Category: General

General posts relating to RAID UK

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Important Post

James Rogers
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James Rogers
Managing Director at RAID UK & Malta
Diver and regional office owner, with 30 years of diving experience. We need to talk - about joining RAID today!
James Rogers
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A MESSAGE FROM RAID PRESIDENT

On behalf of RAID HQ and all Regional Office staff, I’d like to share some information on the agency’s current position on the COVID-19 pandemic.

We all appreciate that everyone has to comply to directives from our respective governments and health department officials globally. Unfortunately, this means that training and travel as we know it has changed. Our aim over the coming weeks is to provide you with some business interruption assistance wherever we can. We are trying as best as possible to not just talk about assistance but to actually bring something that truly benefits you in these times.

Even at HQ, we have stopped travel, and many HQ staff, senior directors, and ITs who have travelled in the near past have placed themselves in self-isolation. Naturally, this affects our scheduled travel for business-related meetings and training commitments with our members and divers globally, but in the interest of abundant caution, we are certain this is the best action our company can take.

Our members have expressed serious concerns over common practices in agency-sanctioned scuba training. Two specific concerns are in regard to gas-/air-sharing drills and equipment disinfecting. We have brought these concerns to the attention of the appropriate authorities and will be discussing what action our members can take to keep divers in training as safe as possible. We will be releasing updates immediately after those meetings.

As you all know, RAID training courses are valid for 6 months. If you have purchased a RAID program and are unable to complete the course within the 6 months, we will extend your course so that you can complete the program once these trying times are over.

We are empathetic about the negative impact COVID-19 is having on businesses, our families, our dive centers, our professionals, and, of course, our divers. RAID is also working hard on alternative programs and standards changes designed to help support your business, your diving ambitions, and your continued diving and teaching safety. We will release regular news and updates.

If you are in doubt about anything regarding diver training and how COVID-19 impacts it, please do not hesitate to contact your local representative.

Thank you for taking the time to read this, and please stay safe.
Sincerely,

Paul V Toomer
President

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RAID General Standards – Photo Update

Olivier van Overbeek
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Olivier van Overbeek
Training Director
E: oli@diveraiduk.com
Olivier van Overbeek
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Effective Immediately RAID have issued the following standard update.
This excerpt is a pre-release of what will be included in General Standard Update v.58 which is scheduled for immediate release.

Photography/Cameras/Movies

With the specific exception of the circumstances listed below, RAID neither sanctions instructors nor students using hand-held underwater cameras (still or movie) while on course. Operating a camera is distracting and takes attention away from the task at hand – either leading or following course requirements. Instructors are cautioned that, in the unfortunate case of an incident leading to any type of unfavourable outcome resulting in loss of equipment, minor injury, serious injury or death, there is no defence possible when participants were distracted by the presence of a camera.

Regardless of the level of training. No cameras, please.
This applies to instructors AND students.

The exceptions are:

  1. Instructors may use a helmet-mounted camera to document student skills and drills in confined water.
  2. Instructors or students may install a fixed camera (e.g. on a tripod) on automatic (running continuously or on time lapse) in confined water to document skills and drills
  3. A certified assistant may use a camera (still or movie) to document any and all dives in confined water and for open water dives as long as their presence has not been used modify maximum allowable instructor/student ratios. In simple terms, as long as they are not considered part of the primary dive team. RAID suggests that in these cases, the “camera person” dives with a suitably experienced and certified dive buddy.