Hopefully a different "becoming a DM" thread

[Nwcid]

As the tile says hopefully different from the normal questions. I did ready though many of the threads and did not find what I was looking for.

I am 40 years old and part of a volunteer PSD team. We are a young team, in formation, and a spilt team, mostly young or old, in terms of age. For being a fairly rural area we have some highly experienced team members with 2 instructors and 4 DM. We also have former PJ, 2 EMT's and the only Paramedic in the county.

With that said the "older" members may not be around for many more years. Our SOG's state to be a mission dive team leader requires DM or higher. I will be getting my DM to be able to fill the dive team leader. I am already in multiple leadership and education roles in emergency services.

I have at least 2 ways to do this and I see pro's and con's to both so looking for some opinions from others with experience. The first way and probably easiest is to do take the course here from one of our instructors. The cost would be cheapest by far. Of course it would be done in our local waters, which I dive frequently anyway.

I have also considered doing the DM "internship" thing. For me the interest in doing this has a few parts. First is a month long break from regular life, call it a mid-life crisis if you like. Second, while I like travel and vacation, I also like the "behind the scenes" action of how things actually work. In this case it would be how how the dive industry really is on a daily basis. Of course the tropical diving would be awesome also.

I am not afraid of hard work, or being a "tank monkey", but I also do not want to be taken advantage of. I am willing to "earn my keep". I have heard rumors that doing the internship thing can be pretty rough when it comes to being taken advantage of. Another point I heard was fitting in. I have been told that people not in their 20's with a party attitude get shunned making things more difficult. It almost sounds like DM are a dime a dozen and general attitudes reflect that.

So my question becomes is any of that true? I understand that a DM internship would be work, but it is also fun and worth it?

 

[rjack321]

For your area and circumstances I'm gonna guess that the tropical DM internship will be basically useless. I'd look into something in colder lower visibility water (local ish). Perhaps an instructor teaching more than OW students. AOW and higher level students are going to be more like your PSD team-mates and leading/planning dives with/for them in colder lower visibility waters is far more applicable to your dive team lead future.

 

[TMHeimer]

Maybe a general consensus is do DM course where you will want to work. Please don't work without pay--from your employer.

 

[chrisch]

The internship is designed to give practical experience that helps you with instructor development and for a career in the industry. As this is not your goal I don't see the point. There are short DM courses available all round the world, if you simply want to combine the course with a holiday and dive somewhere new then why not. Personally I would take the course with one of the locals and use the holiday to do some more fun diving.

 

[sheeper]

we have a very intensive DM program. During the later phases, our DMs may intern on one of our boats. They do not get paid. this is still part of their training. it is not a full-time thing. our DM candidates do their internship within their real-life schedules. Successful candidates may continue on to crew for us from time to time....and then they do receive compensation. Our typical DM class goes for 4-6 weeks and may go out several months depending on the candidate.

 

[captio2000]

I am not a PSD so I can't really speak to that part but I am a DM. But I can share a few thoughts.

DM is the lowest level of diving professional. When you perform as a DM you must perform according to established standards. For most DMs this means training or leading dives and you should be have professional liability insurance coverage (about $400-$500 per year). For a PSD, I would think you would still need some sort of coverage but the terms might be different as your liabilities exposures are different.

Being a DM has rewarded me in 2 major ways. First, during the 7 month process of becoming a DM and subsequent working with instructors I've have the opportunity to learn a vast amount about diving from the many instructors and DMs I worked with. This includes not only techniques for my diving but also learning how to handle students and other divers in the water during both fun and pretty scary experiences. There is really no substitute for putting in the time to learn from others. The second is I get a great deal of satisfaction from teaching, while I don't plan on becoming a dive instructor I get a lot of chances to help students learn about diving and safety.

So, in summary, I would encourage you to forgo the quick route and find a great local shop that can not only get you the DM C card but also allow you to work and learn from the other staff.

Good luck on your journey.

 

[sheeper]

we tell people who apply to our DM program that cert cards are paid for. DM status is earned. And we don't sell c-cards.
we make it hard because we expect our DMs to be the best. We make it hard because we trust our graduates with leading our families and friends.

 

[Nwcid]

Sorry I have not replied sooner, I did not get any updates, and I have not had a chance to be on much lately.

As for "where I want to work", is not as practical, as I will not be "working". Again I am part of a rural volunteer dive team, and out SOG's state to a DM or higher is required to lead missions. Based on their age, and life goals, I am not sure how long the DM's we do have will be around, so I am trying to be proactive. I am already a professional educator, working and teaching in Emergency Services.

I know the "find a great local shop" is the always the best answer, and is a good one, if that is an option. "Local" all becomes relative. There are only 2 dive shops "near" me, with one being over an hour and a half away, the other closer to 2 hours, and in another state. Next closest is over 5 hours away. Our team and the DM we have now get some of our support from the shop that is 1.5 hours away.

If I do my DM here, 2 of our current instructors will be doing my course. While they are good divers and I like them. The problem doing the course with them, is the same I have learned from my other teaching, things become stagnant. If a group never goes outside their group for training it is hard to get new thoughts, ideas, concepts and skills integrated. So in a way doing it here IS the "fast tracking" way of doing it. Doing it locally or away both have advantages and disadvantages.

My thought of doing a month long course somewhere would be to get experience outside of our group. Again the other half was taking a short break from "real life", where I know work is involved, but don't want to be taken advantage of.

 

[rongoodman]

I don't see much connection between Dive Master, in the sense that it's used in the recreational community, and Public Safety diving, which you want to do. I understand that the requirement is currently written into your team's SOPs, but wouldn't it make more sense to obtain additional training specific to PSD, which will have very little to do with what dive masters do, and change the SOPs if you have to? There has been a steady stream of reports over the years of injuries and deaths stemming from divers with only recreational backgrounds attempting PSD missions. What do the folks at ERDI have to say about it?

 

[Nwcid]

I believe the connection is that someone has documented training dive planning, emergency situations, and of course general leadership. While I know that is not a direct correlation to PSD, but it helps. Through ERDI you need to have 50 PSD logged dives (Is that really enough?) to take the PSD supervisor course. At our current rate, that would probably take 2-3 years to even be able to start, and it is not something that should be rushed.

As I said our team is very young so we are trying to do things right, but we also have to be practical in terms of what things can be accomplished in terms of money and time. I know our SOP's were heavily borrowed from other teams and not written from scratch so I am assuming it is a semi standard.

We have a good mix of divers from people with limited OW experience to PSD, to Tec to instructors. We all train together and then missions will dictate who will perform what role. We are continuously training and practicing.


Here is what our SOP says;


The recommended number of divers for a recovery mission should consist of four certified divers, to include the two search divers, the Dive Team Leader and Dive Safety Officer. When no other personnel are present to assist, two divers may enter the water with the third diver remaining on the surface as the Dive Team Leader who may also act as the Dive Safety Officer. The surface diver shall be fully equipped to provide immediate in water assistance in the event of an emergency.


The Dive Team Leader’s minimum qualifications should be a Dive Master or above and certified as a Public Safety Diver (PSD).