Although 2020 has been extremely challenging, we wanted to leave this year on a high note and with that, we are proud to announce the release of Issue #2 of the Edge Magazine, Powered by RAID.
Read the latest RAID industry news, inspirational travel reports, equipment reviews, and RAID Training Updates. as required.
Issue #2 highlights include:
Question and Answers. We chat with RAID Director of Diver Training, Steve Lewis about wreck and cave diving and what the future holds for RAID.
RAID medical advisor, Doug Ebersole MD discusses the most common cardiac issues in diving and why it is important to be dive fit.
Professor Timmy Gambin introduces us to the Virtual Museum Underwater Malta.
Freediving guru, Emma Farrel offers her ten top tips for equalization and how they can be applied to scuba.
Travel the world with feature articles on the Egyptian Red Sea’s infamous ‘wreck graveyard’.
This issue we have focussed heavily on our Regional offices and we take time to introduce our global team members and they in turn showcase some of the amazing diving opportunities available in these territories.
Since we are releasing our new DPV and Advanced DPV courses, we take you on a DPV tour of Malta.
Jill Heinerth takes us on an exciting tour of Canada and since she knows a thing or two about rebreathers, she offers her personal advice on what you should know before buying a closed-circuit rebreather.
Receive hints and tips on how to improve your dive skills with our senior RAID instructional “Dive like a Pro” team consisting of PJ Prinsloo, Dan Weeks, and Oli van Overbeek. In this issue, they look at finning techniques.
Our panel of underwater photographers provides insight into entering and exiting the water with a camera system
Becoming an instructor, regardless of agency, takes a huge amount of time and dedication. One of RAID’s primary goals as an agency is to keep our teaching methodology in line with technical and teaching advancements across all educational industries.
RAID released its last update to the Instructor and Instructor Trainer programs in 2014, and today, we announce the release of our new instructor-level core programs: Instructor Development Program (IDP), Instructor Trainer Program (IDP) and Instructor Playbook.
Since RAID is an entirely digital agency, we are, by default, prescriptive teaching experts, and this can present a host of problems when designing an education system. Many educational models are based on an instructor delivering an entire presentation to their audience. With prescriptive teaching, this is not the case, since the instructor is only asked to deliver small bites of information based on what the student has missed while working through the online academics.
New academic teaching methodology
Meeting the prerequisites to become a RAID instructor is not an easy task, which is made more difficult with the typical need to shoehorn certain topics into academic presentations that are totally unrelated to those topics. For example, how does one introduce continuing education into a discussion on physics or physiology?
We analyzed our entire program and identified areas that we felt needed modernizing. Instructor candidates often complain that they find it outdated, cumbersome and stressful when the topics of dive travel, dive equipment and continuing education are forced together in an unrelated presentation—an industry standard practice—during their IDP. We have listened and have made the classroom presentations less complicated, more appropriate and more fun.
How did we achieve this?
By adding mandatory workshops—Equipment, Continuing Education and Local Diving and Travel—as integral parts of every RAID course, we have removed the need to insert these topics into any unrelated presentations or academic discussions.
This means that, even if a student gets 100% on all quizzes and exams, they will receive vital instructor input regarding these specific areas.
New Playbook
A critical improvement to our instructional package is the addition of the Instructor Playbook. This single manual replaces our old confined water and open water instructor guides.
The new Playbook has been reworked from scratch and is designed to be an invaluable teaching resource for new and experienced instructors alike. There is an expansive introduction, a full listing of the skills specific to each dive and each program—including skill objectives, values and student actions—and, of course, vital teaching tips for each and every core level skill.
We feel the new Instructor Playbook is an innovative and fresh approach to scuba instruction.
Crossover
From the business perspective, there has never been a better time to crossover to RAID, and we are inundated with requests from professionals who feel their current agencies are not giving them enough value. Because the pandemic is causing so many issues with travel and traditional scuba-training methods, we took the time to design a REMOTe-Training instructor crossover. By taking advantage of our new IDP designs and utilizing advances in technology, we are able to confidently, safely and conveniently bring approved instructors to RAID while maintaining our high standards.
Our instructor crossover process involves the use of our online manuals, quizzes and exams.
Audio-visual platforms are used to deliver presentations and evaluate academic teaching ability. Skill evaluation is via a seamless, one-take video recording of crossover candidates performing the RAID crossover skill circuit. The RAID crossover is still focused and structured and is not a “magic wand” solution where instructor certifications are awarded without effort.
The process is fair and simple, and it helps meet the increased demand from serious professional diving educators who want to join RAID so they can give their students the best possible training at every level.
Every RAID course can be accessed free of charge through our FREe-Learning initiative – every course that has already been purchased or certified is also updated with the latest course materials free of charge.
The Association of Professional Scuba Training Organisations (APSTO) has issued a new advisory dated 23rd December 2020 giving diving professionals guidance on how to interpret government restrictions in England.
The restrictions include several specific points that must be adhered to that have a direct impact on diving professionals including:
If you live in a Tier 4 area, you must not leave your home unless you have a reasonable excuse (e.g. for work or education purposes).
You must stay at home and not leave your Tier 4 area, other than for legally permitted reasons.
Indoor gyms and sports facilities will close. Outdoor sports courts, outdoor gyms, golf courses, outdoor swimming pools, archery/driving/shooting ranges, riding centres and playgrounds can remain open for individual exercise, and for people to use with others within your household, support bubble, or with one person from another household.
Leisure and sports facilities such as leisure centres and indoor gyms, indoor swimming pools, indoor sports courts, indoor fitness and dance studios, indoor riding centres, and indoor climbing walls must close.
Outdoor recreation or exercise is permitted. This should be done locally wherever possible, but you can travel a short distance within your Tier 4 area to do so if necessary (for example, to access an open space).
APSTO will continue to monitor the advice being provided by the government and will update our advisories as required.
2020 has been full of change for everybody, every business and every sport. We have had to adjust to new rules, follow new directions and learn new ways to play and learn. RAID and the sport of scuba diving has adjusted just like everyone else
We can announce that you can now finish 2020 in style due to our ever increasing crossover demand with our newest educational update which allows Master Instructors to conduct crossovers of Dive Centres and Instructors to the RAID educational system.
Here’s the important stuff…
I. Purpose
This course is designed to crossover an Instructor in good standing from a recognized training agency to become a RAID Instructor.
II. Candidate Prerequisites
A candidate taking this course must:
Be a minimum of 18 years old.
Be certified as an instructor with an approved agency.
Must have no outstanding quality assurance investigations or violations (within the last 12 months).
Have Nitrox and Deep 40 instructor certifications or equivalent.
If the candidate does not have these certifications, Nitrox and Deep 40 Instructor programs must be completed during the crossover.
Submit valid equivalent instructor and specialty instructor certifications.
Submit current approved First Aid and Oxygen Administration certifications.
Submit a valid Medical Statement signed by a licensed medical practitioner within the past 12 months.
Submit a copy of diving instructor liability insurance, where applicable.
III. Candidate-to-Crossover Trainer Ratios (Confined and Open Water)
The candidates-to-examiner ratio is 8 Candidates: 1 Crossover Trainer.
IV. Depth Limitations During Training
In confined water, the maximum depth must not exceed 5 meters/15 feet.
In open water, the maximum depth must not exceed 20 meters/66 feet.
For the Deep 40 instructor workshop (when applicable), the maximum depth must not exceed 40 meters/130 feet.
V. Supervision
All training must be conducted and evaluated by an HQ or RRO approved RAID Master Instructor or Instructor Trainer. The Master Instructor or Instructor Trainer must be physically present and in direct supervision of all segments of training.
To qualify to teach the Instructor Crossover, Master Instructor’s must meet the following criteria:
Written approval from RAID HQ or local RRO.
Must attend a crossover training program with an approved RAID Instructor Trainer or Examiner.
Affiliated Dive Center: The dive center website must advertise RAID as the primary agency and that they provide crossover training.
To qualify to teach the Instructor Crossover, Instructor Trainers must meet the following criteria:
Written approval from RAID HQ or local RRO.
Affiliated Dive Center: The dive center website must advertise RAID as the primary agency and that they provide crossover training.
VI. Equipment Requirements
Refer to “Equipment Requirements” in the RGDS.
VII. Course Requirements
The candidate must fulfill the following requirements.
Complete and pass the online academic modules, quizzes, and exams for the IDP and Open Water 20 programs
Complete the RAID Instructor crossover orientation including:
The Crossover Presentation.
In water evaluation (in person or via seamless one-shot video where approved).
Complete the practical assessment, either in person or using the REMOTe-Training crossover format, with an HQ or RRO approved RAID Instructor Trainer or Master Instructor
VIII. In-Water Training (Confined and Open Water)
There is no minimum amount of time in-water.
IX. Certification
Upon successfully passing the Instructor Crossover program and activating the instructor membership, the instructor may independently teach all programs as outlined in the IDP and the RAID General Diving Standards though a RAID Dive Center.
A new study into Scuba Diving Rehabilitation Charity Deptherapy’s approach to supporting Armed Forces veterans with psychological injuries such as Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) through the medium of scuba diving has been carried out by Petra Walker in conjunction with Hanna Kampman of the Posttraumatic Growth Research Unit at the University of East London.
Deptherapy Ambassadors Tom Oates and Tom Swarbrick on their RAID Sidemount course last week at Roots Red Sea
This study, which used Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (IPA), demonstrates that scuba diving has rehabilitation benefits beyond those found in other forms of sporting rehabilitation exercise.
IPA is a qualitative methodology that examines the experiences of participants and has been used in previous studies of Posttraumatic Growth (PTG) in para-athletes.
Petra is an experienced diver herself and was exploring the wellbeing aspects of scuba diving as part of her Masters in Applied Positive Psychology and Coaching Psychology when she came across a previous study on Deptherapy. Past studies have mainly focused on the medical aspects of diving, so the opportunity to examine the mental health side of rehabilitative scuba diving was impossible to ignore.
The full study is currently embargoed until it is published at a future date in an academic journal, but it follows similar academic research into the work of Deptherapy by the University of Sheffield Medical School (2018) and the University of Nottingham (2019).
Richard Cullen, Chairman of Deptherapy commented:
“This evidence-based study demonstrates yet again the value of scuba diving and, in particular, the support provided by Deptherapy to severely traumatised people within the Armed Forces community. We await the publication of the detailed findings which we anticipate will be of considerable interest to all organisations who seek to assist in the rehabilitation of veterans through sporting activity, as well as the Scuba Diving world.”
Team Deptherapy returned to the UK last week from their first training expedition since the start of the COVID-19 Pandemic. A small group of six veterans travelled with the Deptherapy Instructor Team to the charity’s international base at Roots Red Sea to undertake practical Scuba Diving training in the clear, warm waters of the Red Sea.
Every Deptherapy beneficiary has to undertake a ‘fit to dive’ medical with an HSE Approved Medical Examiner of Divers (AMED) or a Doctor who is a ‘Dive Referee’. A GP ‘sign off’ is not acceptable to Deptherapy as some conditions and medications are contraindicated to scuba diving.
Joining Team Deptherapy for the first time was 20 year old paraplegic Corey Goodson who had this to say:
“I have been made aware of a new academic study about the benefits of Deptherapy. Last week I learned to scuba dive properly with Deptherapy, a huge achievement for someone with paraplegia. Deptherapy doesn’t judge your injury, whether that be physical or psychological; it looks beyond, and it sees the person inside. That person is who they work with, and the Deptherapy programme encourages you to see your fellow beneficiaries in the same light. More important than the sense of achievement during the training, was the support, care, encouragement and love the team showed me. I have found a new family in Deptherapy. I am home now but the support, friendship and banter continue; it is motivating and empowering, it gives me a deep sense of wellness and worth. I look forward to continuing my rehabilitative journey with Deptherapy.”
For more information about the work of Deptherapy and Deptherapy Education visit www.deptherapy.co.uk.
Although 2020 has been extremely challenging, we wanted to leave this year on a high note and with that, we are proud to announce the release of Issue #2 of the Edge Magazine, Powered by RAID.
