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Subject: Re: Tragic technicaldiving



>dan
>as you can see by the "few" responses that the cocept of "you" setting
>the requirements for qualifications is not going over well.

I NEVER suggested I would be the person to "set" the standards. I am
however, making suggestions which could help the people who ultimately would
set the standards.


>we all seem to agree on the fact that the instructor & the instruction
should
>be unquestionably of the highest quality.

Big problem. Some instructors are great, and some stink. Many are just OK.
And the current fitness standards are a poor tool to help the instructors,
with their job of shaping people into tech divers.

>i have always had a problem with people who think the they are perfect (or
>always
>correct) & that they are the ones who should decide for everyone else what
is
>the
>right way to do things.
>you posed a bunch of questions to me about my grandmother & other items
that
>i think have been more eloquently addressed by others (thak you jammer).
>i have one for you.
>
>    you are inn your perfect phyisical condition (i know this because i
have
>read your
>chest pounding discusions with tom :-) , but what happens to you ten years
>from now if you happen to fall off the wagon & gain 20 or 25 lbs?

I am in many different "lifestyle sports". None are impact sports like
running, tennis, or racketball, etc., so I will be able to do all of them
into my 70's ( cycling, kayaking, freediving, martial arts, mountain biking)
.. As long as I enjoy all of these sports, my general fitness level will be
high.

>
>(unfortunatly in life things change & you might get sick & gain the wt or
you
>might have a nervous breakdown & start eating uncontrolably:-).
>who will decide for you hat that point that you are fit or not to continue
to
>dive?
>are you actually proposing that we should only "control" the new people but
>forget
>about the current divers?

Trying to "uncertify" people would be a nightmare. But if enough
physiological work is done, fitness standards can be published. Each of us
can use them to help us judge whether we are ok to tech dive or not---and if
it looks like we are not, then we should have good targets already defined
for us.


>
>there are already physical specifications in all of the programs that i am
>aware of.
>i see no reason to change them. the istructors should be capable of
>determining if a person is physicaly able to complet the certification & do
>the dives (in a safe manor).


Current fitness standards fail to adress the more important issues of gas
exchange. Even the best instructors need more help with a tool that can do
this, and there are plenty of "bad" instructors, who look like poster boys
for dangerously low gas exchange rates. And these guys will ignore fitness,
because right now they are allowed to.

>yes i agree with all who question the ability of instructors who "cheat" on
>that responsibility.
>
>we all are disturbed by the people that die in this sport no matter what
level
>of diving they have reached. but i hate to tell you that the number
(although
>even one is too many) is not "huge" as you said. the diving related deaths
in
>the entire world has been under 100 for years. the huge number of those
occur
>at depths below 130ft

I'm not making these arguements for recreational diving---the mandatory
VO2max tests-----this is for tech. And if you look at the TDI deaths alone,
in the last few years, you will see how far off you are on the important
statistics.

>
>deep diving has its problems as does all of diving. IMHO the biggest
problem
>is lack of experience not lack of conditioning. this is a problem that is
>rampant at all levels of diving today.
>hank
>

Fitness is only one small element of tech diving. Repeat...fitness is only
one small element of tech diving.....but it can't be ignored.  Right now,
for all practical purposes, it IS being ignored.

Regards,
Dan Volker
South Florida Dive Journal
http://www.sfdj.com/
The Internet magazine for u/w photography and mpeg video
>
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