NAUI Rescue Diver Course

[mbaker248]

Thank you all for the great words of advice and encouragement. Here is what i'm going through; life story or what have you. I went diving about 20 years ago and absolutely loved it. I should have gotten my C-card back then, but I had this little friend that lived in a 12 oz can named Bud and all he wanted to do was hang out. So instead of following through on getting my card; I hung out with Bud too much. Last year I finally got rid of Bud, and got my C-card. Now I think I'm trying to catch up on all that has passed me by for 20 years, and I no longer have to pay Bud his daily allowance; thus leaving my extra money to follow a dream. I truly love diving, and want to be the best diver I can possibly be. I know I'll never be the best diver in the world, but hey! whats to keep me from trying. My goal when I got my C-card was to become a dive instructor; and I initially set a time line for getting that. It wasn't going to be just "another" card to add to my collection, but a passion, way of life, retirement job etc... I grew up teaching lifeguards all there was to know about water safety and had my WSI, and I wish to pass this same education, safety and love of the sport of diving to others. I initially was going to go through NAUI to get my DI, but since talking to the LDS that certified me(SDI) I am going to use them. Some of you guys/gals have told me to be patient, but the owner of my LDS who actually knows me; finally told me "Mike, be patient" and it all finally sunk in. I'm still going to be a DI but the goal of August 2011 is no longer a realistic goal, I hope to enter the DM portion of my training by mid July, and help with as many classes as possible before taking the next step.
Thank you all again for the words of advise and encouragement, and wish me luck on my quest using SDI; sorry NAUI!

So with all that said; and I hope I didn't bore you to tears with my life story/problem, what do you all think of SDI?

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

Yes the AOW test is easy, and why shouldnt it be. The whole point of AOW is to DIVE. AOW isnt designed as an acedemic class, its a dive class.

Not necessarily so ... the best part about being a NAUI instructor is that they allow you to design your course around the needs of your students. AOW is my favorite class ... because it allows me to train divers how to dive independent of supervision in the chronically challenging conditions of Puget Sound. When I teach an AOW class, I give my students the NAUI materials and tell them to read the book ... it's good review for what you learned in OW ... but we're going to be covering a whole bunch of new stuff based on my own written handbook. That new stuff covers the "how to" of dive planning, gas management, buddy skills, managing dive-related injuries and illnesses, techniques for underwater navigation, diving in limited vis, deep dive planning and execution, and S&R. There are in-water skills that involve buoyancy control ... including a mid-water navigation dive that is conducted entirely at 20 feet, where you cannot see the bottom ... trim and propulsion techniques, gas consumption calculations, DSMB deployment, and learning the use of reels and lift bags.

The whole point isn't just to dive ... it's to learn how to research new dive sites, plan your dives, and make sure before you get in the water that you've anticipated and planned for the potential risks that the dive entails. It also involves learning how to manage your skills such that you don't wear yourself out trying to dive in challenging conditions ... or find yourself in a bad situation because you lacked the tools to plan the dive properly.

As an example ... before my students do their deep dive, they're given a dive plan and told to determine how much gas they'll need for that dive. The point is that the motivation for most folks to take AOW is because they want to do deeper dives ... I want them to be able to understand how to plan that dive so that they don't run into OOA or LOA situations. After the exercise, it's unnecessary for me to explain to them why going deep on an AL80 is generally not a very good idea ... they draw their own conclusion and understand the reasons why someone would believe that to be the case.

By the time they are done with class, my AOW students are competent to show up pretty much anywhere and ... at a minimum ... make an educated decision whether or not doing that dive would be a good idea. Their physical skills are very much improved over what they were prior to class, but the most important thing they take out of the class is a mental approach to planning and decision-making that helps keep them out of bad situations.

And that's why I believe that academics in an AOW class are at least as important as the dives ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[tomfcrist]

Bob maybe you took my post the wrong way....I never said that the course is worthless, just that the exam that 99% of Naui instructors use for AOW is easy.

Maybe we could agree on this, AOW is a course designed to enhance a divers ability through practical diving experiances an conditions which the student may not yet be prepared to undertake.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

Thank you all for the great words of advice and encouragement. Here is what i'm going through; life story or what have you. I went diving about 20 years ago and absolutely loved it. I should have gotten my C-card back then, but I had this little friend that lived in a 12 oz can named Bud and all he wanted to do was hang out. So instead of following through on getting my card; I hung out with Bud too much. Last year I finally got rid of Bud, and got my C-card. Now I think I'm trying to catch up on all that has passed me by for 20 years, and I no longer have to pay Bud his daily allowance; thus leaving my extra money to follow a dream. I truly love diving, and want to be the best diver I can possibly be. I know I'll never be the best diver in the world, but hey! whats to keep me from trying. My goal when I got my C-card was to become a dive instructor; and I initially set a time line for getting that. It wasn't going to be just "another" card to add to my collection, but a passion, way of life, retirement job etc... I grew up teaching lifeguards all there was to know about water safety and had my WSI, and I wish to pass this same education, safety and love of the sport of diving to others. I initially was going to go through NAUI to get my DI, but since talking to the LDS that certified me(SDI) I am going to use them. Some of you guys/gals have told me to be patient, but the owner of my LDS who actually knows me; finally told me "Mike, be patient" and it all finally sunk in. I'm still going to be a DI but the goal of August 2011 is no longer a realistic goal, I hope to enter the DM portion of my training by mid July, and help with as many classes as possible before taking the next step.
Thank you all again for the words of advise and encouragement, and wish me luck on my quest using SDI; sorry NAUI!

So with all that said; and I hope I didn't bore you to tears with my life story/problem, what do you all think of SDI?

I know where you're coming from ... I started my OW class on my 49th birthday, and my initial reaction was "why didn't I do this 30 years ago?"

But don't let chronology drive your goals ... focus on quality. You should not begin teaching until you can truly comprehend the nature of what you want to teach ... and scuba diving has so many levels of comprehension that are just difficult sometimes to describe to the inexperienced diver ... sometimes it's just easier to say "you're not ready yet". I understand that's a frustrating thing to hear ... and many divers will reject it out of hand. But think about what kind of instructor you want to become ... the one who can regurgitate what you read in a book, or the one who can truly explain what it means and what it feels like?

You can only become the second type by diving ... because in the water is where the learning really happens ... the class just begins to teach you how to learn ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

Bob maybe you took my post the wrong way....I never said that the course is worthless, just that the exam that 99% of Naui instructors use for AOW is easy.

Maybe we could agree on this, AOW is a course designed to enhance a divers ability through practical diving experiances an conditions which the student may not yet be prepared to undertake.

Oh, I definitely agree with that last statement ... but I think the degree of experiences really needs to be determined by the conditions in which you'll be diving. In that respect, I think tailoring an AOW class to local conditions gives is a great deal of added value.

I personally think the NAUI AOW exam is just about useless ... unless the student is someone who went straight from OW to AOW and is still struggling with the basics. I won't teach that kind of class, because all too often the students don't really get anything out of it. I'd rather just take a new diver diving ... for fun ... a few times, and let them get comfortable with their OW skills before beginning the next class.

My greatest concern about AOW is how many students come out of the class thinking they're "qualified" for deep diving, without having even the most fundamental notions of how to plan or execute a deep dive. Those are the ones who stand a high risk of an OOA or LOA experience shortly afterward. That's why I emphasize gas management and dive planning so much as part of expanding their experiences in more challenging conditions ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[reefvagabond]

mbaker, that's awesome that you've gotten rid of your old friend bud. glad to hear diving has become your new passion.

I don't know much about SDI but the advice i've gotten from more experienced divers is that rescue is a great class but don't rush and collect a bunch of C cards. it doesn't guarantee that it'll make you a good diver. what i've been trying to do is meet more experienced divers and just dive with them, pick their brains, and copy what they do, monkey see monkey do.

 

[tomfcrist]

I personally think the NAUI AOW exam is just about useless ... unless the student is someone who went straight from OW to AOW and is still struggling with the basics.

True enough, but I'm not convinced that an exam is needed at all, which is why i use the generic exam, and focus on real diving experiance. Gas management and dive planning really arent testable skills on paper....they need to be learned and tested in the dive environment....But thats jsut my way, you have the right to tailor your class anyway you want.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

Gas management and dive planning really arent testable skills on paper....they need to be learned and tested in the dive environment....

Well ... yes and no ... but I do qualify that by saying that I think it depends on the diver's goals and diving environment.

Where I dive, it's easy to get crazy deep in a hurry on most shore dives. So we tend to emphasize the importance of dive planning as a matter of self-preservation.

When I teach a deep diver specialty I give each student the responsibility of leading a dive ... giving them a set of criteria and making them responsible for all the dive planning and preparation. I ask them to work together on it, via email, and CC me so I can see what their thought process is. Usually I will tell them something like "plan a dive to a max depth of 120 fsw" and let them choose the site, figure out when to do the dive (based on current charts), decide what the appropriate gas is, determine the dive profile based on maintaining NDL's, and determining that everybody is carrying adequate gas for the dive plan. The "test" is what I read in the emails ... and although informal, it is most certainly a topic of critique as the course progresses, and a basis upon which I decide whether or not the student has achieved the objectives of the class.

You'd be amazed how much thought they can put into it, and how much they can "correct" each other as they discuss how to carry out the dive. Most of my students think they learn as much out of those correspondences as they do by actually going on the dives.

During the dive, the "leader" determines the dive profile, makes the navigational decisions, and calls the stops on the ascent. Each teammate is responsible for tracking their gas supply, making sure to maintain adequate reserves, and maintaining communications with each other during the dive. Each gets their turn at being the "leader" ... thereby getting practice at being responsible for the planning and execution decisions.

I'll grant that this type of course may not be necessary for the typical tropical diver, who is relying on a dive guide to make all the planning and execution decisions ... but for our local conditions it's absolutely needed for those who want to visit many of our deeper dive sites (which are often the most interesting ones) ... because around here there are no dive guides to make those decisions for you ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[tomfcrist]

Bob, I agree that Planning is a mandatory skill set to have for advanced divers(and OW divers alike).

Generally i cover those topics in depth in the classroom, and then we do our OW dives. First in the quarry, we cover all the Navigation, Gas Management, Emergency procedures, Simulated DECO, Salvage, Search and recovery, low/no vis, and night dives. This gives the student some confidence for the ocean dives off NC. Once we are in the ocean I pretty much let the students lead the dives, and I'm there for moral support. If they can work as a team and do wreck dives in NC without going OOA/LOA, get into DECO, get entangled, get seperated, get lost, or do anything else stupid....I've done my job.
I only do AOW classes for a maximum of 2 students at a time due to the amount of personalized attention i like to give my students. Havent passed 1 yet that i wouldnt be willing to do 120' dives with limited vis and ripping current with.