Richard Lundgren
04-22-2006, 08:11 PM
109GUE FAQ - part I
What are the mission objectives & goals of GUE as a training organization?
GUE’s educational platform was designed for divers seeking quality dive instruction. Its courses combine rigorous in-water training with comprehensive academic instruction, to produce divers who are skilled, competent and safe.
GUE’s instructors, like its other representatives, are carefully chosen for their ability to enrich the organization – not for their capacity to generate revenue. As a result GUE brings together a wide array of professional talents, ranging from expertise in training, exploration and the sciences, to expertise in education and conservation.
GUE is dedicated to the global dissemination of educational information. To this end, our educational outreach programs provide valuable information to schools, the media, and the general public.
Is GUE all about diver training and education?
GUE is committed to promoting underwater research, focusing significant resources on scientific study. GUE supports the effort of a membership conducting original research around the globe.
GUE seeks to promote the research interest of other organizations. This is done by successful methodologies, helping to cultivate effective funding and sponsorship strategies, and constructing a comprehensive database available to anyone working in education, conservation, or exploration. This data-sharing will include both conventional publications and technological advancements – e.g., an interactive web database.
GUE is committed to global underwater exploration. It focuses assets on long-term exploratory activity; it helps other organizations develop effective exploration techniques; and it shares the result of its findings with other exploration groups.
GUE like other environmentally friendly organizations strives to educate the surroundings to act responsibly toward the protection and awareness of our nature and oceans
105
(Photo: GUE like the organization Ocean Futures Society maintain that the health of the oceans are vital for survival. Richard Lundgren (GUE) Jean-Michel Cousteau (Ocean Futures Society) after their presentations at LIDS 2006 (London International Dive Show) Photo: Spike
What makes GUE unique as a training organization?
GUE maintains that a good education is vital for the safe enjoyment of recreational or technical diving, and must include both a strong academic component and a rigorous practical one. This is achieved by:
Standards: GUE’s curriculum maintains the highest training standards, combining strong academics with exacting practice (in-water training). Additionally GUE requires diver and instructor currency and a gradual building of experience.
Classes: GUE classes are lengthy and rigorous, demanding preparation before they begin.
Instructors: GUE instructors are encouraged to exceed minimum training standards when these safely contribute to a participant’s learning process. Instructors are also actively encouraged to deny qualification to students who are not completely prepared for the level pursued.
Is it true that GUE have certain rules about diving equipment in their classes?
GUE is committed to the DIR (Doing it right) equipment configuration, a holistic approach to diving that sees each element of a configuration system as an integrated part of the whole.
Diver training is good but isn’t experience important too?
GUE maintains that extensive in-water diver experience is at the core of diver proficiency. To cultivate this proficiency, GUE incorporates critical-skills training, experience dives, and post-class practice in its diver training platform.
Critical-skills training: This is the first step towards acquiring the requisite skills that prepare divers for the rigors of diving. Undertaken during formal training conditions, GUE employs a building-block method and allows trainees to learn at their own rate, introducing new skills only when students are able to incorporate them. An important aspect of critical-skill training is that failures and stressful situations are simulated in a controlled and safe environment. Competence is established by skill review, practice and repetition.
Experience dives: Undertaken during formal training conditions, this phase of training seeks to cultivate real diving experience, while providing a controlled context for further skill solidification.
Interim Class Requirement: GUE requires that formal diver training be punctuated by breaks, during students must practice a given skill set before progressing to a higher level of training. Before entering a higher level of training in a given curriculum, all students must have undertaken a minimum of twenty-five practice dives.
How does GUE’s diver training structure look like, what is the outline of diver training?
Screening: GUE seeks to promote the best interest of the students by establishing whether they are capable of meeting the demands made on them during training. This is done by careful screening during registration, during which all student candidates must furnish GUE representatives with a completed registration outlining their personal experience, medical history and previous training.
Advance Preparation: GUE maintains that some advance preparation is necessary for student’s to optimize their training. Such preparation may include, for instance, a familiarity with certain set of material and/or a set of skills or equipment.
Academics: GUE academic sessions seek to instill in students a detailed comprehension of the theoretical components of relevant diver training. Ideally, academic portions of GUE classes rely on advance student preparation, so that the theoretical component of the class is more substantive.
In-water Training (confined and open water): GUE in-water training is designed to help students cultivate essential diving skills and to test student knowledge in a controlled environment; skills include problem-solving and emergency management. By “confined water” GUE means areas: 1) that do not exceed 9 meters in depth; 2) where visibility is sufficiently good to allow instructors to maintain a view of their students; 3) that are no overhead areas; 4) that are illuminated by daylight; 5) where surface conditions are relative calm, surge less than 1 meter; 6) where currents are negligible, under 1 knot. Such environments allow instructors reasonable control over students; depths are contingent on specific course requirements.
Testing, Evaluation, and Qualification: Testing and evaluating is a vital part of the GUE training process. Though GUE requires students to pass final exams with a score of 80% or higher, on review, students must demonstrate proficiency with all test questions.
Student in-water performance is evaluated during post-dive debriefs. Upon completing a course, instructors submit a Course Completion Form to GUE HQ, outlining student strengths and weaknesses; such forms are available to students upon request.
Will my performance during the GUE class be graded?
GUE’s qualification is ultimately an instructor’s decision. However, students, on request, should be provided with a written account on what remedial training they need in order to progress further with their training. At any point during their training, GUE trainees may request an evaluation from their instructor.
GUE’s evaluation scale ranges sequentially from 1 (failure) to 5 (excellence) as follows:
Grade 1: Indicates an unsafe diver in both ability and/or demeanor. The student should be removed from the course immediately for the safety of his/her and the class.
Grade 2: Indicates that the student cannot complete the required skill/task satisfactorily. If, at the discretion of the instructor, continued practice of a skill/task places either student or the class at risk, the instructor may decide not to continue practicing a skill/task and fail the student.
Grade 3: Indicates that the student has completed the skill/task satisfactorily (passed) but needs improvement.
Grade 4: Indicates that the student has completed the skill/task well.
Grade 5: Indicates that the student has completed the skill/task extremely well and deserves commendation.
What about Diver Assessment, does GUE fail or pass students?
At the completion of GUE training, instructors must a) decide whether a student is properly qualified to pursue the type of diving for which they sought training; b) decide to make qualification conditional on a student’s improving a given skill-set. Specific to the particular diving activity; or c) decide that the student is not able to dive in that environment or at a given level. These assessments take form of:
Full qualification
Provisional qualification
Failure
Provisional qualification allows the student the opportunity to resolve skill deficiencies before being reassessed at a later date (within 6 months). Provisional qualification is not a form of accreditation, and does not represent any certification status within GUE. Provisional qualified divers are upgraded by their initial GUE instructor. After verifying that previous deficiencies are resolved, the initial GUE instructor will submit a Course Completion form to GUE HQ. Before any additional diver training can be undertaken, and before students can dive at the full limits of the course in question, they must meet the standards of this course and have full qualification.
In what kind of training categories does GUE offer diver training?
Recreational Diver: This training category is designed for individuals seeking training in the fundamentals of sound recreational diving; recreational diving here is to be understood as diving in non-overhead environments and within minimum decompression limits. GUE recommend divers the use of Nitrox 32 and Triox 30/30 for recreational diving.
Technical Diver: This training category is designed for divers seeking training in technical diving. Technical diving goes beyond the domain of recreational diving by exposing divers to (among other things) greater depths, longer diving exposures, decompression, and to the requirements of other gases than air.
Rebreather Diver: Rebreather training is a subcategory of technical training; this training is designed for divers seeking training in the use of Halcyon semi-closed circuit technology. GUE Rebreather training is intended to tech individuals to use a Halcyon Rebreather across a spectrum of diving applications.
Cave Diver: This training category is designed for divers seeking training in cave environments. Cave diver training focuses on the skills and knowledge most specifically geared toward cave diving penetrations, yet these techniques are invaluable in a wide array of diving environments.
What PO2 limits does GUE recommend?
All divers are to maintain a working PO2 of no greater than 1.4 and a resting PO2 of 1.6 (+/- 0.05). Oxygen partial pressure are adjusted downward, according to the demands made by diving conditions with an average working PO2 of approximately 1.2. “Resting dives” are defined as dives during which it is not reasonably expected that a diver will have to expend any unusual amount of energy, for example during decompression. PO2 is established by the following equation: PO2 = FO2 x ATAs
What END limits does GUE recommend?
No dives are to exceed an Equivalent Narcotic Depth (END) of 30 meters (+/- 3 meters); END is established by the following equation: END = [((1-FHe) x ATAs)-1) x 10m)]
What breathing gas requirements does GUE recommend?
All dives must be planned using a “minimum gas” reserve. Minimum gas is defined as the volume needed for two divers sharing gas to reach the surface or another breathable gas supply. When minimum gas is reached - ascent must be initiated. On top of this mandatory gas reserve more gas reserve rules may be applied depending on the situation and environment.
Can my GUE instructor issue dual certification/qualification?
Another agency’s qualifications may be awarded to a student – as a dual qualification – only if the student has meet GUE standards and has been awarded full GUE qualification. The student can then receive both a GUE qualification card and the equivalent qualification of another agency.
Qualifications from another agency may not be issued instead of a GUE qualification. This means that if a trainee does not warrant a full qualification under GUE’s standards and procedures, no qualification from another agency can be awarded in its stead.
Note: The GUE instructor must off course hold an active teaching status of another agency to enable this option.
During GUE diver training, is decompression planned conservatively?
GUE recognizes that events may conspire to result in decompression sickness, despite the care exercised by those involved. Nonetheless, GUE requires that, when training, GUE instructors follow conservative decompression schedules and evaluate decompression schedules using GUE’s DecoPlanner as a standard. Decompression times during such training should approximate the time indicated by DecoPlanner when using a gradient factor of 30/85.
Is it possible to have a personal trainer, PT, and do one-on-one GUE diver training?
GUE courses must not be run with only one student. The only exception to this stipulation involves instructor training courses, which may be conducted with one candidate.
What is generally referred to as general diving skills during GUE diver training?
All GUE courses must ensure proficiency in the following diving skills; proficiency is measured by a final grade of 3 (satisfactory) or better when demonstrating the skill. Any other and/or course-specific skills, as well as any deviation from a particular skill, will be listed under the appropriate course section.
The standards bellow do not bind GUE Recreational Diver courses or GUE Fundamentals courses, which are governed by more restricted skill sets (see relevant sections).
Demonstrate proficiency in safe diving practices; this would include pre-dive preparation, in-water activity, and post-dive assessment.
Demonstrate awareness of team-member location and a concern for safety, responding quickly to visual cues and dive partner requirements.
Efficiently and comfortably demonstrate how to donate gas to an out-of-gas diver in multiple gas-sharing episodes.
Be able to comfortably demonstrate at least three propulsion techniques that would be appropriate in delicate and/or silty environments; one of these kicks must include a backward kick.
All GUE instructors are encouraged to exceed minimum training standards when by doing so they are promoting the best interests of the student. Instructors are actively encouraged to deny qualification to students when students have not met the standards of the certification level they are pursuing to the satisfaction of the instructor.
What are the mission objectives & goals of GUE as a training organization?
GUE’s educational platform was designed for divers seeking quality dive instruction. Its courses combine rigorous in-water training with comprehensive academic instruction, to produce divers who are skilled, competent and safe.
GUE’s instructors, like its other representatives, are carefully chosen for their ability to enrich the organization – not for their capacity to generate revenue. As a result GUE brings together a wide array of professional talents, ranging from expertise in training, exploration and the sciences, to expertise in education and conservation.
GUE is dedicated to the global dissemination of educational information. To this end, our educational outreach programs provide valuable information to schools, the media, and the general public.
Is GUE all about diver training and education?
GUE is committed to promoting underwater research, focusing significant resources on scientific study. GUE supports the effort of a membership conducting original research around the globe.
GUE seeks to promote the research interest of other organizations. This is done by successful methodologies, helping to cultivate effective funding and sponsorship strategies, and constructing a comprehensive database available to anyone working in education, conservation, or exploration. This data-sharing will include both conventional publications and technological advancements – e.g., an interactive web database.
GUE is committed to global underwater exploration. It focuses assets on long-term exploratory activity; it helps other organizations develop effective exploration techniques; and it shares the result of its findings with other exploration groups.
GUE like other environmentally friendly organizations strives to educate the surroundings to act responsibly toward the protection and awareness of our nature and oceans
105
(Photo: GUE like the organization Ocean Futures Society maintain that the health of the oceans are vital for survival. Richard Lundgren (GUE) Jean-Michel Cousteau (Ocean Futures Society) after their presentations at LIDS 2006 (London International Dive Show) Photo: Spike
What makes GUE unique as a training organization?
GUE maintains that a good education is vital for the safe enjoyment of recreational or technical diving, and must include both a strong academic component and a rigorous practical one. This is achieved by:
Standards: GUE’s curriculum maintains the highest training standards, combining strong academics with exacting practice (in-water training). Additionally GUE requires diver and instructor currency and a gradual building of experience.
Classes: GUE classes are lengthy and rigorous, demanding preparation before they begin.
Instructors: GUE instructors are encouraged to exceed minimum training standards when these safely contribute to a participant’s learning process. Instructors are also actively encouraged to deny qualification to students who are not completely prepared for the level pursued.
Is it true that GUE have certain rules about diving equipment in their classes?
GUE is committed to the DIR (Doing it right) equipment configuration, a holistic approach to diving that sees each element of a configuration system as an integrated part of the whole.
Diver training is good but isn’t experience important too?
GUE maintains that extensive in-water diver experience is at the core of diver proficiency. To cultivate this proficiency, GUE incorporates critical-skills training, experience dives, and post-class practice in its diver training platform.
Critical-skills training: This is the first step towards acquiring the requisite skills that prepare divers for the rigors of diving. Undertaken during formal training conditions, GUE employs a building-block method and allows trainees to learn at their own rate, introducing new skills only when students are able to incorporate them. An important aspect of critical-skill training is that failures and stressful situations are simulated in a controlled and safe environment. Competence is established by skill review, practice and repetition.
Experience dives: Undertaken during formal training conditions, this phase of training seeks to cultivate real diving experience, while providing a controlled context for further skill solidification.
Interim Class Requirement: GUE requires that formal diver training be punctuated by breaks, during students must practice a given skill set before progressing to a higher level of training. Before entering a higher level of training in a given curriculum, all students must have undertaken a minimum of twenty-five practice dives.
How does GUE’s diver training structure look like, what is the outline of diver training?
Screening: GUE seeks to promote the best interest of the students by establishing whether they are capable of meeting the demands made on them during training. This is done by careful screening during registration, during which all student candidates must furnish GUE representatives with a completed registration outlining their personal experience, medical history and previous training.
Advance Preparation: GUE maintains that some advance preparation is necessary for student’s to optimize their training. Such preparation may include, for instance, a familiarity with certain set of material and/or a set of skills or equipment.
Academics: GUE academic sessions seek to instill in students a detailed comprehension of the theoretical components of relevant diver training. Ideally, academic portions of GUE classes rely on advance student preparation, so that the theoretical component of the class is more substantive.
In-water Training (confined and open water): GUE in-water training is designed to help students cultivate essential diving skills and to test student knowledge in a controlled environment; skills include problem-solving and emergency management. By “confined water” GUE means areas: 1) that do not exceed 9 meters in depth; 2) where visibility is sufficiently good to allow instructors to maintain a view of their students; 3) that are no overhead areas; 4) that are illuminated by daylight; 5) where surface conditions are relative calm, surge less than 1 meter; 6) where currents are negligible, under 1 knot. Such environments allow instructors reasonable control over students; depths are contingent on specific course requirements.
Testing, Evaluation, and Qualification: Testing and evaluating is a vital part of the GUE training process. Though GUE requires students to pass final exams with a score of 80% or higher, on review, students must demonstrate proficiency with all test questions.
Student in-water performance is evaluated during post-dive debriefs. Upon completing a course, instructors submit a Course Completion Form to GUE HQ, outlining student strengths and weaknesses; such forms are available to students upon request.
Will my performance during the GUE class be graded?
GUE’s qualification is ultimately an instructor’s decision. However, students, on request, should be provided with a written account on what remedial training they need in order to progress further with their training. At any point during their training, GUE trainees may request an evaluation from their instructor.
GUE’s evaluation scale ranges sequentially from 1 (failure) to 5 (excellence) as follows:
Grade 1: Indicates an unsafe diver in both ability and/or demeanor. The student should be removed from the course immediately for the safety of his/her and the class.
Grade 2: Indicates that the student cannot complete the required skill/task satisfactorily. If, at the discretion of the instructor, continued practice of a skill/task places either student or the class at risk, the instructor may decide not to continue practicing a skill/task and fail the student.
Grade 3: Indicates that the student has completed the skill/task satisfactorily (passed) but needs improvement.
Grade 4: Indicates that the student has completed the skill/task well.
Grade 5: Indicates that the student has completed the skill/task extremely well and deserves commendation.
What about Diver Assessment, does GUE fail or pass students?
At the completion of GUE training, instructors must a) decide whether a student is properly qualified to pursue the type of diving for which they sought training; b) decide to make qualification conditional on a student’s improving a given skill-set. Specific to the particular diving activity; or c) decide that the student is not able to dive in that environment or at a given level. These assessments take form of:
Full qualification
Provisional qualification
Failure
Provisional qualification allows the student the opportunity to resolve skill deficiencies before being reassessed at a later date (within 6 months). Provisional qualification is not a form of accreditation, and does not represent any certification status within GUE. Provisional qualified divers are upgraded by their initial GUE instructor. After verifying that previous deficiencies are resolved, the initial GUE instructor will submit a Course Completion form to GUE HQ. Before any additional diver training can be undertaken, and before students can dive at the full limits of the course in question, they must meet the standards of this course and have full qualification.
In what kind of training categories does GUE offer diver training?
Recreational Diver: This training category is designed for individuals seeking training in the fundamentals of sound recreational diving; recreational diving here is to be understood as diving in non-overhead environments and within minimum decompression limits. GUE recommend divers the use of Nitrox 32 and Triox 30/30 for recreational diving.
Technical Diver: This training category is designed for divers seeking training in technical diving. Technical diving goes beyond the domain of recreational diving by exposing divers to (among other things) greater depths, longer diving exposures, decompression, and to the requirements of other gases than air.
Rebreather Diver: Rebreather training is a subcategory of technical training; this training is designed for divers seeking training in the use of Halcyon semi-closed circuit technology. GUE Rebreather training is intended to tech individuals to use a Halcyon Rebreather across a spectrum of diving applications.
Cave Diver: This training category is designed for divers seeking training in cave environments. Cave diver training focuses on the skills and knowledge most specifically geared toward cave diving penetrations, yet these techniques are invaluable in a wide array of diving environments.
What PO2 limits does GUE recommend?
All divers are to maintain a working PO2 of no greater than 1.4 and a resting PO2 of 1.6 (+/- 0.05). Oxygen partial pressure are adjusted downward, according to the demands made by diving conditions with an average working PO2 of approximately 1.2. “Resting dives” are defined as dives during which it is not reasonably expected that a diver will have to expend any unusual amount of energy, for example during decompression. PO2 is established by the following equation: PO2 = FO2 x ATAs
What END limits does GUE recommend?
No dives are to exceed an Equivalent Narcotic Depth (END) of 30 meters (+/- 3 meters); END is established by the following equation: END = [((1-FHe) x ATAs)-1) x 10m)]
What breathing gas requirements does GUE recommend?
All dives must be planned using a “minimum gas” reserve. Minimum gas is defined as the volume needed for two divers sharing gas to reach the surface or another breathable gas supply. When minimum gas is reached - ascent must be initiated. On top of this mandatory gas reserve more gas reserve rules may be applied depending on the situation and environment.
Can my GUE instructor issue dual certification/qualification?
Another agency’s qualifications may be awarded to a student – as a dual qualification – only if the student has meet GUE standards and has been awarded full GUE qualification. The student can then receive both a GUE qualification card and the equivalent qualification of another agency.
Qualifications from another agency may not be issued instead of a GUE qualification. This means that if a trainee does not warrant a full qualification under GUE’s standards and procedures, no qualification from another agency can be awarded in its stead.
Note: The GUE instructor must off course hold an active teaching status of another agency to enable this option.
During GUE diver training, is decompression planned conservatively?
GUE recognizes that events may conspire to result in decompression sickness, despite the care exercised by those involved. Nonetheless, GUE requires that, when training, GUE instructors follow conservative decompression schedules and evaluate decompression schedules using GUE’s DecoPlanner as a standard. Decompression times during such training should approximate the time indicated by DecoPlanner when using a gradient factor of 30/85.
Is it possible to have a personal trainer, PT, and do one-on-one GUE diver training?
GUE courses must not be run with only one student. The only exception to this stipulation involves instructor training courses, which may be conducted with one candidate.
What is generally referred to as general diving skills during GUE diver training?
All GUE courses must ensure proficiency in the following diving skills; proficiency is measured by a final grade of 3 (satisfactory) or better when demonstrating the skill. Any other and/or course-specific skills, as well as any deviation from a particular skill, will be listed under the appropriate course section.
The standards bellow do not bind GUE Recreational Diver courses or GUE Fundamentals courses, which are governed by more restricted skill sets (see relevant sections).
Demonstrate proficiency in safe diving practices; this would include pre-dive preparation, in-water activity, and post-dive assessment.
Demonstrate awareness of team-member location and a concern for safety, responding quickly to visual cues and dive partner requirements.
Efficiently and comfortably demonstrate how to donate gas to an out-of-gas diver in multiple gas-sharing episodes.
Be able to comfortably demonstrate at least three propulsion techniques that would be appropriate in delicate and/or silty environments; one of these kicks must include a backward kick.
All GUE instructors are encouraged to exceed minimum training standards when by doing so they are promoting the best interests of the student. Instructors are actively encouraged to deny qualification to students when students have not met the standards of the certification level they are pursuing to the satisfaction of the instructor.