DATELINE :- 5th April 2000
IANTD ENTERS EARLY TRAINING
IANTD to teach self-help and use of nitrox from the off
The International Association of Nitrox and Technical Divers has gone head to head with other training agencies by introducing its Recreational Diver programme, a training scheme for beginners.
And in so doing, the US-based IANTD - until now a provider only of more advanced mixed gas and other technical diving techniques - will depart from some accepted norms in recreational dive training.
A key shift, compared with philosophies expoused by PADI (Professional Association of Diving Instructors), the BSAC (British Sub-Aqua Club) and SAA (Sub-Aqua Association), is that the ethic of self-sufficiency, employing alternative gas sources, is taught from the word go. Buddy rescue skills are covered but the accent is on avoiding having to call your buddy over in the first place.
In the interests of controlling gear costs to the average recreational diver, the use of effective pony cylinder set-ups will be encouraged for those who do not wish to invest in more expensive systems.
A second major departure, only to be expected from the IANTD, is that use of nitrox will be taught from the off.
Kevin Gurr, head of the IANTD's British arm, told Diver: "Beginners will not have to take up the nitrox element but it will be actively encouraged. The teaching of nitrox and alternative gas usage are, we believe, real steps towards improved safety for sports divers."
Beginners start with the Open Water Diver course, moving on to Advanced Open Water, which offers a wide choice of diving skills from which trainees can select the five most suited to their diving ambitions. The new training schedule is completed with Rescue Diver and Dive Master.
Divers who wish to do so can move seamlessly between the new courses and the IANTD's existing training.
"From the new Advanced Open Water you can train under our existing Advanced Nitrox Diver," said Gurr. "This covers you safely for depths down to 40m, and then there's our recently developed Normoxic Diver, which covers the use of light trimix between 40m and 60m."
For more information, call the IANTD in Poole on 01202 893315.