Santa Barbara HSA Instructor and Buddy Course
Cost
Diving Instructors, Assistant Instructors and Dive Masters
$500.00
Dive Buddy Course
$450.00
Course Includes: HSA Manual, Dive slates for ITC candidates, Certification and
Membership through 12/31/14 and boat trip to the Channel Islands
Course Location
Pool and Lecture: Westmont College, 955 La Paz Rd, Santa Barbara, CA 93108
Boat trip out of Ventura Harbor to Acacapa Island
Itinerary
Saturday February 22
8:00-11:00
Classroom
12:00-2:00
Pool
3:00-8:00
Classroom
Sunday February 23
8:00-2:00
Pool (includes intro to scuba with people with disabilities)
3:00-8:00
Classroom
Monday February 24
7:00 AM Departure
Boat trip to the Channel Islands out of Ventura Harbor
 In water and surface logistics
 Written Final Exam
Accepting a maximum of 12 people in the course. For more information or an
application to enroll in the course, contact Denise Dowd at (805) 403-1912 or
denise.dowd@cox.net.
HSA Instructor Training Course and Buddy Course Overview
This 3 day intensive course includes lecture, confined water and open water training. The
participant not only learns about disabilities as they relate to diving. They also have the
experience of being disabled themselves and the opportunity to work with people with
disabilities.
“I promise that even if you do not use this training to teach people with disabilities to scuba
dive, it will change the way you think about diving. My hope is that you do take this experience
and turn people with disabilities onto diving. It will change your life”
Denise
Classroom Lectures
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Learn about different types of disabilities, including special needs, precautions and
contraindications for diving. Get an introduction to anatomy, physiology and the
psychological effects disabilities have on people. Gain knowledge on accessibility
issues.
Criteria for Certification
Training Issues: During these lectures you will learn about various types of special
problems you may encounter and how to solve them.
Special considerations: Dive table concerns, preparation for diving, donning wetsuits,
best equipment and diving from boats
Confined Water Training
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Participants will simulate paraplegia, quadriplegia, amputee and blind diving students,
performing skills that are problematic for these disability types. As instructors you teach
your students to dive and solve problems the way you do, so you must experience that
problems to gain the tools you need to train your students. Key issues to be addressed
include buoyancy control, customized weighting and the best type of equipment to meet a
divers needs.
Open Water training
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Participants will participate in exercises that emphasize the importance of proper
planning. You will learn the problem solving techniques and logistics needed for working
with a variety of disabilities.
About the Instructor
Denise C. Dowd
Occupational Therapist
PADI Dive Instructor # 18794
HSA Instructor Trainer #10
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1983 Certified as a PADI Instructor
1985 Started working with people with disabilities scuba diving
1986 Graduated from SJSU with a degree in Occupational Therapy
1986 First job in Physical Rehabilitation as an Occupational Therapist at Northridge
Hospital in California
1987 Became one of the first HSA Instructors
1991 Participated in a Cousteau Society film on the Handicapped Scuba Association in
Fiji
1992 Moved to Santa Barbara, California to work as an Occupational Therapist at the
Rehabilitation Institure at Santa Barbara, now named Cottage Rehabilitation Hospital
where I still work today working with people who have suffered spinal cord injuries,
brain injuries, strokes, amputations and other devastating injuries
1997 Certified as an HSA Instructor Trainer
Currently teaching 1-2 Intructor Training Courses a year the last being in Pasadena with
the Disabled Veterans Scuba Project
In addition to teaching scuba diving to people with disabilities, also take people with
disabilities out kayaking with specialized kayaking adaptions.