PSDiver.com

We can all agree that all scuba begins with basic open water scuba training. That is our mutual foundation and that foundation is based on recreational diving. As such, we take on new team members and require them to be scuba certified. What we do not seem to do is recognize – at this level – the disparity in skills, experience and quality of training those new team members may have. We need divers so we welcome new scuba divers into our ranks and then teach them what they need to know.

This works out most of the time but I am not sure it works out in a way that is actually beneficial to the team or the diver. A new candidate to your team may have just completed an Open Water training class or may have a certification that is 15 years old. They may have an advanced certification and “been a diver” for 20 years or more. But does this mean they are experienced divers? Does it mean that they have skills that will afford them the ability to stave off panic in zero visibility or perform self rescue if they get into trouble? How can we measure that? Better yet, why do we NOT measure that?

It is this entry level step into Public Safety Diving that is missing. We have no standard that offers a path to become a Public Safety Diver yet it is not outside the norm for a team to take on an Open Water certified diver, give them a team t-shirt and make them one. In that instant, that new diver became a Public Safety Diver.

There must be a qualification – a prerequisite skills requirement that sets the tone and measures the scuba skills and abilities of those new Public Safety Divers. It is not enough to need warm bodies and take on who ever is willing to join. We must be more responsible than that.

Basic skills in scuba represent survival skills for PSD or water response teams. Those who perform dives as a main function of their team use them and those who perform top water rescue as their main function use them.  Not every team is tasked the same, funded the same or even qualified the same. We cannot accept a definitive statement that would encompass Top Water Rescue for example. Consider a Beach Guard. They fall within our ranks but are tasked with daily duties that require them to be fit, able and capable of swimming without aids and performing rescue in adverse conditions.

These skill sets are the building blocks for scuba diving and apply directly to what we do in and on the water.  It is my hope to see this concept develop into a standard mastery skills program that will bridge the gap between our Open Water Divers and PSD Teams.