Posted by Wayne on September 07, 2000 at 01:09:29:
In Reply to: Re: Market Share vs. Responsible Training posted by Jason on September 06, 2000 at 14:11:11:
While it is easy to say that rescue skills ought to be taught in an open water course, you must realize that the real RESCUE COURSE is different and covers skills that are not easily mastered by beginning divers. All O/W students are taught to drop their belts and how to tow a diver around. But they are NOT ready to deal with a panicky diver under water! They will die in training, if the training is as realistic as it usually is in a Rescue Course. If you read the course materials of PADI's rescue course, you will find that much of the work is in how to defuse situations and reduce diver stress to prevent the rescue. I think this is a good thing and when properly taught, the PADI course is first rate. But I also believe that the NAUI one is first rate when properly taught.
The biggest anti-PADI argument has always been the for-profit status of the corporation. Folks got down on them and now we forget why and think it must be training deficiencies. As an organization, PADI does its job well. All the instructors (PADI and NAUI) I have been near do a good job. But no agency encourages divers to stop learning after O/W. After a diver gets a few dives under the belt, it is tiem to learn more and expand their horizons.
Also there are remarks about poor buoyancy in divers who have been certified for some period of time. Do not blame the certifying agency or instructor. Blame the diver. They know how, and they demonstrated neutral buoyancy with breathing controling their ascent/decent in class. The trouble is that many do not care to control it or they never practise their skills. Recently on an Advanced class we had a guy who scrapped his belly on the sand for an entire dive. I wanted to reach over and grab his inflater! Instead, we worked on it on subsequent dives. So again, he knew how, but just did not think to do it. Putting things into action requires practise. The more we dive, the better we become.
Wayne