Sunday, a diver died at a local site, because she and her buddy ran short of gas at depth, and she ran out on ascent, panicked, couldn't get positive at the surface, sank and drowned.
My husband is taking his instructor course right now, and has been told in no uncertain terms that he may NOT teach SAC rates or gas planning based on individual consumption at the OW level.
Please -- If you are a new diver, an OW diver, someone contemplating getting certified to dive, or anybody else who hasn't been taught some gas management, read my friend NWGratefulDiver's article on gas management. It will give you some tools to keep you safe, and some tools to know ahead of time which dives are likely to get you into trouble.
Having the tools to set safe parameters for your own dive is, to me, a critical part of diving education. If instructors are being forbidden to teach this, we can only try to get the information to people in other ways.
My husband is taking his instructor course right now, and has been told in no uncertain terms that he may NOT teach SAC rates or gas planning based on individual consumption at the OW level.
Please -- If you are a new diver, an OW diver, someone contemplating getting certified to dive, or anybody else who hasn't been taught some gas management, read my friend NWGratefulDiver's article on gas management. It will give you some tools to keep you safe, and some tools to know ahead of time which dives are likely to get you into trouble.
Having the tools to set safe parameters for your own dive is, to me, a critical part of diving education. If instructors are being forbidden to teach this, we can only try to get the information to people in other ways.
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