PADI Enriched Air Certification.... a little fishy.

[OralDouglas]

Hey all.


I recently took a PADI Enriched air course that I felt was a little, um, lacking.

Can anyone tell me about the current standards for the Enriched Air cert? What MUST be covered in the course?

What tables and other materials are included in the cost?


Thanks for the help!

[Tortuga68]

PADI EAN course

[TMHeimer]

For me the manual and Nitrox table were included, not the separate Eanx 32 & 36 tables. Back in ''06 we still had to do the 2 dives. I would think that everything in the manual should be covered- what was not covered for you?

[Crowley]

The course was changed this year.

You basically have to understand the risks of diving with Enriched Air, be able to analyse it, and be able to set your computer. What you need to know for standards is almost entirely covered by the single knowledge review. You must then make two dives under the supervision of an instructor, or plan two dives if nitrox (or diving, for that matter) is not available in your area. Tables are not required, nor is the mathematics.

From a practical standpoint, all that most divers need to know is "stick this here, read this number, put it in your computer, try not to die"... and I think the nitrox course has almost come to that level.

As a PADI instructor I am somewhat ashamed to teach it. Working in the real world of diving, then yeah, all that most divers need to know is how to analyse and what is their maximum operating depth, which is fine but...

That's it.

C.

[scubadiver888]

The course was changed this year.

You basically have to understand the risks of diving with Enriched Air, be able to analyse it, and be able to set your computer. What you need to know for standards is almost entirely covered by the single knowledge review. You must then make two dives under the supervision of an instructor, or plan two dives if nitrox (or diving, for that matter) is not available in your area. Tables are not required, nor is the mathematics.

From a practical standpoint, all that most divers need to know is "stick this here, read this number, put it in your computer, try not to die"... and I think the nitrox course has almost come to that level.

As a PADI instructor I am somewhat ashamed to teach it. Working in the real world of diving, then yeah, all that most divers need to know is how to analyse and what is their maximum operating depth, which is fine but...

That's it.

C.

Wow. I took the EAN course in 2008. I would have been sadly disappointed with the 2009 EAN course if this is it. Did they change the Tec40 course as well? If you dumb down the EAN course, they'd have to fill in the missing portion for the Tec40, I would imagine.

Hopefully we can still teach the extra material. I'm just a DM right now but hope to be teaching in a year or two.

[zaberman1]

What did you 'not' go over?

[fab50diver]

I did this cert last weekend and we DID have to know how to use all the tables, use the tables with one another, do all the math, plan the dives and work the analyzer. The test definitely wasn't easy. Guess it depends a lot on your instructor.

[zaberman1]

Here's what I got:

You went over all the mechanics, can perform a gas analysis, know how to plan EAN dives, and passed the test. I am trying to figure out what you didn't do to see if your course was/was not fishy. Do you understand the risks associated with EAN? Do you understand the concepts related to EAN (partial pressure, ox tox, etc)? Can you safely plan a nitrox dive?

[mmerriman]

this is not technically correct - You must then make two dives under the supervision of an instructor, or plan two dives if nitrox (or diving, for that matter) is not available in your area


The wording from the IG is "It’s recommended that you conduct Enriched Air Dives 1 and 2 whenever possible.
However, when logistics don’t allow them, you have the option to conduct
predive simulation exercises instead."

[muddiver]

Both the older and the new PADI Enriched Air Diving course is pretty light in my opinion as well. I perferred the ANDI SafeAir course because it did not henge on the two standard mixes of 32% and 36%. Also the ANDI course discusses the use of more than one mix for a dive within the No Decompression Linmits and the ANDI table is way easier to use.

Granted all you need is the knowldge of how to derive your equasion for mix, MOD or depth from the P=Pg*D, what the safe O2 pp limits are and that you need to know what is in the cylinder you are going to breath off of. Then your good to go.

But, more background and theory would be good.