Had my first student today

[ScubaWithTurk]

About the bold part. A DM is allowed to demonstrate skills and help a student learn them as along as an instructor has demonstrated the skill before and the instructor verifies the students ability to fulfill the skill afterwards. So i think you are being to strict here jn what a DM can or cannot do.

No, I do not believe I am. A DM can do exactly what you said but nowhere in the OP's post does he state that the instructor did any skills demo at all. Am I making an assumption, yes I am. I made it based on the info presented.

But lets get to the real point here, the OP is NOT a DM, the OP is a DMT and therefore should not be demonstrating anything to a student during the open water dives of a course. That is the real issue here.

 

[Redtwo]

No, I do not believe I am. A DM can do exactly what you said but nowhere in the OP's post does he state that the instructor did any skills demo at all. Am I making an assumption, yes I am. I made it based on the info presented.

But lets get to the real point here, the OP is NOT a DM, the OP is a DMT and therefore should not be demonstrating anything to a student during the open water dives of a course. That is the real issue here.

I think we agree . Lets hope the instructor did show everything beforehand (im optimistic). And yes than he still is a trainee and not yet a DM himself.

 

[tursiops]

About the bold part. A DM is allowed to demonstrate skills and help a student learn them as along as an instructor has demonstrated the skill before and the instructor verifies the students ability to fulfill the skill afterwards. So i think you are being to strict here jn what a DM can or cannot do.

A DM trainee cannot do that.

 

[Redtwo]

A DM trainee cannot do that.

I know. I Responded to the bold part in that post where was said a DM could never do skills.

Agree on a dmT not being able to do that.

 

[tursiops]

I know. I Responded to the bold part in that post where was said a DM could never do skills.

Agree on a dmT not being able to do that.

You're conflating semantics with facts. "Do skills" is missing the point.

 

[Edward3c]

I was not 'p1'. I was under the supervision of an instructor.
Should have made that clear in my original post, I apologise, though I did clarify in post #4.

I take it this was in the U.K.?

Have you got your HSE medical cert (only BSAC, SAA and SSAC don’t require one as they’re not commercial), did you confirm you were covered by the instructor’s, or dive shop’s, insurance. Chances are you were not as the small print will require agency standards to be followed, i.e. an instructor to teach skills initially.

As @KenGordon suggests find and join a BSAC club.

 

[Scraps]

As a trainee divemaster I had my first student today and I took her through open water 2.

I took her through her pre-dive safety checks and explained how a dive doesn't begin when you splash, but when you prepare your equipment, pack your gear and plan your dive(s).

She seemed a little nervous so we talked about the skills that we were going to do during the dive, what hand signals I would use and the steps of each skill.

JRK44-
This is where the instructors in the group get concerned. Maybe your description wasn’t clear, but it sounds like you taught the skills, which is a task reserved to the instructor, and it sounds like you didn’t explain the performance requirements, which you may not know because you don’t have the slates. Also, it isn’t clear who performed the in-water skill demonstrations, but it sounds like you did them, also a standards violation.

When you get your own professional liability policy, the fine print will tell you you’re not covered for accidents that occur while you’re not following agency standards.

Accidents do happen even in confined water training. I once had a student collapse on the pool deck before he even assembled his gear. If there is a claim, and you aren’t following standards, you’re on your own.

In this situation, if an accident had occurred, the instructor’s liability carrier would likely have denied coverage, and you would have been in the line of fire. In fact, you might have been in the line of fire even if you were assisting within the scope of your qualifications.

Also, if you’re old enough and settled enough financially to be taking the DM course as an expression of your diving hobby, it’s likely you have more assets than a full time instructor does. You might be the more attractive defendant.

The instructors who expressed concerns here are not being nitpicking jerks. We’re alerting you to the risks you’re exposing yourself to at a time when you might think you’re in training and safe from these concerns. You’re moving into the professional ranks now—fun must take a back seat to professional responsibility.

Best wishes,

 

[JRK44]

And this is my last post on this forum.
Take care all and safe diving.

 

[Wibble]

Nobody is critiquing the OP himself about his actions or enthusiasm. The criticism is about his instructor, who sucks and should expelled from PADI. If the OP is at fault, it is only in putting too much trust in an inept and poor instructor.

You weren’t there. You don’t know the people involved. You don’t know the circumstances.

All of the above are relevant.


Isn’t it great that a new diver gets some one-on-one time with a more experienced diver. Far better than being one student of 5 getting little or no instructor time as the sausage machine cranks out minimum skilled divers. For that was my recollection of OW training.

 

[Scraps]

And this is my last post on this forum.
Take care all and safe diving.

You do realize that the criticism here is not aimed at you but at the instructor who put you in an untenable position, right?

Nobody expects you to know the standards yet because you don’t have the manual.