Amen.Okay, I haven’t read all the posts on this thread, but have some suggestions. I’d like to see a lot more competency in basic swimming/lifesaving skills BEFORE diving instruction. That means reinstating the basic swimming skills shown in The New Science of Skin and Scuba Diving book from the 1960s, or the NAUI swimming skills from the 1970s.
PADI is so proud of being the first to drop swimming skills that they put it into their history timeline: PADI Through the Decades: The 1980s
1981: Pool Dives
In 1981, PADI became the first scuba program to have new divers use scuba gear during their first confined water/pool dives. At the time it was considered bizarre to start divers with scuba rather than freediving. Now it has become an industry standard, and the “Dive Today” approach has continued to prove itself.
I'd say it's continued to prove itself only if the goal is to to get more people certified and instead of more lifelong divers. Which to be fair was exactly the goal.
Oh sure, you want graduates of a "rescue" course to be able to rescue people? Madness, I tell you. Next you'll be wanting "mastery" to mean able to do something correctly every time without a second thought instead of able to do it once after several attempts in controlled conditions.For the dive rescue courses, students should first be certified in lifesaving from one of the agencies that trains lifesaving today. Then go on to dive rescue.