Would Government Regulation of Diving Be So Bad?

[ScubaCrossing]

Lets look at the standards set forth by Recreational Scuba Training Council, Inc. (RSTC) and agreed upon by PADI, SSI,IDEA,and YSCUBA

Effective 1 January 2000
"Quote"
Minimum Course Content
for Recreational Scuba Instructor Certification

Eligibility for Certification

(1) Medical Examination. The candidate shall have, within the past year, a medical
examination and approval for diving, without conditions or restrictions, by a licensed physician prior to engaging in water activities. In no event shall medical approval be accepted, wherein the physician signing the approval is the participating candidate.

(2) Physical Conditioning and Watermanship Evaluation. The candidate shall
effectively demonstrate basic watermanship ability by performing the watermanship evaluation required by the training organization. This watermanship evaluation shall include a continuous 400 yard (366 metre) surface distance swim and a 10 minute survival swim/float without the use of mask, fins, or snorkel, or of other swimming aids.

(3) Acknowledgment and Assumption of Risk. Candidates shall be informed of the
inherent risks of scuba and shall agree to sign appropriate forms acknowledging and assuming those risks prior to participating in water activities. These forms may include, but are not to be limited to: liability release; waiver and release of liability; affirmation and liability release; assumption of risk; limitation of liability; safe diving practices; standards for safety; statement of understanding; etc.

(4) Knowledge. The candidate shall demonstrate instructor-level knowledge of scuba
diving by taking and passing a written examination. Documentation of the examination shall be permanently retained by the training organization. This examination shall test instructor-level knowledge of equipment, physics of diving, physiology of diving, medical problems related to diving, decompression theory, use of dive tables, dive computers, dive environment and training standards as specified by the training organization and as outlined in 5.2.

(5) Scuba Skills. The candidate shall satisfactorily demonstrate, to an instructor
trainer/evaluator, instructor-level scuba skills required by the training organization and as outlined in 5.4 and 5.5, covering pool/confined water and open water scuba skills, respectively.

(6) CPR. At the time of certification, the candidate shall complete, and have current,
training in CPR as required by the training organization. CPR may be taught during the
instructor course, but may not be counted toward the 100 total training hours.

(7) First Aid. At the time of certification, the candidate shall complete, and have current, training in First Aid as required by the training organization. First Aid may be taught during the instructor course, but may not be counted toward the 100 total training hours.

(8) Diver Rescue. The candidate shall complete training in diver rescue skills as required
by the training organization and as outlined in 5.6. The candidate shall also satisfactorily demonstrate, to an instructor trainer/evaluator, at least one complete open water rescue as required by the training organization. Diver Rescue may be taught during the instructor course and may be counted toward the 100 total training hours.

(9) Dive Supervisor. The candidate shall complete training in group control and
supervision of diver activities as required by the training organization. Dive Supervisor may be taught during the instructor course and may be counted toward the 100 total training hours.

(10) Teaching Presentation Training. The candidate shall complete training in lesson
preparation, planning and delivery of lecture, pool/confined water skills and open water skills teaching presentations as required by the training organization and as outlined in 5.3, 5.4 and 5.5.

(11) Training Hours. The candidate shall complete at least 100 total training hours of
specialized training/evaluation. A minimum of 50 training hours are to occur under the
supervision of an instructor trainer/evaluator and include the topics outlined in Section. The remaining hours are to include, but are not limited to, the training outlined in 4(8) and 4(9).

(12) Dive Experience. At the time of certification, the candidate shall have at least 100
verifiable logged dives. "End Quote"

I do not believe the Govt. could do a better job. I believe the standards are there, if the respective CD's hold to the above standards, then the blame falls back on the instructors whom do not follow the standards they were taught and agreed to teach by.

 

[mech]

I wouldn't trust the government to make me a tunafish sandwich.
Would you?

 

[Robert Phillips]

Where the ... do YOU live?

In a constant state of Sarcasm!

 

[ElectricZombie]

The training standards
are compromised, some might argue, new divers are at
their unsafest level ever, more and more instructors are
teaching without a basic understanding themselves.

I think we are already at this point. While divers are not killing themselves left and right, some of the things I see other divers doing make me beleive that adequate training is not being given.

Only a government entity (immune from commercial pressures) can ensure that standards are
not only SET IN PAPER but also ADHERED to in training.

Government regulation is not the answer. The government can't even ensure that my mail arrives on time and undamaged; I seriously doubt that they could improve diver training. The government would likely waste millions of dollars and consult numerous self proclaimed "experts" who are the real cause of lagging standards and poor training. If anything, government regulation would lower standards rather than improve them.

How? Easy -- a standarized test administered by official
test-givers. Pilots have to pass an FAA test, though their training can be private. Why not the same for divers?

Being a paid professional pilot and diving in a non-leadership role are two completely different things that involve a huge difference in liability. Also, who is going to decide what information students will be tested on? Most likely, the same "experts" responsible for the lack of legitimate training will be the same ones making up the test.

Wouldn't divers be safer if someone WITHOUT A PROFIT MOTIVE was in charge of evaluating diver skills prior to
handing them a c-card?

In theory, an Instructor is not paid to give you a certification; you are paying for their time and knowledge. If your not up to par, you don't get a card. As we all know, this seldom ever works as it should. People get certified who have no business ever being near anything deeper than a bathtub. One also has to realize that few Instructors are actually teaching proper skills. The students don't know that they are getting poor training and the Instructor doesn't have a clue either. Government regulation would just make this problem even worse. Training standards in the industry are not likely to improve. Divers intent on learning proper skills will have to research the subject and seek out legitimate training themselves rather than rely on whatever the LDS tells them.

 

[TwoBitTxn]

I find it interesting that people keep following Andy's line of thinking where he suggested an activity (flying) that has the potential of affecting a large number of people.

Government regulation of scuba diving would be based on the premise of protecting you from yourself. ie. sealtbelt laws, helmet laws, etc...

I have no doubt that the federal government would have no desire to attempt to regulate scuba. They have too much to do as it is and, in my opinion, fail in many of their other regulatory efforts. On the flip side, I could see the federal gov't setting a frame work and asking the states to fill in the gaps and regulate the activity. Again as an effort to protect divers from themselves.

I feel that the cost of these efforts would be passed to the diver in some way and act as an additional barrier to entry into the activity. I also believe the manufacturers association and various diver groups would probably pull together at the last minute and block any efforts to bring regulation to fruition.

TwoBit

 

[Don Burke]

I can't believe that it took 35 posts for anyone to mention the DMV. How do people drive where you live? Here in the San Francisco Bay Area it is insane, and the majority of these people were licensed by a govt agency. Think about this the next time you are driving home from work.

Here is something else to ponder.

How much better would it be if there were no standards for these people to meet?

 

[Seabear70]

I wouldn't trust the government to make me a tunafish sandwich.
Would you?

I've had a GI tunafish sandwich... Let me just say they had some really great lemonade... Nuf Said?

 

[jhelmuth]

Clearly this is just a joke. The government couldn't possibly do any better job - only worse. It's not about standards, nor is it about regulation. It's the people who are part of the SCUBA community. We have plenty of good and bad, instructors and students, zealots and no-conformists. It is what it is and no ammount of talk will change that because it's the people (it just human nature).

 

[vfib2]

I agree, the government should not be allowed to regulate the SCUBA industry. They have already screwed enough other stuff up.

 

[mania]

Years ago this way scuba diving was regulated in Poland. It was a separate government agency that later associated with CMAS. It was the only agency that could certify divers and was in a way regulating the industry. On the other hand one of the reasons was that ages ago people allowed to dive here were only soldiers, militia and communistic party members - after all - you know - divers can steal the most important secrets of the party and country.
Since the free market economy other agencies started their operations in Poland and although this government agency still exists and is the most influential others had to be allowed to certify as well.
All diving agencies operating in Poland (which is CMAS, PADI, SSI, IANTD and TDI) have to get a permission from the Ministry of Education and Sport. But the Ministry doesn't interfere any longer in the program of the agencies.
So we have an on-going discussion that maybe we should come back to the old times when certifying divers was in hand of this only agency (in fact it's called the Commission of Underwater Activities) because then divers were really well taught. But because the Commission is associated with CMAS it always ends as a money debate - who takes bigger share of the market.
To be totally honest with you - I think that Commission was teaching better that some of the agencies now, but on the other hand it rather depends on the instructor than on the agency itself - which we all know very well.
So I can't answer H2Andy question whether it would be good or not but I also wanted to show that this is not an unusual thing that government regulates scuba diving.
Mania