Mailing List Archive Mailing List Archive
John Do I misunderstand your point? Does an air diver need to be trained and versed with regards to nitrox in order to rent an air cylinder? Maybe I wasn't clear. I *am* an EAN instructor. The guy in the store *didn't* know that. He only knew I was a recreational (air) instructor asking for two air cylinders. The situation played itself out the way he chose to treat me; the way I described. An air diver was handed nitrox cylinders. To a trained observer, they contained an unclear mixture by their very markings. To the untrained? No, I did not have an analyzer, ask for one, or ask to analyze the first set of tanks. Air divers are not trained in the use of analyzers, required to possess one, or quite possibly even know of their existence. I was not *supposed* to be trained to interpret the meaning of the tank markings. It appears that many dive stores attempting to offer breathing mixtures other than air do not distinguish or recognize various levels of knowledge when dealing with customers. Trained one way, treated another, air divers no longer have a way of assessing what risks and responsibilities they are assuming. And what they do see is chaos. There used to be a time when you could ask for air and make reasonable assumptions (more or less) about what you were getting, including the quality of gas and maintenance of the tank. This is no longer the case. We continue to make the same old assumptions in the classroom, but different ones in the store. We are training new divers very clearly and specifically with regards to their limitations, the limits of their training, and the standards within which they are supposed to remain. However we are not giving them any (required) training for them to evaluate whether they are getting anything other than air at a particular quality. We know we can no longer make assumptions about what air means. Unfortunately we have not retro-educated the masses or even attempted to update current curricula to address this. We (in general) still teach that air is assumed. We can all agree, and teach/preach that the diver is ultimately responsible for himself. We must also acknowledge that the masses of divers certified in the past, and even those recently certified are just not that well educated. I submit we cannot then act with reckless disregard for reality. The better educated community needs to accept the fact that the run-of-the-mill diver does not know what it is he/she doesn't know. They are not exposed to these things, and their educational programs do not require them to be exposed. (I say simply exposed, not even trained or tested.) I'm not saying we must be responsible for them or be obligated to protect them. Just to accept as the current state of affairs a less than optimal fact of life. I was able to evaluate and accept the risk to myself in this situation. While we would like to believe anyone with a recreational c-card *should* have been able to as well, I submit we delude ourselves into believing anyone *could* and act irresponsibly if we act indifferently. We, on the inside cannot treat those on the outside as if they were on the inside even though we would like to. ------------ RatDiver -- Send mail for the `techdiver' mailing list to `techdiver@aquanaut.com'. Send list subscription requests to `techdiver-request@aquanaut.com'.
Navigate by Author:
[Previous]
[Next]
[Author Search Index]
Navigate by Subject:
[Previous]
[Next]
[Subject Search Index]
[Send Reply] [Send Message with New Topic]
[Search Selection] [Mailing List Home] [Home]