Dive Training Blogs
Deptherapy returns to its Roots – Part 5
Join Richard Cullen from Deptherapy for part 5 of his Blog about the charity’s recent expedition to Roots Red Sea, El Quseir, Egypt.
After an evening of chilling out by the pool and in the bar, we are back to the Roots House Reef this morning, with Keiron continuing his RAID Master Rescue Diver Course and enjoying Moudi’s vast experience as he learns more about advanced buoyancy skills.
Not sure where the week has gone; it’s Wednesday already. A few different things happening today… Oatsie who has just started at Hull University on a Marine Biology Degree Course wants to complete his sidemount course and this afternoon he is out with Guy Henderson to start his learning. Swars also wants to do the course, as he wants to get into cavern and cave diving. Swars will start his course tomorrow afternoon and both will spend a day being taught be Steve Rattle on Friday. Hopefully they will both be certified as RAID Sidmount Divers at the end of their training.
The morning sees Swars and I working with Corey again and taking him through the remainder of skills and OW dives. He is improving massively but we still have to work on trim and propulsion.
Keiron, unfortunately for him, has Oatsie and Michael for his diver recovery exercises; I am told there may well be an entanglement to deal with!
Conditions are perfect again as we all look forward to three great dives during the day.
90% of those we work with have mental health issues, mainly Post Traumatic Stress Disorder as a result of serving in various theatres of war. If you read some adaptive teaching manuals, they have a task to ‘teach a student with PTSD a skill.’ Hmmmmm how is Oatsie, Swars, Michael or Keiron any different than a student who is free from any mental illness? The answer is they are not, they are exactly the same. Do you talk to them differently, do you demonstrate skills differently? The answer is no.
If they have a flashback or a panic attack, then you need to step back and provide whatever assistance is necessary but only if there is a risk of them hurting themselves. All our team have to undertake and pass the two-day Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) course so we can intervene appropriately where the circumstances require it.
Do you know what a panic attack looks like? Do you know how to respond to a panic attack?
Flashbacks most frequently occur at night time but some do experience day time flashbacks. Flashbacks can lead to the individual feeling physically and mentally drained and can be triggered by anything that reminds them of the traumatic incident(s) they experienced. Sometimes there might be a need for one of our medical team to be involved. Often a period of quietness, rest and possibly sleep is required.
We have seen lots of our beneficiaries learn to manage their PTSD. As Chris Middleton said on a BBC programme:
“You can’t beat PTSD but you can learn to manage it.”
In addition to the scuba diving, Deptherapy also provides 24/7 support for our beneficiaries. Beneficiaries are encouraged to attend the MHFA course with their partner, parent, relative or friend.
Many will have read comments from our beneficiaries, that once they put their heads under the water their demons disappear. There are several factors to this: the peace, the quiet and the tranquillity that occurs underwater, the beauty of the corals and the amazing aquatic life.
Roots is very much like a retreat for us, we are miles away from any towns, there are no distractions, the nearest town is El Quseir, which is orthodox Muslim so there is no alcohol on sale. The recent bypass of the main Safaga to El Quesir/Marsa Alam road means that at night time there is no noise, just a brilliant star lit sky.
Beneficiaries are encouraged to talk openly with the team and their fellow beneficiaries about their injuries/illnesses and provide overwhelming support for each other as Corey found on this trip.
Our aim is to create a family atmosphere and Roots very much contributes to the sense of family and wellbeing.
Sadly, we live in a world where those with mental illnesses are largely discriminated against. Because few understand mental health, they are fearful of it and try to ignore it. Please look at the Mind website or even better sign up to a Mental Health First Aid Course. If you run a business then run the course for your staff, the benefits will be massive.
Back to the diving, Michael and Tom under Moudi’s close supervision gave Keiron some very challenging diver recovery exercises. Poor Keiron, but he responded tremendously.
Swars, is working well with Corey, ensuring horizontal trim and making sure he uses effective arm strokes for his swimming. We are organising an SMB session, so he can work with different types of SMBs.
Although we haven’t told him, he has finished all his skills but we still have work to do on his trim and propulsion. We want him to go beyond standards, we want him to be a very competent diver, who despite his devastating injuries, can self-rescue and support a buddy if in need.
The afternoon dive sees Michael joining myself and Swars with Corey. This dive is about buoyancy, trim and propulsion. Keiron is doing some more advanced buoyancy work with Moudi.
Oatsie had a great dive with Guy using sidemounts and is looking forward to completing the sidemount course with Swars and Steve Rattle on Friday.
In the evening, and before dinner, Moudi runs the RAID O2 Administrator Course for all five beneficiaries. It is a qualifying part of Keiron’s RAID Master Rescue Diver course but we decided it would benefit all of the guys.
Tomorrow we have decided to take Corey to 30 metres and for him to complete a narcosis test. Join us back here tomorrow to find out how we get on…
Find out more about the work of Deptherapy and Deptherapy Education at www.deptherapy.co.uk
Blogs
SSI Welcomes its Newest Diver Specialty Program: Computer Diving
In this digital age, SSI makes keeping up with technology a priority. Over the years, we have seen more and more divers invest in a personal dive computer. Now that the MySSI App is capable of integrating with participating manufacturers’ dive computers, we wanted to create a program that will ensure every SSI diver knows how to fully utilize their dive computer’s unique features. Therefore, we are excited to introduce SSI’s newest specialty diver program, Computer Diving.
SSI designed the Computer Diving program to help certified divers become familiar with the numerous features and benefits of using a dive computer. By ensuring your customers understand how to use all the functions of a dive computer, you will not only increase their dive safety but also help make planning and executing dives easier. The SSI Computer Diving program explores the functions and capabilities of different dive computers and explains how to seamlessly integrate these features into the entire dive experience, from pre-dive preparations to post-dive reflecting and logging. Practical application topics within the course include setting and changing nitrox settings, using the pre-dive planning feature, and downloading dives to keep a digital logbook.
The appeal of the SSI Computer Diving Specialty extends beyond the realm of scuba divers. Your certified Freedive and Mermaid customers will also enjoy taking this course. All breath-hold divers can benefit from learning how the various tools within their dive computer can increase performance and safety while training and executing their actual dives.
If you are an SSI Training Center or Pro, your students can start their Computer Diving program online today by contacting your SSI Training Center to purchase and download the materials. Don’t have an SSI Pro certified to teach the Computer Diving specialty yet? Have them log into their MySSI profile to upgrade to this new SSI offering.
This specialty program is just one of the many tools SSI provides its Training Centers. Now is the time to reap the benefits of SSI’s continued growth in its training offerings. Call SSI at 1-800-892-2702 or visit us at https://my.divessi.com/become_trainingcenter to become an SSI Pro or Training Center today!
Blogs
BSAC launches Divesoft Liberty rebreather course
The British Sub-Aqua Club (BSAC) is bolstering access to technical dive training with the new BSAC Divesoft Liberty CCR course.
This course is a first step (MOD 1) into the silent bubble-free world of rebreather diving, and opens up a new world of diving experiences and possibilities for members.
Benefits of the Divesoft Liberty rebreather
Founded in 2013 in the Czech Republic, Divesoft developed its closed circuit rebreather (CCR) primarily with the guidance of cave divers. The Divesoft Liberty was the first fault-tolerant electronically controlled rebreather released into the recreational diving market. The Liberty is designed where all vital electronic elements have redundancy so that no single failure can disable the system.
Even if a critical systems error occured, the diver can safely return to the surface on the Liberty, maximising safety and efficiency. The design follows the same approach utilised in many safety-critical applications in the aerospace industry.
The Liberty’s modularity and ease of maintenance allow the diver to maintain the unit in all environments, including the harsh conditions of an expedition.
BSAC Divesoft Liberty CCR Diver course
The brand new BSAC Liberty CCR course will teach a suitably qualified open-circuit diver to safely dive their rebreather to a maximum depth of 45m. This highly versatile unit offers a wide range of adjustability and settings, making it great for beginners and expert CCR divers alike.
Students get a thorough grounding in rebreather technology, and in-depth Liberty-specific training. The course includes decompression diving, and trimix gas planning, and teaches all the skills and drills required to dive the Liberty and address all possible situations.
The course is open to BSAC Sports Divers or above, who have completed a 35m depth certification. Trainees must also hold the Accelerated Decompression Procedures qualification or be an Advanced Nitrox diver (or equivalent.)
The BSAC Liberty course covers decompression diving and trimix gas planning, with skills and drills required to dive the Liberty and address all possible situations. Trainees can choose to dive with air as a diluent, but will have been trained using 20/35 trimix as a diluent, so when they use 20/35 are allowed to dive to a maximum depth of 45m, at the MOD 1 level of training.
The dry practical sessions will cover assembly, preparing and maintaining the Liberty, including updating the control firmware and downloading dives from the unit, using the Divesoft PC and phone applications.
All the new skills will be introduced during the sheltered water training dives, including applying the student’s current rescue skills to CCR diving: the sheltered water training is followed by seven open-water dives.
Nick Jewson, BSAC Technical Liberty Instructor said:
“The introduction of the Liberty CCR MOD 1 course demonstrates that BSAC continues to evolve its technical dive offering for members. We plan to have a minimum of four BSAC Liberty instructors in place early in the 2024 season, and with potential students waiting to do the course we can’t wait to see BSAC-qualified Liberty divers using this impressive rebreather in exciting expeditions very soon.”
The BSAC Liberty CCR MOD 1 course will be officially launched at the Go Diving Show near Kenilworth, Warwickshire on the weekend of 2nd-3rd March 2024, where Divesoft will have units on display.
Nick continued: “Visitors should head to stand N4 to get a hands-on look at the Divesoft Liberty and talk to the BSAC Liberty course team. Come and have a look, book your place on a regional Liberty try dive event, or sign up for the BSAC MOD 1 Liberty CCR Diver training course. We’ll ready to show you how the Liberty CCR can transform your diving!”
To learn more about the BSAC diving community, visit www.bsac.com
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