Thailand PADI IDC Instructor level training:
Nitrox (EANx), rebreather, wreck diving and many more...

Once you are a PADI Open Water Scuba Instructor (OWSI) you will want to continue your diving education. All over the world people are discovering new and exciting places to dive, with more and more PADI facilities appearing to accommodate this growing market. At the same time there are more and more people becoming certified as PADI Instructors wanting to fill these vacancies.

To get the job you want, in the location you want, you need to be a cut above the average instructor by not only having a more Indepth knowledge of diving and the business of diving, but by also being able to offer more to both the Dive Centre and their customers.

Teaching Continuing Education courses allows you to do this whilst diving your favourite dive sites, teaching your favourite subjects and increasing your personal income !!!

As a PADI OWSI your first step should be attaining your PADI Medic First Aid Instructor (MFAI) rating, allowing you to teach a complete range of basic PADI courses up to Divemaster. Not being able to teach Medic First Aid (MFA) won't stop you teaching the PADI Rescue Diver Course - but it will mean that you will have to give your students to another PADI instructor to teach them the MFA course before they can be certified as PADI Rescue Divers.

Why not teach the whole program yourself ... ???

Your next step should be on to the rating of the PADI Master Scuba Diver Trainer (MSDT). This rating assures your future employers that not only can you offer their customers PADI Specialty Training in at least 5 different areas, but you are also an experienced PADI instructor with at least 25 student certifications.

Completing Specialty Instructor Training with a PADI Course Director ensures that you not only receive up to date information on PADI standards, valuable hands on training using the latest techniques, but it will also allow you to start teaching these exciting PADI courses immediately, prior to having gained the 25 certifications you need if applying directly to PADI.

Further down the road is the PADI IDC Staff instructor course, which teaches you how to staff Instructor Development Courses (IDCs). Once certified as a PADI IDC Staff instructor you will not only be able to staff IDCs, giving presentations and evaluating IDC candidates, but you will also be able to teach the increasingly important PADI Assistant Instructor course, a responsibility only IDC Staff Instructors and Course Directors share.

The IDC Staff Instructor rating is also a prerequisite for the prestigious PADI Master Instructor rating: an IDC Staff instructor and Medic First Aid Instructor, who has been an instructor for at least two years, and has certified at least 150 students including at least 15 PADI Specialty Divers, 5 Rescue Divers, 5 Divemasters and 5 Assistant Instructors.

PADI IDC Instructor Training: PADI Specialty Instructor: nitrox (EANx), rebreather, wreck, Photography, deep diver and many more

PADI Specialty Instructor Training Programs are designed to show candidates how to organise, promote and conduct PADI Specialty Diver Courses.

By completing Specialty Instructor Training with a PADI Course Director you’ll receive up to date information on PADI standards, valuable hands on training using the latest techniques, program marketing information, and appropriate instructor-level open water training. Specialty instructor Training Courses also helps explain the importance of Specialty Diver training within the PADI System of diver education.

Specialty Instructor Training with a PADI Course Director allows you to start teaching these exciting PADI courses immediately, prior to having gained the 25 certifications you need when applying directly to PADI. Similarly applicants need only log 10 dives in the specialty area as opposed to the 20 necessary when applying directly to PADI.

There are over 20 Standardised PADI Specialties to choose from. Each program is supported by an instructor outline and a variety of other PADI materials including manuals, slates, EANx RDPs, videos – both for the student diver and professional versions designed to aid the Specialty instructor.

To enroll in a PADI Specialty Instructor training course, an individual must either be:

• a renewed PADI Assistant Instructor

• a renewed PADI instructor

• or have completed an IDC/IOC within the past 12 months

PADI Specialty Instructor training is an excellent way for both Assistant Instructors and IDC candidates short of 100 logged dives, and/or with time on their hands before their IE, to gain both more practice giving IDC style presentations and gain more practical experience prior to becoming a PADI instructor.

After successfully completing PADI Specialty Instructor training, PADI Assistant Instructors may apply for PADI Specialty Instructor certification in non-diving specialties, such as Oxygen First Aid or Equipment Specialty until becoming certified as PADI Instructors.

Chris is currently teaching the following Instructor Specialty programs:

Enriched Air Nitrox (EANx)
Draeger Dolphin Semi Closed Circuit Rebreather
Wreck
Night
Deep
Underwater Navigator
Search and Recovery
Oxygen First Aid Distinctive Specialty
Drift
Underwater Naturalist
Boat
Multilevel
Underwater Photographer

Well on the way is the Dive Propulsion Vehicle (DPV) – underwater scooter …….. and the Cavern Diver Specialty Instructor courses …. 

PADI IDC Instructor Training: PADI Specialty Instructor course details: EANx (nitrox), rebreather, wreck, photography, deep diver and many more ….

Following are some of the course details of some of the most popular Specialty Instructor Training programs that Chris teaches: for details of courses not listed here, please contact Chris directly.

Wreck Diver Specialty Instructor (2 days)

The most popular PADI specialty course around the world - and one of Chris's favourite pastimes !

This program covers the course standards, dive planning, organization, and potential hazards of wreck diving. It reviews the preparation and use of lights, air supplies, special equipment, penetration lines and reels, limited-visibility diving techniques and emergency procedures.

It is conducted over two days culminating in an actual penetration dive, conditions and logistics permitting. This is a perfect course on which to utilize the benefits of the extended NDLs offered by nitrox (EANx) diving !!!

Chris spent 6 years working in the Gulf of Siam on Thailand's East Coast, which is "littered" with wrecks and he has numerous friends and contacts who regularly run exploratory trips to "never dived" and rarely dived wrecks off the East coast of Thailand - including the famous Vertical Wreck.

Chris will be only too happy to put you in contact.

Enriched Air Nitrox (EANx) Instructor (2 days)

In recent years Enriched Air Nitrox (EANx) has become more and more a part of the mainstream recreational dive industry and in fact it can be hard to find a professional operator, whether liveaboard or land based who doesn't offer EANx (nitrox) !!!

This two day course reviews: the use of Enriched Air Nitrox (EANx) mixtures between 22% and 40% Oxygen, the advantages and disadvantages of diving EANx (nitrox), equipment considerations for EANx (nitrox) managing Oxygen exposure, using the Enriched Air formulas, the correct procedures for analysing and EANx (nitrox) mixtures, and the standards and goals of The PADI Enriched Air Nitrox (EANx) Diver Course.

A prerequisite for this Instructor rating is certification as an EANx (nitrox) diver with a recognised training agency. Those of you not yet certified - don't worry - the PADI EANx (nitrox) diver course easily can be integrated with the EANx (nitrox) Specialty Instructor course into a two day program.

Included in the price are the EANx (nitrox) tanks necessary to complete your 10 dives necessary for Instructor certification.

Semi Closed Circuit Rebreather Instructor (2-5 days)

In the past few years the recreational dive industry has seen the emergence of affordable Semi Closed Circuit Rebreathers (SCCR) - in particular the Draeger Dolphin & Ray. As you saw in the 4th Quarter 1999 Training Bulletin, PADI released two new standardized Specialty Outlines: the Draeger Dolphin / Atlantis & Ray Semi Closed Circuit Rebreather.

The SCCR Instructor program has been split into two parts:

SCCR Diver: The prerequisite for this course is EANx (nitrox) certification, as both units use EANx (nitrox) mixtures of up to 60%. Training during this program will be with the Dolphin and covers the advantages and disadvantages of rebreather diving, assembly and disassembly of the unit, correct dive planning, Do's and Don'ts, and emergency bailout procedures.

It is a two day course involving one day class room and pool followed by 3 Open Water Training dives.

SCCR Instructor: takes PADI instructors who are already EANx (nitrox) instructors certified in the use of the Draeger Dolphin SCCR the next step they need to enable them to teach the PADI SCCR Specialty Course to others. The program reviews the course outlines, organisation, standards, skills and unique problems that can occur when teaching this course.

This is two day program that can be combined with the SCCR Diver into a five day program: one day classroom and pool, one day with the 3 training dives required for certification, and three days of unlimited diving with the unit.

Prior to applying for SCCR Specialty Instructor certification instructors must have logged 20 dives with the unit.

The Deep Diver Specialty Instructor course (2 days)

This program covers the course standards, dive planning, organization, and potential hazards of deep diving and trains the diver to the recreational diving limit of 40 metres. It reviews the preparation and use of emergency decompression techniques, the deployment of "drop tanks", managing air supplies, special equipment including descent lines and reels, conservative diving practices and computer use.

As the dives are conducted beyond 30m it is conducted over two days.

Other Specialty Instructor programs taught by Chris but not covered in detail here include: Night, Underwater Navigator, Search and Recovery, Drift, Boat, Multilevel, Underwater Naturalist and Underwater Photographer.

The Master Scuba Diver Trainer Preparation Course
(minimum 5 days)

This program prepares PADI OWSIs for the rating of PADI Master Scuba Diver Trainer (MSDT) - a PADI Instructor who can teach 5 PADI specialties and thus teach an entire PADI Master Scuba Diver program. The course generally starts with a day of academic orientation followed by three to 5 days diving, but will vary depending on the specialties and dive destinations you choose.

PADI IDC Instructor Training: PADI Instructor Level courses: PADI Medic First Aid instructor, Dan and PADI Oxygen First Aid Instructor and the PADI IDC Staff Instructor Course.

Medic First Aid Instructor (1 day)

This one day program allows PADI Assistant Instructors and divers who have completed a PADI IDC to become PADI Medic First Aid Instructors. MFA programs may be conducted for both divers and non-divers alike who want training in CPR and Basic First Aid. The PADI Medic First Aid Instructor Course (MFAI) is relaxed and low stress and although regularly scheduled between the IDC and IE can be conducted at any time.

To enroll in a PADI MFA Instructor Training program, you'll need to:

• Be either a PADI Assistant Instructor, a PADI Instructor, or have completed an IDC/IOC within the past 12 months.

• Have successfully completed a PADI MEDIC FIRST AID program as a student.

The PADI MFA Instructor Course teaches instructor candidates to conduct the seven modules of the MFA program including: Primary Assessment, CPR, Obstructed Airway, Control of Bleeding, Shock Management, Illness Assessment and Injury Assessment.

Remember courses such as the PADI Rescue Diver Course, PADI Divemaster course and the PADI Master Scuba Diver rating all require MFA certification …. Why send your students to another instructor … ???

The DAN Level 1 Oxygen Instructor (1 day)

This course qualifies instructors who are DAN Oxygen Providers to become DAN Level 1 Oxygen Instructors. The course covers: an Indepth review of anatomy and physiology, the pathology of DCI, Expired Air Resuscitation, complications with resuscitation, manifestations and management of diving injuries, benefits of oxygen provision, oxygen delivery systems, oxygen handling and storing, cross infection, equipment cleaning and the DAN oxygen unit.

During Chris’s Indepth IDC all IDC candidates are certified in the PADI Oxygen First Aid Distinctive Specialty. To "Upgrade" from this to DAN Oxygen Provider is only a matter of DAN certification fees and a short exam. Those not attending Chris’s Indepth IDC need to complete the 5 hour DAN Oxygen Provider course – for details please contact Chris.

Once certified as DAN Oxygen Instructors – applicants may then apply directly to PADI for the rating of PADI Oxygen First Aid Distinctive Specialty Instructor.

Also included in Chris's Indepth DAN Oxygen Instructor program is a visit and orientation to the local Hyperbaric Chamber.

The IDC Staff Instructor (2 days plus audit of an IDC) 

This program is in two parts: 2 days with your PADI Course Director where you will learn about IDC grading and evaluation, IDC candidate counseling, the PADI IDC philosophy and get to give an IDC Confined Water and Academic Classroom presentation. We will also review your in-water demonstration skills, knowledge of dive theory and PADI Standards and Procedures. The second half consists of auditing an entire PADI IDC, evaluating candidates along side your Course Director.

PADI IDC Staff Instructors are qualified to staff IDCs and are invaluable members of any Instructional Team. They can also teach the increasingly important PADI Assistant Instructor course, a responsibility only IDC Staff Instructors and PADI Course Directors share. Prerequisites include being a renewed PADI MSDT.

IDC Staff Update – 2001 IDC curriculum (1 day)

PADI IDC Staff Instructors certified under the 1995 IDC Course Standards need to Upgrade their Knowledge and skills before teaching a 2001 IDC curriculum Assistant Instructor Course or staffing an IDC.

This Upgrade can be accomplished by either attending a PADI IDC Staff Update with a Course Director or by auditing a complete IDC Staff Instructor Course.

The Upgrade consists of a review of Instructor Development standards, procedures and curriculum, a look at how to organise and conduct The PADI Assistant Instructor Course and some Evaluation Training using the new evaluation criteria.

Chris ran the first PADI IDC Staff Update in Thailand on March 3^rd and will be conducting a series of regular Updates throughout the year.

For more information on the next Update or on how to audit an entire IDC Staff Course please contact Chris.