You're welcome. Every new OW student of mine gets this essay the first class session. I explain what it is, why it was written, and how it affects the way they will be trained. I have numerous PM's and emails from around the world asking for permission to post it on club and shop websites, to use as a handout, etc.
It is time to bump this thread back up as we are now in one of the busiest times for diving. Many new divers are doing checkouts, going on their first trips, or planning their first dives after certification on their own. It is these that this was written for. I would hazard a guess that more than few did not hear of the risks from their classes. The focus was on fun, fun, and more fun.
There are many entities in the industry that do not want newbies to hear these things. Shops, Agencies, and especially Resorts that rely on the ignorance of new divers to increase their bottom line. But the fact is that when divers do not hear of these things or learn the facts those of us who do insist on comprehensvie training and high standards suffer from the fallout. We may get lumped in with those who take short cuts and put divers in very real danger.
I am not a politically correct person. My training philosophy is not based on making a living at this and is why I teach for the agency I do. As long as I get one post that says something like this helped them I will continue to point out what I see as dangerous practices and name those doing them and why I feel they are dangerous.
I have a moral and ethical responsibility to do so as well as to keep the promise I made to my late wife. That is to do everything to see that divers I am responsbile for or have an influence over do not get into the water with less than the facts of just how risky this can be and with the training necessary to reduce those risks as much as possible.
