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Scuba Forum / UK Scuba / January 2004New PADI 'Discover Enriched Air Nitrox' course launched...
Just received this from PADI and thought you guys might find it of interest... "As a result of revisions to the PADI Enriched Air Diver Course announced in October 2003, many of you have asked for a simple, introductory enriched air nitrox program. Effective immediately, PADI Enriched Air Specialty Instructors may give recognition to divers who complete the first two components of the course by offering them a new, DISCOVER Enriched Air NITROX card. This new level may be beneficial when you don't have immediate access to open water or when divers are not spending enough time in your area to complete the full course. Divers who just want to learn a bit more about enriched air without signing up for the full course may find this option very useful. PADI DISCOVER Enriched Air NITROX consists of these segments of the PADI Enriched Air Diver Specialty Course: 1) Knowledge Development 1 (Enriched air dive planning, care for equipment, hazard management, use and application of enriched air.) The PADI Enriched Air Diver Manual is required. It is highly recommended to have students view the PADI Enriched Air Diving video. Please note the video is required for the full Enriched Air certification. 2) Practical Application 1 (using an oxygen analyzer to determine oxygen content in an enriched air blend, verification of cylinder content, use of fill log) An enriched air dive may accompany the program, but is not required. Successful completion of DISCOVER Enriched Air NITROX allows the diver to dive on 32 percent oxygen within the no-stop limits of the air RDP or an air-based dive computer, to a maximum of 30 metres/100 feet under the indirect supervision of a PADI professional (Divemaster, Assistant Instructor or Instructor) who is enriched-air certified." > Just received this from PADI and thought you guys might find it of > interest... Yep, I got this as well today Bardo. But something deep down inside say's this might not be the best idea in the world! Scubatricky > > Just received this from PADI and thought you guys might find it of > > interest... > > Yep, I got this as well today Bardo. But something deep down inside say's > this might not be the best idea in the world! Yeah, I know what you mean - I guess the important thing is that some control is exercised on how easily a diver with this new qualification is able to obtain nitrox fills. Will it, for example, allow a diver with this certification to take a nitrox cylinder along and get a 32% fill without supervision? If so, who's to verify that they a) dive no deeper than 30m with it and b) use air tables/computer set to 'air' for the dive and b) dive under the indirect supervision of an Enriched Air-certified PADI professional? Personally I'm a little concerned that it could lead to some divers using it as a 'quick and dirty' way of getting their hands on nitrox without having to go through a full blown course... That said, anything that furthers the nitrox cause and gets more people diving on it has to be a good thing, surely? After all, let's not forget that PADI does already allow instructors to introduce nitrox (and even allows students to dive on it!) as part of an open water course... > Personally I'm a little concerned that it could lead to some divers > using it as a 'quick and dirty' way of getting their hands on nitrox > without having to go through a full blown course... I see this as part of PADI's continuing commitment to improving the gene pool. Like in so many other areas in life, you're never going to stop stupid people hurting themselves. R. > I see this as part of PADI's continuing commitment to improving the gene > pool. Like in so many other areas in life, you're never going to stop > stupid people hurting themselves. I agree that there its possible that there will be someone out there who will dive below the 50m contingency MOD of Nitrox 32 on an OW or AOW ticket and their Discover Nitrox card but I would say the risks are pretty remote. This is quite an interesting move however, I wonder what the motivation is? Nitrox from the start and changing the deep specialty to a deep air diver specialty in a few years time? Nick > I agree that there its possible that there will be someone out there who will > dive below the 50m contingency MOD of Nitrox 32 on an OW or AOW ticket and their > Discover Nitrox card but I would say the risks are pretty remote. Doh! Should read 40m.... That'll teach me to do maths before my first cup of a morning! ;-) > > Personally I'm a little concerned that it could lead to some divers > > using it as a 'quick and dirty' way of getting their hands on nitrox [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > > R. I agree that you will never stop stupid people hurting themselves, but I fail to see why this is an excuse for a cheap pop at PADI. If they have learned about nitrox dive planning, then they are as likely to exceed MODs whichever organisation that they qualified with. All knowledge is good knowledge. Keith >> Just received this from PADI and thought you guys might find it of >> interest... > >Yep, I got this as well today Bardo. But something deep down inside say's >this might not be the best idea in the world! I don't actually see what the problems is? Some people seem to think there is a great mystique in diving nitrox but for a single mix I don't see it. 90% of the theory is covered in the basic scuba courses so why can it not be covered in a single day theory only course? Pete diving 'at' melbourne 'dot' me 'dot' uk > PADI DISCOVER Enriched Air NITROX consists of these segments of the PADI > Enriched Air Diver Specialty Course: I'm with Pete M - I don't see any problem with this and personally I think that it's a smart/correct move by PADI. I have long been of the opinion that for simple no-stop diving there is NOTHING mystical about Nitrox, all of the existing courses are padded to try and make something "special" out of it. There is nothing about basic Nitrox that cannot be taught as part of an elementary course. So well done PADI. Given that there is no dive that can be done where air is the "correct" gas I'm all for introducing it at a very early stage, there's nothing difficult in there. I'm seeing this as the start of making Nitrox the standard diving gas by introducing it at elementary level, a good thing IMHO. Keith L > > PADI DISCOVER Enriched Air NITROX consists of these segments of the PADI > > Enriched Air Diver Specialty Course: [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] > the standard diving gas by introducing it at elementary level, a good thing > IMHO. Absolutely. Couldn't agree more - providing the diver sticks to the 30m limit imposed upon them by the certification. What concerns me slightly is that I honestly think that PADI are kidding themselves if they think that most divers with this certification won't eventually set their computers to '32%' to take advantage of the extra bottom time. Then, of course, you'll always get divers who will push the depth limits due to growing confidence and peer pressure. But then I guess you could say that about any certification!? After all, how many AOW divers haven't dived below 30m?! That said, I personally welcome this 'demystifying' of nitrox - anything that gets divers supping nitrox in a responsible way has got to be a good thing. :-) >Absolutely. Couldn't agree more - providing the diver sticks to the 30m >limit imposed upon them by the certification. What concerns me slightly is >that I honestly think that PADI are kidding themselves if they think that >most divers with this certification won't eventually set their computers to >'32%' to take advantage of the extra bottom time. But again what is the problem? I think its safer to have a longer no stop time than people with marginal buoyancy skills doing deco stops >Then, of course, you'll >always get divers who will push the depth limits due to growing confidence >and peer pressure. But then I guess you could say that about any >certification!? After all, how many AOW divers haven't dived below 30m?! So if they set their computers to 32% its going to bleep like crazy - and this is one of the things that would have to be covered in the course. After all for basic courses its not too difficult - "if you exceed the MOD then you are going to die!" >That said, I personally welcome this 'demystifying' of nitrox - anything >that gets divers supping nitrox in a responsible way has got to be a good >thing. :-) Totally Pete diving 'at' melbourne 'dot' me 'dot' uk >> That said, I personally welcome this 'demystifying' of nitrox - >> anything that gets divers supping nitrox in a responsible way has >> got to be a good thing. :-) >> > Totally <aol> Me too </aol> The fact that for most AOW style diving on a single using a Nitrox mix will push the NDL out way beyond anything they can manage on any human SAC so it means that even if they do mess up totally the consequences won't be so bad. That, after all, is what an agency should be looking for. Even the blithering idiots get to dive safely and enjoy themselves. There is far too much mystique in diving. Nothing is complicated, nothing is really hard and the consequences of getting it wrong behind the wheel of a car can be far worse. Diving has long since moved from heroics to hobby. Although I admit the idea of a course **BELOW** PADI Nitrox rather amuses me. It isn't one of the most demanding ones in the book. nigelH >>> That said, I personally welcome this 'demystifying' of nitrox - >>> anything that gets divers supping nitrox in a responsible way has [quoted text clipped - 24 lines] > > nigelH Nigel, Have you seen the BSAC basic nitrox??? Danny (Flameproofs on)  SignatureThe box said windows 98 or better, so I installed Linux Header is false, correct is Danny at danshome dot org >> Although I admit the idea of a course **BELOW** PADI Nitrox >> rather amuses me. It isn't one of the most demanding ones in [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > >Danny (Flameproofs on) Funnily enough that is exactly what I thought :-) Pete (BSAC instructor) Pete diving 'at' melbourne 'dot' me 'dot' uk > > PADI DISCOVER Enriched Air NITROX consists of these segments of the PADI > > Enriched Air Diver Specialty Course: [quoted text clipped - 14 lines] > > Keith L I presume that it is the planning using nitrox tables that they are missing out of this course. If so it seems a bit pointless to save an hours studying and only getting half the benefit by diving on air tables. Roy "JayTee" <DomJayTee@nospamhotmail.com> wrote... > I presume that it is the planning using nitrox tables > that they are missing out of this course. If so it > seems a bit pointless to save an hours studying and only > getting half the benefit by diving on air tables. I don't know what's in and what's out. But even if it is Nitrox tables, assuming that you can use a RDP then just how many hours of intensive tuition do you need to be able to read a Nitrox table? Do you have to be shown by an instructor how to set your computer for 32%? That's my whole point - Nitrox is NOT difficult, all this mystique about OTU's and CNS is totally irrelevant for a straight forward no-stop dive on 32%, you just don't need it. By cutting out the cr*p (e.g. the IANTD "karma" rubbish) you can teach a no-stop diver EVERYTHING they need to know about Nitrox in one evening over a few beers down the pub. The mystique and complexity around basic Nitrox has only built up as padding to justify the course fees, well done PADI for breaking ranks and making a positive move to bring Nitrox into everyday use by all divers. Keith L > "JayTee" <DomJayTee@nospamhotmail.com> wrote... > [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > tuition do you need to be able to read a Nitrox table? Do you have to be > shown by an instructor how to set your computer for 32%? But that's the point - PADI always put a much greater emphasis on planning dives on tables rather than simply how to 'set your computer to 32%'. Planning dives when you use nothing but 32% is very easy with the standard PADI 32% tables but things do start to get a little bit more complicated if the user starts jumping between air and 32% - by ensuring that they do all their planning on an air table, they're minimising the risk of the diver miscalculating nitrogen loadings for repetitive dives whilst increasing safety margins considerably. > That's my whole point - Nitrox is NOT difficult, all this mystique about > OTU's and CNS is totally irrelevant for a straight forward no-stop dive on > 32%, you just don't need it. By cutting out the cr*p (e.g. the IANTD "karma" > rubbish) you can teach a no-stop diver EVERYTHING they need to know about > Nitrox in one evening over a few beers down the pub. Funnily enough, I did just that last time I was out in Egypt - it's funny how the theory comes right back to you when you've got a few Egyptian beers inside you! ;-) > The mystique and complexity around basic Nitrox has only built up as padding > to justify the course fees, well done PADI for breaking ranks and making a > positive move to bring Nitrox into everyday use by all divers. Seconded!!!! > But that's the point - PADI always put a much greater emphasis on planning > dives on tables rather than simply how to 'set your computer to 32%'. [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > miscalculating nitrogen loadings for repetitive dives whilst increasing > safety margins considerably. Having downloaded the new instructor guide. It appears that the Discover Enriched Air course doesn't require a dive on a blended gas. As follows: [quote] To earn the DISCOVER Enriched Air NITROX card, divers must: 1. Be a certified PADI Open Water Diver or have a qualifying certification from another training organization. (Note: DISCOVER Enriched Air NITROX may be conducted concurrently with the PADI Open Water Diver course. In this case, the Open Water Diver certification requirements must be met before submitting the DISCOVER Enriched Air NITROX PIC Envelope to PADI.) 2. Successfully complete Knowledge Development 1 (Enriched air dive planning, care for equipment, hazard management, use and application of enriched air.) The PADI Enriched Air Diver Manual and Enriched Air Diver video are required. 3. Successfully complete Practical Application 1 (using an oxygen analyzer to determine oxygen content in an enriched air blend, verification of cylinder content, use of fill log). An enriched air dive may accompany the program, but is not required. Hope this clarifies it somewhat. I see where they're going with it, but it doesn't seem far IYKWIM. Why only teach half the course? It's only a 1 day course for the whole lot. > Why only teach half the course? It's only a 1 day course for the whole lot. IIRC the TDI bsic nitrox course doesn't require a dive either. It's one of the options to show you the benfits of diving ENx. That course doesn't just stick to 32%. It covers 22-40 and is done in 3 classroom hours. The average cost *Seems* to be about £90. Any idea on the price for the PADI discover? I know the EAN course from them is about £75. HTH DaveA >> Why only teach half the course? It's only a 1 day course for the whole lot. > [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] >That course doesn't just stick to 32%. It covers 22-40 and is done in 3 >classroom hours. Which pretty much matches the BSAC basic course Pete diving 'at' melbourne 'dot' me 'dot' uk |
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