Divemaster Responsibilities
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InTheDrink
Contributor
To illustrate my point a little.
I'm a pretty crap diver but at least I know it.
A friend with the same certifcation level as me (AOW) went diving with me last year and nearly hurt himself. How we was OW certified never mind AOW is beyond my comprehension. At 33 metres he still hadn't worked out to put gas in his BC.
Now, he was an idiot, and also lied to me about his number of dives. But he clearly had no idea how to perfrom the most basic skills.
Someone certified him. Under the auspices of PADI. That should never have happened. Trust me, it happens to people like him every day. It's just pure luck people don't croke it more often.
The conveyor belt approach to training - which is huge - breeds unsafe divers.
Good training breeds the opposite, but my experience, which has been mostly 'vacation' diving has shown the standards to be so appalling as to be breath taking. And like I say, I'm **** myself ...
Terry
OW cards, who else certifies them?
PADI leading the charge in shortening SCUBA Classes, where did you hear this and where is the evidence.... Dont for one minute belive that by saying it is so it will become that wat.
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mas·ter·y (m
2. The status of master or ruler; control: mastery of the seas.
3. Full command of a subject of study: Her mastery of economic theory impressed the professors.
and
com·pe·tence (k
b. A specific range of skill, knowledge, or ability.
2. Law The quality or condition of being legally qualified to perform an act.
3. Sufficient means for a comfortable existence.
4. Microbiology The ability of bacteria to be genetically transformable.
5. Medicine The ability to respond immunologically to bacteria, viruses, or other antigenic agents.
6. Linguistics The knowledge that enables one to produce and comprehend a language.
Wow ... all that in 20 hours or less!
InTheDrink
Contributor
Gary,
Dont take this the wrong way at all - but do you really think that PADI hasn't lowered the standards? I may be wrong but thus far my experience of what they equip you with
for OW cert is pretty crap. The actual course content is really not bad - but the length of time spent on it doesn't cut the mustard: no-one's gonna take all that in in 2-4 days. Or do you see it differently - I'm pretty new to all this so always willing to take other people's views on board if I can see where they're coming from,
Cheers,
J
mas·ter·y (mst-r)n. pl. mas·ter·ies 1. Possession of consummate skill.
2. The status of master or ruler; control: mastery of the seas.
3. Full command of a subject of study: Her mastery of economic theory impressed the professors.
and
com·pe·tence (kmp-tns)n.1. a. The state or quality of being adequately or well qualified; ability. See Synonyms at ability.
b. A specific range of skill, knowledge, or ability.
2. Law The quality or condition of being legally qualified to perform an act.
3. Sufficient means for a comfortable existence.
4. Microbiology The ability of bacteria to be genetically transformable.
5. Medicine The ability to respond immunologically to bacteria, viruses, or other antigenic agents.
6. Linguistics The knowledge that enables one to produce and comprehend a language.
Wow ... all that in 20 hours or less!
Actuallu Mastery is spelt ut in black and white with regards to to diving and the skills therein. (within PADI anyway)
You really need to look at all the facts.
I am more than willing to talk about any aspect of diving, the regulations that surround it and the agencies but only using facts.
InTheDrink
Contributor
Well, this isn't about me really, although I do like a bit of attention - my wife's an air hostess so too much time alone
Yes, I take issue with PADI - and all my formal instruction has been through PADI. I *might* do their rescue course. The reason I might not is not to do with the course content or quality of the course but more a protest against the OW course. I've no knowledge of other agencies so my issue is with PADI alone. I feel that I was very incompletely equipped to be a diver after my OW course. The time frame is just too short. It's that simple really.
If all goes welll, as it mostly does, then PADI OW training suffices. If it doesn't well, then as the OP has shown, it can go very badly indeed.
Maybe we're all fighting the same cause here - better training.
But how are we going to achieve it????
Actually, No.
PADI haven't lowered their standards. they have maintained and improved them and this is showm with other agencies following and using theose standards.. It would be stupid and irresponsible for a leading agency to drop standards. I can go back as far as 1966 when PADI started and nothing but improvement has occured
Now: of course times have changed; Blowing up Coral Reefs with Dynamite so as to put the ConShelf in place, and using a hammer to get to certain corals is now deemed irresponsible so too there are certain things within the diving industry that needed changing. Lets be careful here and not put the blame on change to the very organisation that pushed or was at the forferont of it
InTheDrink
Contributor
I think we crossed posts and maybe read back mine. Like I said - I'm relatively new to this activity so my mind is not set one way or another.
But my basic point remains, that it is not possible to become proficient in 2-4/5 days for nearly everyone. So the methodology which AFAIK PADI has pushed doesn't work in terms of reliably turning out good divers. For myself, I've learned 1000 more things from this board than I have from 'training'.
Maybe the training I've experienced is different from yours (being mostly on vacation) but it all still bears the same name.
But my basic point remains, that it is not possible to become proficient in 2-4/5 days for nearly everyone. So the methodology which AFAIK PADI has pushed doesn't work in terms of reliably turning out good divers. For myself, I've learned 1000 more things from this board than I have from 'training'.
Maybe the training I've experienced is different from yours (being mostly on vacation) but it all still bears the same name.
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