RAID has revamped their training standards and implemented a new, more robust social media standard: If you disparage any entity in the dive industry, another diver, dive operation, or even a different a training agency, then RAID has the right to open a QA (quality assurance) inquiry against you. If you are found in breach of the standard, your membership is at risk.
According to RAID President Paul Toomer:
“What is happening on Social Media within Scuba is affecting us all terribly now.”
After a non-renewed diver was caught riding on a turtle and posting it on social media, RAID has released a new environmental standard to strengthen their message of ocean positivity.
Highlighting their neutral buoyancy training ethos, this standard denotes no kneeling on the floor to complete skills in order to avoid damaging marine life. Encouraging the use of bars and ropes instead of the seabed for support whilst training, RAID is asking instructors to look at the training dive site and work out how they can safely control a course in that environment.
The complete redesign of standards makes it easier for the divers and instructors to understand how the course is run. All standard-orientated information has been removed from the instructor manuals and moved to a central standards document so it can be clearly mapped and understood.
They wanted a document where any instructor could quickly check the purpose of the course, pre-requisites, maximum depths, student-instructor ratios, and other key information.
In an exciting collaboration, RAID has teamed up with Santi Drysuits to create a bespoke drysuit course tailored to using their suits exclusively. Covering suit-specific details within the edited manuals, the course includes what the suit materials are like, why they have chosen them, how to take care of it, how to put it on and how to clean it.
This course is the first of a range of many custom manuals from manufacturers with sidemount and scooters in development.
To find out more about the new Santi RAID drysuit course or to purchase a Santi suit, contact your local RAID center. For more general info about RAID, go to diveraid.com.