PADI is the leading organization when it comes to diver training and education. It is a 50-year-old organization founded by John Cronin and Ralph Erickson in 1966. Their vision was that of starting a scuba diver training organization which makes learning easy but at the same time really safe. Today, PADI has grown into a market leader when it comes to training divers and has more than 27 million divers holding their certifications.
Their whole education system is based on making learning easier and following the best safe diving practices right from the most basic level of certifications. Their training system is based on three pillars. First being knowledge development which is about getting all the theoretical knowledge required before getting in the water. It is about getting familiar with the basics of diving theory, equipment, safe diving practices, etc! The second one being confined water sessions where the student will get familiar with all the scuba equipment and practice a wide range of skills before getting into open water. Then thirdly getting into open water and performing the learned skills under the supervision of a diving instructor to make the student a confident diver. From the day PADI was started until today there are a number of PADI Standards that have been established and followed.
So what are PADI Standards and why are they so important?
PADI Standards are nothing but a set of guidelines which are to be followed by an instructor or a divemaster when conducting a PADI course. They are very crucial as following PADI standards is the easiest way to ensure safety and avoid any sort of danger to you or your student’s life. Also, another reason for PADI Standards to be so important is the global outreach and similarity. PADI Standards are followed globally by all PADI centers uniformly. Thus a student can visit any other dive center to complete his further courses and the dive center can be assured that he has met all performance requirement mentioned in PADI Standards by taking a look at his certification card.
PADI standards are really important and not following them can be life-threatening, though a lot of people might debate on that; but no one really knows what kind of a situation someone might fall into. These standards are based on thorough research and have been proven to be effective in maintaining safety over a long time frame. Every time standards were ignored or not followed safety has been jeopardized or accidents have occurred. Example – If a student completed his open water certification with a certain instructor and that instructor decided not to follow standards by not teaching the CESA skill (Controlled Emergency Swimming Ascent), in the future if the student goes on to do another course or a specialty with a diving instructor elsewhere, the instructor will assume that the student has completed all the performance requirement in the PADI Open Water course and thus it will be implied that he knows all the skills. Imagine this student falls into a situation where he needs to use CESA! This is exactly why PADI Standards are really important!
Another reason PADI Standards should always be followed is for the dive professionals safety in terms of legality. PADI stipulates that every dive professional has to follow PADI Standards very seriously. If a dive professional either a Divemaster or an Instructor follows all the stipulated PADI Standards and anything still goes wrong then they will be backed by PADI as he/she has acted in good faith and followed all the PADI Standards earnestly. Such instructors or divemasters who follow Standards seriously will always be backed by PADI.
At Temple Adventures, we take PADI Standards very seriously! Every course undertaken follows each and every PADI Standard that is existent. Be it the depth, age limit, instructor to student or divemaster to student ratio, every small thing is taken care of as safety comes first! Following these standards should be a habit. It builds up good diving practices and helps everyone a lot in the long term. It makes the students confident divers too!
It should always be a goal of every instructor that their student is shaped in the best possible way and they set a good example in front of them by following all the PADI Standards and safe diving practices.
Remember! Always be a bubble maker. Not a trouble maker! 😉