dive team leader 2

Duration:

1 practice day

Location:

Dive hall 3.5 metres / Dive hall 1.4 metres

When it goes wrong, it has to go right the first time. You practise the complete emergency procedure in our open water: from distress signal to the first diving-medical check on the shore.

Required per 2 years:

fire brigade diver 4, dive team leader 4

Duration:

1 practice day

Location:

Open-water dive pit / Markermeer open water

Recovering a vehicle or object safely requires a good plan and tight communication. In our dive pit you practise the complete recovery: from work plan to connecting to the hoist or tackle block.

Required per 2 years:

fire brigade diver 2, dive team leader 2

Duration:

1 practice day

Location:

Open-water dive pit

Deep diving calls for calculation beforehand and discipline underway. You practise work time calculation, controlled descent and bringing a victim up safely from 9 metres and deeper.

Required per 2 years:

fire brigade diver 2, dive team leader 2

Duration:

1 practice day

Location:

Open-water dive pit / Dive hall 9 metres (dive tower) (build-up)

Under a boat or object you cannot simply go up. You practise the safe-to-dive protocol and adapted search methods for situations without a free ascent.

Required per 2 years:

fire brigade diver 2, dive team leader 1

Duration:

1 practice day

Location:

Open-water dive pit / Markermeer open water (under vessel)

A high quay is one of the hardest places to enter the water. You practise secured descent and coming back up with the quay ladder, diving chair and descent line.

Required per 2 years:

fire brigade diver 1, dive team leader 1

Duration:

1 practice day

Location:

Markermeer open water (quay wall)

Current changes everything: descending, holding the line, searching and rescuing. With us the current is generated from the shore and adjustable in m/s, so you can build up step by step. Choose from five modules — from diver-in-distress (DIN) procedures to diver and drone.

Required per 2 years:

fire brigade diver 2, dive team leader 2

Duration:

1 practice day

Location:

Markermeer open water — artificially generated, adjustable current

On large open water you rarely search alone. You practise on the Markermeer with large search areas, multiple dive teams and supporting services.

Required per 2 years:

fire brigade diver 1, dive team leader 1

Duration:

1 practice day

Location:

Markermeer open water

From the deck, into the water and back again. On the Markermeer you practise the safe-to-dive protocol and cooperation with the skipper.

Required per 2 years:

fire brigade diver 2, dive team leader 2

Duration:

1 practice day

Location:

Markermeer open water

Diving where ships sail calls for agreements before you enter the water. You practise warning and stopping shipping traffic and cooperating with Rijkswaterstaat (RWS, the Dutch waterway authority) and the harbour service.

Required per 2 years:

fire brigade diver 2, dive team leader 2

Duration:

1 practice day

Location:

Markermeer open water (near shipping route)

Only when it freezes, but then you want to be ready. You practise the complete ice diving operation: assessing the ice, making an ice hole and rescuing a victim under ice.

Required per 2 years:

fire brigade diver 1, dive team leader 1

Duration:

1 practice day

Location:

Open-water dive pit (with sufficient ice formation)

A colleague who becomes entrapped: the scenario you never want to experience, but must master. In a small group you practise the rescue from start to finish.

Required per 2 years:

fire brigade diver n/a, dive team leader n/a

Duration:

1 practice day

Location:

Dive hall 3.5 metres / Dive hall 9 metres (dive tower)

A lock is one of the most dangerous places to dive. You learn how the locking process works, what risks come with it and how to search safely in a lock chamber.

Required per 2 years:

fire brigade diver n/a, dive team leader n/a

Duration:

1 practice day

Location:

Theory room (theory) / Markermeer open water (practice at the quay wall, simulated lock chamber)

When the air line lets you down, the switch to emergency air has to happen automatically. You practise this shallow and in a controlled way in our dive hall.

Required per 2 years:

fire brigade diver n/a, dive team leader n/a

Duration:

1 practice day

Location:

Dive hall 1.4 metres / Dive hall 3.5 metres