Why not?
Diving Education Today
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Why not?
I've thought about this subject the last couple of days. No matter what a person advocates whether that person is for longer training or shorter training, no training is effective if it doesn't address the common accidents suffered by divers at the open water level.
Smarter training would address these following problems for recreational divers whatever window was given for a certification course:
1) Cylinder air turned off when entering water - (most often caused by mistakenly leaving air off or a dive guide becoming confused as to which direction to turn the air when checking the valve knob) - students should be able to reach back and efficiently open their cylinder valves.
2) Cylinder roll off while underwater - (most often caused by rubbing the valve knob against the anchor or upline during ascent) - students should be able to perform a valve drill
3) All traditional skills performed off the bottom - kneeling or otherwise using the bottom as a tool is acceptable at the start of an OW course, but by the end of an OW course all skills should be performed off the bottom without assistance except air sharing which will require a buddy. This would require tanks and weights to be removed and replaced off the bottom and below the surface. The bottom will not always be available as a problem solution tool.
4) Weight-related and buoyancy problems - all students should be able to deal with being overweighted, being under-weighted, having a BCD inflator be stuck in the on position, losing BCD lift, losing auto-inflate and switching to oral, and losing the weight belt or weight system.
5) Flooded or lost mask. While losing a mask is more unusual, having a mask malfunction and being unable to be cleared is not - especially masks made cheaply or with purge devices. All critical skills should be performed with a flooded mask if not without a mask.
While I would advocate many more skills - especially buddy-breathing since octo regs are treated poorly - these are just a few of the skills often overlooked, yet quite important, that should be part of any course no matter how short or "resort" the course is in philosophy.
Smarter training would address these following problems for recreational divers whatever window was given for a certification course:
1) Cylinder air turned off when entering water - (most often caused by mistakenly leaving air off or a dive guide becoming confused as to which direction to turn the air when checking the valve knob) - students should be able to reach back and efficiently open their cylinder valves.
2) Cylinder roll off while underwater - (most often caused by rubbing the valve knob against the anchor or upline during ascent) - students should be able to perform a valve drill
3) All traditional skills performed off the bottom - kneeling or otherwise using the bottom as a tool is acceptable at the start of an OW course, but by the end of an OW course all skills should be performed off the bottom without assistance except air sharing which will require a buddy. This would require tanks and weights to be removed and replaced off the bottom and below the surface. The bottom will not always be available as a problem solution tool.
4) Weight-related and buoyancy problems - all students should be able to deal with being overweighted, being under-weighted, having a BCD inflator be stuck in the on position, losing BCD lift, losing auto-inflate and switching to oral, and losing the weight belt or weight system.
5) Flooded or lost mask. While losing a mask is more unusual, having a mask malfunction and being unable to be cleared is not - especially masks made cheaply or with purge devices. All critical skills should be performed with a flooded mask if not without a mask.
While I would advocate many more skills - especially buddy-breathing since octo regs are treated poorly - these are just a few of the skills often overlooked, yet quite important, that should be part of any course no matter how short or "resort" the course is in philosophy.
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It's the same issue as manned vs. unmanned exploration, machines lack the ability to be suprised.
Trace, that's a really nice post. If we really think there is a problem that needs to be addressed, the key is to define it, and I think you've done a very good job there.
With all due respect, you have a very limited concept of what online education is like--or at least, what it can be like.
Most people have no idea what online education is really like. Many people simply guess what it must be like and draw conclusions. Others take a class or two from some professors who threw something together without proper training, but those classes compare to quality online classes as crude huts compare to mansions.
Perhaps it might be helpful to read through some of my past articles to get a glimpse of how my idea differs from the common perception.
I just started a regular column on this topic a couple of days ago. The first one is rather introductory, but it could get you started with the general idea. Subsequent columns will deal with more specific issues directly.
SolarStorm
Contributor
So one question I think about as this is discussed is "Why do we need certification?" expecially for the recreational diver, and who has jurisdiction of that certification. I know of no laws that will stop me from going diving if I want to.
The only certification I can think of that should really exist is for the professional diver, or instructor. I have this OWD card, all shiney and new. Now, any shop will fill my tank, and I can do what I want. In fact I can fill a couple of tanks and take my new uncertified friend to try it (not that I ever would) but there is nothing anyone can do about it. Certification is really so the Dive Ops dont have to a skills session with each new customer before they head out on the boat. Certification for the working diver is simply to tell your boss, "I can do [this]".
We want to impose certification on other divers in our party, so that we know they have a minimum skill requirement. I believe this to be a dangerous belief. There are already people I know I would not dive with. When we go on a trip and get on a boat with 4 other people, are you diving with them? or are you just in the same ocean? To me, I am with my daughter, she with me, and then there are also people in the ocean. That is not to say we cant dive the same site or that I wont offer my octo in an emergency, just that I am only really counting on my buddy. We know our skills, limits, and realize we know very little.
Education, not certification, is about informing the new diver about how to dive safely. Certification is just a card that gets lost after 6 months. (god I hope know one ever asks where my pilots license is!) The LDS's have agreed on a standard and the "certification" for the recreational diver is really about getting a full tank of air. What the OWD course needs to do is present the minimum amount of information about what is needed to dive, where to get more, and a desire to learn enough to be safe. There is no way to stop me from diving if I want to! If the courses become too expensive, the rest of the sport will follow suit. Not as much equipment is needed, therefore becomes more expensive. Dive shops close, manufacturers retool for other needs etc.
To teach someone anything is to install in them a desire to learn. If, as instructors, your goal is to demonstrate and perform a set skills, you have failed. You must instill the desire to achive a minimum skill and knowledge level for the desired goals. One problem with the sport is the widely varing goals from the vacation 30' max diver to the underwater welder. Thus the tree of specialties within the PADI chart I saw. The first OWD course is basically a "This is how you breath underwater" course. After that I can take more training if my goals change. Every person in my course, 5 of us, was headed to mexico. Two of the students I would never partner with.
This may sound hard, but if we are looking to increase the standards, continue to teach to the current level. If people start getting injured or worse, the industry or governments (see Quebec) will step in and self regulate. Ex. My orig pilots lic. was a joke compared with todays standards. Basically if I could take off and land, I was good to go. Heck my father started flying when he didnt need one! Then people started dying, and the standards improved. Certification, in my view, is a balance of safety vs public outcry. If some of the diving accidents got more news coverage, I am sure we would see an increase in standards.
Instead of concentrating on certification standards I would hazard that if an education campaign was started by the industry, ie manufacturers and LDS, the certification agencies would follow suit. BUT, I doubt very much that the CA's can push the manufacturers very far. Target the people with the money and that control the money. The industry will always work towards the min CA requirements, and if those are too high, they will start a new one (discreetly or indiscreetly)
The only certification I can think of that should really exist is for the professional diver, or instructor. I have this OWD card, all shiney and new. Now, any shop will fill my tank, and I can do what I want. In fact I can fill a couple of tanks and take my new uncertified friend to try it (not that I ever would) but there is nothing anyone can do about it. Certification is really so the Dive Ops dont have to a skills session with each new customer before they head out on the boat. Certification for the working diver is simply to tell your boss, "I can do [this]".
We want to impose certification on other divers in our party, so that we know they have a minimum skill requirement. I believe this to be a dangerous belief. There are already people I know I would not dive with. When we go on a trip and get on a boat with 4 other people, are you diving with them? or are you just in the same ocean? To me, I am with my daughter, she with me, and then there are also people in the ocean. That is not to say we cant dive the same site or that I wont offer my octo in an emergency, just that I am only really counting on my buddy. We know our skills, limits, and realize we know very little.
Education, not certification, is about informing the new diver about how to dive safely. Certification is just a card that gets lost after 6 months. (god I hope know one ever asks where my pilots license is!) The LDS's have agreed on a standard and the "certification" for the recreational diver is really about getting a full tank of air. What the OWD course needs to do is present the minimum amount of information about what is needed to dive, where to get more, and a desire to learn enough to be safe. There is no way to stop me from diving if I want to! If the courses become too expensive, the rest of the sport will follow suit. Not as much equipment is needed, therefore becomes more expensive. Dive shops close, manufacturers retool for other needs etc.
To teach someone anything is to install in them a desire to learn. If, as instructors, your goal is to demonstrate and perform a set skills, you have failed. You must instill the desire to achive a minimum skill and knowledge level for the desired goals. One problem with the sport is the widely varing goals from the vacation 30' max diver to the underwater welder. Thus the tree of specialties within the PADI chart I saw. The first OWD course is basically a "This is how you breath underwater" course. After that I can take more training if my goals change. Every person in my course, 5 of us, was headed to mexico. Two of the students I would never partner with.
This may sound hard, but if we are looking to increase the standards, continue to teach to the current level. If people start getting injured or worse, the industry or governments (see Quebec) will step in and self regulate. Ex. My orig pilots lic. was a joke compared with todays standards. Basically if I could take off and land, I was good to go. Heck my father started flying when he didnt need one! Then people started dying, and the standards improved. Certification, in my view, is a balance of safety vs public outcry. If some of the diving accidents got more news coverage, I am sure we would see an increase in standards.
Instead of concentrating on certification standards I would hazard that if an education campaign was started by the industry, ie manufacturers and LDS, the certification agencies would follow suit. BUT, I doubt very much that the CA's can push the manufacturers very far. Target the people with the money and that control the money. The industry will always work towards the min CA requirements, and if those are too high, they will start a new one (discreetly or indiscreetly)
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Thal, honestly, I think it's probably primarily small numbers in comparison to the general diving population, and your diving conditions are much more tightly controlled. And, of course, you HAVE gotten rid of the vast majority of the human error component.
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Numbers are small, we estimate about 10,000 divers, but that's for almost sixty years (OK, it was likely a little smaller through the 1950s). Yes our diving is much more tightly controlled, but our conditions are also a damn sight worse than the proverbial, "gin clear water the temperature of a urine sample." I really don't think it is much more than the difference in training, there's an old saw in the biz that bears repeating: "A properly trained diver does not need rules."
SolarStorm
Contributor
I would guess that the difference in training is that there are many statements like "And this could kill you..." AND because the students recognize the harshness of the overall environment, believe you. So therefor you have done your job as an instructor in making the student want to learn.
The biggest fear I have seen from the vacation diver is, "Will jaws get me". Not realizing that, that is the least of the dangers. People just dont see diving in tropical water dangerous. What could happen? "Im on vacation!"
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