A Training and Education Update for PADI Members Worldwide. THIRD QUARTER 2015 Product No Code of Practice Changes 2

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1 Training BULLETIN A Training and Education Update for PADI Members Worldwide THIRD QUARTER 2015 Product No In This Issue... Code of Practice Changes 2 Online Processing Center More User-Friendly 3 FAQs 4 Certification and Processing/Approval Dates Know the Difference 5 Revised IE Assignments Implementation 6 Frequent Trainer Program Update 6 Are You Missing Something? 7 Training Bulletin Required Reading This update is the primary training communication from your PADI Regional Headquarters to you. It announces PADI training standards and procedures changes and their implementation dates. Your PADI Membership commitment requires you to keep abreast of PADI standards by reviewing and putting into practice the information in this quarterly update. The Training Bulletin is published quarterly by PADI, Professional Association of Diving Instructors PADI 2015 Training Bulletin Third Quarter 2015 Page 1

2 Code of Practice Changes Training Be sure to make the following important changes to the PADI Member Code of Practice found in your PADI Instructor Manual, Commitment to Excellence section. The changes speak to your responsibility to self-assess before supervising others on a dive. Please read the related article in the Third Quarter 2015 The Undersea Journal, Best Practices Dive Leader Personal Readiness Assessment. These changes will be reflected in the 2016 edition Instructor Manual. Red text identifies expanded information added to number 3 in the Code of Practice 3. Perform a personal readiness selfassessment before you teach or lead others on dives. This includes evaluating your physical health and fitness for diving as well as your ability to supervise and respond to diver emergencies on that day and at that location. a. Personal ability There is a wide range of physical ability and fitness among dive professionals. Recognize your personal ability and limitations as it applies to leading and supervising divers, including your ability to respond to a diver emergency. Personal ability can change over time. Evaluate your practices and accommodate, if need be, for loss of strength, stamina, hearing, sight, etc. Think through the dive plan and emergency action plan as it applies to any personal limitations, taking conservative measures such as using certified assistants, diving in favorable conditions and reducing ratios as needed to reduce risk to those you supervise, and to yourself. b. Dive site Evaluate the dive conditions and environment and determine if you re ready and familiar enough with it to teach or lead dives there. c. Knowledge Assess your knowledge readiness to teach or lead divers on any given day to make sure that you are familiar with the standards, latest updates and teaching tools for that PADI program; and that you re aware of the readiness and abilities of your student divers. d. Confidence Though fully qualified to take on your professional role, as a new PADI Divemaster, Assistant Instructor or Instructor, you can further develop leadership skills and confidence by seeking mentorship from, by team-teaching with or shadowing experienced PADI professionals. Make appropriately conservative judgment calls as a newly-certified professional. After a period of leadership inactivity, this same practice can help assure your leadership skills and confidence. Page 2 Training Bulletin Third Quarter 2015

3 Training Online Processing Center More User-Friendly The simplified section called Manage Codes now allows you to view available digital codes for all products and assign codes to your divers, process for student divers with digital codes, and view completed student diver histories. Based on your feedback, the Online Processing Center has been enhanced to improve usability and digital product management. The improvements affect both site design and organization, making standard PIC processing and processing student divers with digital codes easier and more intuitive. As the old PIC Online application has been retired, you now process all online via the revamped Online Processing Center. The enhancements provide a better user experience with a more structured platform and simplified navigation. The platform is also mobile optimized, which means you can process using your mobile device from anywhere you have an internet connection. The PIC processing application has not changed, so you continue to process diving and EFR, register Discover Scuba Diving participants and process replacement cards or ecards in the same way. When you want to assign digital product codes to your student divers (such as Touch products or elearning programs), simply go to the Manage Codes - Assign Codes application. Once a code has been assigned to a student diver, you have a few different options under Process/View Your Students: 1. Process certification once the course is completed. 2. Resend to students who may not have received the initial Remove a digital code from assigned queue if the student diver can t complete the course (as long as the code has not been redeemed). Use the Completed Student History section to view, download or print a list of all your certified students who used digital products. Lastly, if you would like a quick glance of all your digital codes, no matter what stage they are in, you may filter the list to the All Codes status. Another important section is called Student Lookup (for referrals), where you can look up and process student divers with digital codes who started their training with another PADI Member. You have the option to look up the student either by PADI Code (found on the elearning or Touch erecord) or by student name and birth date. The etraining Dive Log application allows you to view pending training dives that have been sent by your students to review. You have the option to either approve or decline the dive logs. If you choose to decline the dive log, the student will have the ability to edit the dive based on your comments. The dive will then be sent back to you for final approval. Other exciting updates to the Online Processing Center are: Simplified language and wording throughout the portal. Downloadable reports for digital products in each status. Digital codes overview table for a quick reference of your available codes. Integrated tooltips to provide descriptions of each section or application. Improved filtering and sorting options of digital code data. Drop-down menu of languages. Training Bulletin Third Quarter 2015 Page 3

4 The Online Processing Center is currently available in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish. A mobile optimized version of the PADI Pros Site is also currently in development. So not only will you be able to process via your mobile device, but additional features and tools like the My Account and Dive Chek will also be mobile accessible. You ll find these enhancements will help you quickly navigate and complete functions on the site. If you aren t using Online Processing Center yet, now is the perfect time to try it out and start processing your online via your computer, mobile phone or tablet. There are many Help buttons on the site; and your PADI Regional Headquarters Training and Customer Service teams are ready to walk you through the site if you have additional questions. PADI Pros Site/Online Services/Online Processing Center Q A Q A Training FAQs When conducting the PADI Discover Scuba Diving program which forms do I retain for my files? Retain all documents from the center of the participant guide. These documents are: PADI Discover Scuba Diving Participant Statement PADI Medical Questionnaire, Discover Scuba Diving Knowledge and Safety Review Non-Agency Disclosure and Acknowledgment Agreement Liability Release and Assumption of Risk Agreement (EU version available on the Pros Site) Discover Scuba Diving Registration Form Easily remove these documents from the printed Participant Guide by tearing along the perforated line adjacent to the Certificate of Completion. Keep these records for seven years (or longer if local law dictates). May I use the Open Water Diver elearning Quick Review when conducting the knowledge assessment for referral divers from other training organizations? Yes. When receiving a referred diver from another training organization for course completion, follow the Referrals from Other Organizations procedures in the Open Water Diver Course Instructor Guide. To assess the referred diver s knowledge and skills, administer the ReActivate Quick Review, the Open Water Diver elearning Quick Review or Open Water Diver Course final exam, and conduct a confined water dive that reviews Open Water Diver course skills in preparation for open water training dives. The next edition PADI Instructor Manual will include this option. Page 4 Training Bulletin Third Quarter 2015

5 Training Certification and Processing/Approval Dates Know the Difference For PADI professional ratings, there is a difference between the certification date and processing date. Understanding this procedurally helps you and your pro-level candidates know when they are authorized to assume their new roles and responsibilities. Certification date: the date that the actual training concluded; for example: the last dive, the program conclusion, the exam date, or similar. This is the certification date that appears on the certification card. Processing/approval date: the date that a PADI Regional Headquarters approves the credential after confirming that all requirements are met. This date appears as the Approval Date next to credential on the PADI Pros Site under the My Professional Ratings section of My Account. This is the date when the member can begin assuming the duties appropriate to the new credential earned, assuring that all teaching requirements (such as insurance obligations) are met. Sometimes, particularly at the divemaster level, candidates think they are certified upon course completion. However, delays may occur with processing their applications due to missing items, such as lack of current CPR/first aid training. For example, perhaps a candidate had current training when starting the divemaster course, but by the time the application was sent for approval and processing, the first aid/cpr was no longer current. Using another example, only proof of CPR was submitted, without documentation of first aid. In these cases, the application is held at the PADI Regional Headquarters (RHQ), awaiting verification of current training. Thus, the approval date for being a PADI Divemaster could be weeks or months after the certification date. Reinforce with your pro-level candidates that they may not act in the capacity of that level or claim that rating until notified by their PADI RHQ that their application was received, reviewed and approved/processed. Pro candidates anxious to gain their application approval can monitor their accounts on the Pros Site to see when their credentials are approved. When you have a candidate submitting qualifying equivalent prerequisite ratings, be sure that those ratings qualify by checking with your PADI RHQ Training Department before sending them in. Note that at the diver-level, divers are officially certified as PADI Open Water Divers, Advanced Open Water Divers, etc., once you (the instructor) verify that they ve met all course prerequisites and requirements. Your issuance of a temporary card documents this, meaning that they can dive without supervision and correctly claim that they have the certification. However, a pro-level certification is authorized by PADI staff upon approving and processing the application. Training Bulletin Third Quarter 2015 Page 5

6 Instructor Development Revised IE Assignments Implementation Because revised Open Water Diver course materials are now available in many languages, in September 2015, the Instructor Examination (IE) assignments will include knowledge development, confined water and open water skills from the revised course. To ensure success for your IDC candidates once they start their careers as PADI Instructors, make sure to incorporate the revised and new topics and skills in your IDC. New assignments may include: Confined Water Disconnect low pressure inflator hose Loose cylinder band Five point descent, using buoyancy control to stop descent without contacting the bottom With a buddy, swim over simulated sensitive bottom Hovering using oral inflation Emergency weight drop Open Water Inflatable signal tube use (surface) Hovering using oral inflation Ascend using five point method and make a safety stop Tired diver tow Plus, other favorites Controlled descent Controlled emergency swimming ascent (CESA) Rescue Exercise No. 4 (Distressed Diver Underwater) Knot tying Compass swim Efficient fin kicks Mask and buoyancy skills Frequent Trainer Program Update Effective immediately, PADI Divemaster (DM) and Assistant Instructor (AI) will count as core toward the 2016 Frequent Trainer Awards for Course Directors in addition to Open Water Scuba Instructor (OWSI) and IDC Staff Instructor (IDCS). The continuing education (CE) category doesn t change with instructor specialty, including Tec Instructor. Frequent Trainer Program Levels DM, AI, OWSI or IDCS DM, AI, OWSI or IDCS Platinum % Silver 50% CE ratio 10 CE Gold 60% CE ratio 30 CE CE ratio 30 DM, AI, OWSI or IDCS 70 CE Page 6 Training Bulletin Third Quarter 2015

7 Are You Missing Something? Even though PADI Standards are easy to follow, sometimes PADI Members overlook the details, particularly as courses evolve. Instructors may not realize they ve skipped a step until they receive a Quality Management inquiry regarding their student divers responses on a Course Evaluation Questionnaire (CEQ). If this happens, there s no need to panic; your PADI Regional Headquarter s Training Consultants are there to help you get back on track. It may help to learn from others by looking at some examples from actual CEQs. In the last edition Training Bulletin, you read examples from PADI Open Water Diver course CEQs. This one is from the PADI Discover Scuba Diving (DSD) CEQ. Question Diver Comment Instructor Response If there were more than three other participants, were there two or more PADI Professionals in the water with you during your scuba dive? There were six of us with just our instructor. The divemasters who assist with our DSDs swim above and behind the group so they may not know the assistants are there. Standard Discover Scuba Diving participant-to-instructor ratio for open water is 4:1. May add a maximum of two participants with certified assistant. While you may choose to position certified assistants where they won t distract participants during the dive, be sure the participants know who the assistants are and what to do if they need their help. Be sure to introduce your certified assistants before the dive and explain what their role will be during the dive, even if the participants won t always see them. Even if you ve conducted the Discover Scuba Diving program many times, it s always a good idea to review the standards from time to time. If you have questions, the Training Consultants are standing by to support you. Training Bulletin Third Quarter 2015 Page 7

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