TRAINING
Teaching Scuba Better: Standards vs. the Instructor’s Responsibility by Tom Leaird , Manager, Tom Leaird’s Underwater Service, IN
I T IS REGRETTABLE when interest in changing scuba training standards results from death and subsequent lit- igation. So, the question is, “How do we do it better?” “What needs to change to make training safer?” In recent years, there have been several incidents that became accidents, resulting in death, and in hindsight, should never have happened. Changing agency standards is one approach, but ultimately, each instructor must make important on-the-spot decisions. Those decisions are the focus of this article. First, a bit about my background. I became a YMCA diver in 1961 and an instructor in 1970. I own a dive center with 12 instructors in Indiana. Since I became an instructor, our center has trained more than 10,500 divers, and around 50% have returned for advanced, specialty, or leadership training. Training new instructors has taken me all over the USA and twice to Europe. I have written more than 20 training texts and books on diving. I served four three-year terms on the DEMA Board of Directors and retired from the board at the beginning of 2026. When YMCA of the USA sunset its scuba program in 2008, it was offered to me, and with the help of two instructors, I started Scuba Educators International. During my time with the YMCA program, I investigated two cases where deaths occurred. Our industry has gone from military-minded training to training designed around safety. As the costs of operating a scuba program rose, the general result was to train more people in shorter courses, compressing training standards as much as possible. Today, a person can become an Open Water Diver after as little as three hours online learning aca- demics, three hours in a pool learning skills, and two days of diving in the ocean. The Recreational Scuba Training Council (RSTC) was formed to provide minimum training standards for Open Water Diver. Those standards have not changed since October 1, 2004. As an industry, we are seriously in need of safer training standards. However, this is only the beginning of the challenge. WE’VE GOT TO DO IT BETTER! One scuba training agency recently informed the scuba world that it is changing teaching ratios from the RSTC minimum of one instructor to eight students during open water training to one instructor to six students. Good, but
not nearly enough. Our instructors at Leaird’s Underwater Service in Muncie, Indiana, will only take two students on initial open water training. If conditions are less than desirable, then only one student at a time. Our objective is always to provide a safe and fun experience. Introductory scuba programs have had safety concerns over the years. The RSTC changed the ratios to provide greater safety on July 30, 2010, and those have not changed since. Isn’t it about time? It would appear from some recent incidents involving fatalities that standards were not always the ultimate issue. In some cases, the standards that applied were not inclusive enough to cover every detail, leaving important decisions to the instructor. Let’s look at what might influence an instructor before or during a training dive. Examples of situations where an instructor might be influ- enced: The student wants to make the dive today because of an upcoming trip. The instructor’s boss wants to keep the student moving through the course. The group is trying to beat a coming weather change. Is the visibility really acceptable? The diver-parent of a child-student wants to go along on the dive. Is this the student’s first time in a wetsuit in cooler water? Is the depth appropriate for the student? Is water movement an issue? What is the emotional state of the student? How did the student perform during pool training? Is the training dive being conducted from a boat in open ocean with other recreational divers aboard? Was the instructor involved in the student’s previous training? Each of these may affect an instructor’s choice of timing, dive site, diving conditions, etc. Even though the situation may be within ratio and other training standards, an in- structor MUST make on-the-spot decisions regarding all aspects of the dive and how they relate to each student. We, as an industry, must look at updating our standards for all aspects of courses we teach. Then we must include, in
each instructor’s continuing training, guidance that will help each professional make appropriate choices when leading student divers on training in both pool and especially open water.
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