New DTP - Notes for Instructors

Training Materials

The Branch has purchased a complete set of training materials, including an Instructor Manual, Student Notes, and sheltered / open water training prompt cards. These will be available to all for reference in the Club Hut. This is your best way to become familiar with the new materials. Some instructors have also already obtained their own sets, and Mark Mumford, Dudley Gray, and Peter Smith have copies that can be referred to.

Instructor Requirements

There is a certain lack of common understanding about who can teach what, primarily because all the relevant information is not all in one place. However the picture is consistent, and the table below summarises it quite well.

Additional Notes:

Nationally Qualified Instructors may now teach the following subjects in the new Dive Leader Syllabus provided they have attended the courses themselves as a student.

• O2 Administration
• Dive Planning And Marshalling
• Practical Rescue Management

Instructor requirements are very specific, and focus strongly on the current instructor training scheme. The branch encourages current Club Instructors to qualify as an OWI (needs OWIC and subsequent 12 hours logged OW instruction), and will provide active support for instructors taking this route.

Instructor’s Equipment Configuration.

Ocean Diver and Sports Diver

Instructors should wear a similar configuration of equipment to students although, for Open Water lessons, an AAS supplied from an independent air supply ('pony' cylinder) is recommended.

Dive Leader and Advanced Diver

Instructors should wear a configuration of equipment compatible with that of the students. Instructors should be equipped with an AAS supplied from an independent air supply, which has adequate capacity to cope with a failure of either their own, or their student's, main air supply at the most critical point in the dive.

Teaching Notes

General Conduct

Where open water lessons involve multiple ascents, these must be done at the start of the dive.

When signing up lessons

Many open water lessons develop practical skills based on material learned in classroom lessons, and so a sensible sequencing of lessons, following the recommended sequence must be observed. Please refuse to sign logbook entries out of sensible sequence, referring the trainee to the Diving Officer if necessary.

Particular examples that jump out are:

1. Sports Divers under training are limited to 20 metres depth. The Sports Diver experience dives to 25/30/35 metres must be conducted following qualification as a Sports Diver.
2. Sports Diver session SP1 must take place following the Theory Assessment
3. Dive Leader qualifying dives as Dive Leader must take place following DT1, DO2 & DO3.
4. Dive Leader sessions DP1 and DP2 must take place following the Theory Assessment.
5. Advanced Diver requires dive marshalling on 5 occasions, one of which lasts two days. Successful performance, say of the more challenging two day event, does not exempt the student from the other 4 occasions - six individual dates, supported by club records, are denanded.
6. For OD, SD, and DL where specific conditions are required to be logged, only one condition may be logged per dive.

Summary of changes

Ocean Diver

Sheltered Water Lessons

If weighting is not right, correct by adding weights to weightbelt or integrated pouches, do not put weights into BC pockets.

Ladder exits - mask and DV should be kept in/on until standing on the side.

Sheltered water lessons should emphasise monitoring of air status underwater. Sheltered water lessons should also be enhanced by an additional lesson where students wear protective clothing likely to be worn on first open water dives. An additional drysuit course obviously satisfies this recommendation, but drysuit skills are intended to be built into the core course. In addition, skills such as mask clearing, mouthpiece clearing, and buoyancy control can be practiced, without a suit, but with hood and gloves.

Open Water Lessons

Buoyancy control should be kept as simple as possible. Where drysuits are used, buoyancy control should be effected using the air in the suit.

The Ocean Diver syllabus includes five open water dives which should total a minimum of 120 minutes underwater (averaging 20 minutes per dive). Where conditions permit (i.e. warm water), this can be reduced to four dives, provided no elements are missed, and the time of 120 minutes is not reduced. Prior permission to reduce training to four dives must be obtained from the Diving Officer.

Open Water dives must include four conditions from the following: shelving shore dive, steep shore dive, low visibility dive, drift dive(0.25 to 0.50kt), small boat dive, large boat dive, wall dive, dive in protective clothing. Only one condition may be logged per dive.

Sports Diver

The Sports Diver syllabus includes five open water dives which should total a minimum of 150 minutes underwater (averaging 30 minutes per dive).

Open Water dives must include five conditions from the following: shelving shore dive, steep shore dive, low visibility dive, dive using shot line, drift dive (0.25 to 0.50kt), small boat dive, large boat dive, wall dive, dive in protective clothing. Only one condition may be logged per dive.

Depth experience: Following qualification as Sports Diver, students should be encouraged to increase their depth experience progressively in 5m steps. Such dives must be undertaken with a minimum of Dive Leader, and performed under the supervision of an NQI.

There is a dry practical session as Assistant Dive Marshal.

Dive Leader

A Branch Dive Marshal Kit is required for DT8 and DT12.

The Dive Leader syllabus includes open water lessons and experience dives which should total a minimum of 20 dives and 600 minutes underwater (averaging 30 minutes per dive). Of the 20 dives, at least 6 must be carried out from boats, on at least 8 the student should act as dive leader, at least 10 should show depth experience greater than 25m.

Experience Dives must include five conditions from the following: planned decompression dive, navigation dive, low visibility dive, night dive, wreck dive, drift dive (1.0 to 1.5kt), wall dive. Only one condition may be logged per dive.

Advanced Diver

The Advanced Diver syllabus includes experience dives which should total a minimum of 20 dives and 600 minutes underwater (averaging 30 minutes per dive). Of the 20 dives, at least 10 should be carried out from boats, on at least 10 the student should act as dive leader, at least 6 should show depth experience greater than 30m.

Experience Dives must include the following conditions: planned decompression dive, dive in tidal waters, drift dive. Each of the three conditions should be experienced on at least three dives: Only one condition may be logged per dive.

In addition to the above nine dives, a further six dives are required which each demonstrates one experience of the following conditions: navigation dive, night dive, low visibility dive (<2m), wreck dive, wall dive. At least three conditions must be logged. Only one condition may be logged per dive.

On at least 5 occasions the student should act as dive marshal (2 normal, 2 unknown sites, 1 two-day expedition).