Specialty Instructor

[iguana751]

Can an open water instructor teach specialty courses and stress & rescue or do they have to be a specialty instructor?

 

[tstormdiver]

Well you can teach specialties if you go through co- teaching the courses or going through a seminar with an IT & register the specialties with SSI. Once you can teach at least 2 specialties, SSI automatically issues the specialty instructor rating. Once you are able to teach at least 4 specialties & have 15 specialty certifications under you, fill out the paper work, verified by an IT, then SSI will issue the rating of AOWI. At least that was the way it happened with me. As long as you have certified with SSI to teach specialties (including S & R) you can teach them, whether you are a specialty Instructor or not.

 

[eponym]

To add to Tammy's post, an SSI instructor can also qualify to teach a specialty by submitting a summary of dives done in that specialty area. The newest standards call for submitting proof of twenty dives (what I did, what I learned, etc.).

I was certified to teach several of the core specialties this way, based on previous experience in them. I have however had to learn a lot about teaching them and keeping students safe.