PADI online nitrox course cancelled?

[Hemlon]

Apparantly not all LDS's read their PADI Training Bulletions. This has been released for about 3 months.


The following is a quote from Page 6 of the PADI Instructor Training Bulletin for Second Quarter 2006....................

"April 7, 2006.....Enriched Air Diver Course Dives No Longer Required! Since the PADI Enriched Air Diver course was first introduced, enriched air diving has become more popular with more widespread reputable enriched air providers. Some who teach the course have requested a reevaluation of whether or not dives should be mandatory for course certification. As a result, effective immediately, the PADI Enriched Air Diver course no longer requires dives, though they are still recommended. Instead, a pre-dive simulation is required. The critical objectives of the Enriched Air Diver course are both learned and applied out of the water, and center around the physical procedures of gas analysis (and related use of logs and contents stickers). The performance requirement for the dive can effectively be addressed in a pre-dive simulation, which can be presented in conjunction with practical application 1 and 2. The performance requirements for this simulation are listed below:

1. Demonstrate pre-dive equipment setup, blend analysis label confirmation for two enriched air dives with two different scuba cylinders fill with EAN.
   
2. Plan two enriched air dives including maximum depths, oxygen limits and no stop limits using the RDP, the DSAT Equivalent Air Depth and Oxygen Exposure Tables and the Enriched Air RDP's, based on: depths, times, gas supply and surface intervals. provided by the instructor and the analyzed content of the two scuba cylinders filled with enriched air."

That is very good news! I'm going to try to schedule my class this summer if my LDS doesn't require the dives.

Thanks for the info!

 

[mike_s]

That is very good news! I'm going to try to schedule my class this summer if my LDS doesn't require the dives.

Thanks for the info!

With the above statement from PADI said, I still don't think it's a bad idea to go ahead and do the check out dives, just to familarize yourself with it, how the analyizer works, how your computer works with it etc. It might cost a few bucks more (for nitrox rental tanks and quarry fees), but it's well worth it.

 

[Damselfish]

We did the dives as it was some years ago but we got nothing new out of the dives themselves (but we would have been diving anyway.) You don't use the analyzer UW. The computers we had at the time were air only (but if you know how to use your computer figuring out it's Nitrox mode is not much of a stretch.) And no dives is good for someone who wants to do the class but not dive locally.

 

[TheHobster]

we still require the dives as how can that be a bad thing? Many divers take EANx and have very little experience. So making two dives can increase their experience, plus it gives them a chance to work on/learn skills, and an oppty for the instructor to encourage continuing ed. Also, many folks dive locally for the first time in awhile and find that being underwater, no matter where, is fun!

U/W has no faxes, phones, bosses, demanding customers - it's 30-90 minutes of free floating solitude and quiet - whats so wrong with that?

 

[mike_s]

I thought one of the things of PADI's "Quality Control" was not to add requirements to the class that were not required? (since that changes the class).

However, with that said, I still dont' see a problem with folks doing the checkout dives (or not doing them based on the ability) as an "optional" item. I think that doing the dives is a benifit to the class. It seems that many agencies have "slimmed down" these classes in recent years making thems smaller/shorter. oh well.

 

[TheHobster]

if I remember correctly, the dives are listed as optional but recommended

 

[DiveMaven]

We did the dives as it was some years ago but we got nothing new out of the dives themselves (but we would have been diving anyway.) You don't use the analyzer UW. The computers we had at the time were air only (but if you know how to use your computer figuring out it's Nitrox mode is not much of a stretch.) And no dives is good for someone who wants to do the class but not dive locally.

Amen to this!! We were in exactly those boots of wanting to do the class prior to a dive trip, but since we don't dive cold (local), we couldn't do it. Yes, we could have gone SSI, but the LDS who is SSI is one I wouldn't go to, so we were back to square one. Ironically, in our case, at the same time PADI dropped the dive requirement, we realized that a friend of ours teaches an IANTD Nitrox course, so that's likely the way we'll go.

 

[newportscuba]

In the online class did you do the classroom portion online and then go take the test at the LDS and do the check out dives?

I don't know how they can really have an online class anymore. They did away with the check out dives, so if they had the online course there wouldn't really be much need for them to get you into a PADI LDS.

Not 100% true.
The online portion was just classroom session 1 which dealt with.
Oxygen service standards.
tank labeling
how to get a fill
how to recognize if a facility was prepared to give you a fill.
pros and cons of partial pressure filling.

All the table work:
dive planning
calcualtions
O2 tracking
was all covered in classroom session 2 which was done in the LDS by an instructor.

so you couldn't just do 100% of the class room online show up and take the test and jump right in.

I still require the dives as part of my EANx class

 

[TCDiver1]

I still require the dives as part of my EANx class

Me to. The only time i don't require the dives is if the student in question has a scuba skill set which is very well known to me. My name isn't going on any card without that knowledge of the diver.