Scuba deaths/incidents per certifying agency

[Adobo]

Hi everyone, I'm Randy and new to diving. I was certified OW by a very popular agency, and before I continue my training, I was wondering if there was information available about the incident rate per certifying agency. I'm mostly interested in the PADI/SSI/NAUI comparison.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance,

ccardvol

What's is the real question you want an answer to?

Even if you could get your hands on this data, it would not really tell you anything meaningful.

 

[jbd]

NAUI does not require AOW prior to Resue diver course.

 

[deepstops]

Definitely NAUI, from what I've heard from NAUI instructors.

Did you really expect a NAUI instroketer to say PADI is better

 

[DeepBound]

Did you really expect a NAUI instroketer to say PADI is better

Well, I'm sure they wouldn't lie, or give biased information.

 

[Tassie_Rohan]

Ok good enough. I guess I asked the wrong question. I suppose what I want to know is, of PADI, SSI, or NAUI, which agency would give me to most "advanced" training in order to receive their respective AOW certifications.

A poor PADI instructor will rubbish SSI and NAUI and state that PADI AOW is the best.

A poor SSI instructor will rubbish PADI and NAUI and state that SSI AOW is the best.

A poor NAUI instructor will rubbish PADI and SSI and state that NAUI AOW is the best.

It doesn’t matter which organisation you use. What counts is getting a good instructor who will insure that you leave the course with your skills up to scratch, rather than just sell a card.

In the end it’s your diving experience during and after the course that counts, not who printed your card.

You see this pissing competition all the time when some dive professionals have impressionable newbies around - my dive shop is better than all the others, the brand of gear I stock is the best and is what you should buy, the organisation I’m affiliated with is better than all the others etc. It seems to make them feel good about themselves. If they were actually good they wouldn't need to make these hollow claims.

Cheers,
Rohan.

 

[Adobo]

Ok good enough. I guess I asked the wrong question. I suppose what I want to know is, of PADI, SSI, or NAUI, which agency would give me to most "advanced" training in order to receive their respective AOW certifications.

And thanks for not sticking it to a rooking for asking a rookie question? Or would that be sticking it to a guppie for asking a guppie question

This question is a little more precise than the original but it still might not get you the information that you might be looking for.

Maybe if you shared a little bit about the problem you are trying to solve with "AOW certifications" you could get an answer that suits you better.

If I could, I'd like to share my personal experience...

When I took Open Water class, I was quite satisfied with the effort the instructor was making towards educating the students. However, I found the content of the material to be incomplete or obscure in some areas that I felt were important. These areas were:

• Gas planning - they introduced this notion of "be back at the boat with 500psi". There were no details as far as what formula to use to derive what pressure I needed to begin my ascent to make it to the surface with 500psi.
• Air Sharing - The shop I took my class from uses AIR2 style backup regulators. So when I donated my primary regulator to my buddy, I would have to breath from the AIR2. However, I found that the hose the AIR2 was attached to was to short for me to look at my buddy. So essentially, in that emergency scenario, I really would not be able to look eye to eye with my buddy.
• Finning techniques - from reading scubaboard, I had heard that many divers were employing alternative finning techniques to be able to turn like a helicopter or to back up. In my class, they talked about the flutter kick and the dolphin kick. No mention of others.

This experience left me feeling like I needed "more" after getting my Open Water certification. Unfortunately, when I started looking around, I found that the AOW classes offered in my area gave really "more of the same" and didn't much in terms of training or knowledge in those key areas. I was looking for proficiency in areas like air sharing, finning techniques and gas planning. In my case, the AOW classes taught by my LDS was the wrong solution.

So I guess the short of what I am getting at is that it sounds as if you are assuming that the solution is to take AOW. My question is, what are you trying to solve?

 

[rawls]

Accidents and incidents, for the most part, have nothing to do with the certifying agency.

 

[Walter]

How do you know?

 

[Diver Dennis]

Heart attacks and other health related deaths that are subsequently labeled as drowning have nothing to do with the certifying agency.

 

[rawls]

How do you know?

Because it's common sense perhaps?