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The British Sub-Aqua Club or BSAC is the governing body of recreational diving in Britain. Recreational diving is a type of diving that uses SCUBA equipment for the purpose of leisure and enjoyment. ...
The club was founded in 1953 and has over 50,000 members. It is a diver training organization that operates through its associated network of around 1600 local, independent diving clubs and around 400 diving schools worldwide. This page lists SCUBA diver training organizations. ...
BSAC is unusual for a diver training agency in that most BSAC instructors are amateurs operating in diving clubs as opposed to professionals operating in diving schools.
Given that UK waters are relatively cold and have restricted visibility, BSAC training is more comprehensive than some. Specifically it places emphasis on rescue training very early in the programme. This has led to the SAC in BSAC being jokingly referred to as Slow And Careful compared to PADI (sometimes alleged to stand for Pay and Dive Instantly), this is probably true: it will take longer for a new diver to be swimming in open water. However, BSAC schools (commercially run) offer similar length courses to PADI but with the additional rescue training and UK conditions taught at a much earlier stage.
Science writer and science fiction author Arthur C. Clarke was a famous member of BSAC [1] For mathematical sciences, see mathematics. ...
Science fiction is a form of speculative fiction principally dealing with the impact of imagined science and technology, or both, upon society and persons as individuals. ...
Sir Arthur C. Clarke Sir Arthur Charles Clarke (born December 16, 1917) is a British author and inventor, most famous for his science-fiction novel 2001: A Space Odyssey, and for collaborating with director Stanley Kubrick on the film of the same name. ...
Qualifications
Diving BSAC currently has five diver qualifications. These are: - Ocean Diver - Basic skills, non-decompression diving (depth limit 20 m)
- Sports Diver - Rescue and decompression diving (depth limit 35 m)
- Dive Leader - Dive leading, marshalling and rescue management (depth limit 50 m)
- Advanced Diver - Fully trained diver capable of leading a group of divers in normal club activities
- First Class Diver - Trained to lead a group of dives carrying out a project. This is nationally examined with a two day practical test
Instructing BSAC has six instructor qualifications: - Assistant Instructor - Trained but unqualified. Must be supervised when instructing
- Theory Instructor - Qualified to instruct unsupervised in the classroom
- Practical Instructor - Qualified to instruct unsupervised in open water
- Open Water Instructor - Qualified to supervise other instructors in classroom and open water training
- Advanced Instructor - Trained to teach advanced skills such as instructor training, boat based skills and group diving techniques
- National Instructor - Leads Instructor Training courses and BSAC National exams
Grades previously awarded Some qualifications which are no longer awarded may be encountered: - Novice I - A diver who has completed the extensive sheltered-water (ie pool) training of the BSAC syllabus of the time, but has not yet dived in open water.
- Novice II - A Novice I diver who has completed two open-water assessment dives.
The distinction between Novice I and Novice II was mostly for practical reasons to do with the difference between hiring a pool and travelling to the coast. A Novice I diver would normally complete the two open-water dives as soon as possible, but if this were not possible straight away (perhaps over winter) they would at least have a specific grade within the club.
The lengthy and club-oriented (not to mention demeaningly-named) Novice syllabus was replaced with the Club Diver and Ocean Diver syllabi in the late 1990s. (However, some argue the Novice description was usefully accurate and aided diver safety because nobody with such a qualification would attempt dives beyond their capabilities.)
- Club Diver - This is more or less the same as Ocean Diver; originally the two were operated in parallel with Ocean Diver awarded at schools and Club Diver at clubs.
- Club Instructor - An instructor grade junior to Open Water Instructor, but allowing the holder to instruct practical and theory lessons without supervision.
- Third Class Diver - Divers who held this grade were awarded the Sports Diver grade when the new grades were introduced.
- Second Class Diver - Divers who held this grade were awarded the Advanced Diver grade when the new grades were introduced.
Skill Development / Specialities BSAC has a range of skill development courses: - Rebreather Courses:
- SCR Dolphin/CCR Inspiration/Evolution and CCR Inspiration/Evolution.
Beaching a casualty while providing artificial respiration Diver rescue, following an accident, is the process of avoiding or limiting further exposure to diving hazards and bringing a SCUBA diver to safety. ...
First aid is a series of simple, life-saving medical techniques that a non-doctor or layman can be trained to perform. ...
Oxygen first aid kit showing a demand valve and a constant flow mask Oxygen first aid or oxygen administration is a first aid treatment for many medical emergencies involving the organs of respiration and circulation such as heart attack, drowning, carbon monoxide poisoning, decompression illness, lung barotrauma and gas embolism. ...
A Diving Air Compressor is a gas compressor, which can fill diving cylinders with high pressure air that is pure enough to be used as a breathing gas. ...
The fundamental item of diving equipment used by divers is the SCUBA equipment, such as the Aqualung or Rebreather. ...
Portion of chart of Bering Strait, site of former land bridge between Asia and North America. ...
Position fixing is the branch of navigation concerned with the use of a variety of visual and electronic methods to determine the position of a ship, aircraft or person on the surface of the Earth. ...
An outboard motor is a propulsion system for boats. ...
Technical diving is a form of SCUBA diving that exceeds the scope of recreational diving. ...
Typical decal used on scuba cylinders containing Nitrox Nitrox is a breathing gas consisting of oxygen and nitrogen (similar to air), but with a higher proportion of oxygen than the normal 20. ...
Gas blending or gas mixing is the filling of diving cylinders with non-air breathing gases. ...
A diver in a pool wearing an AGA full face mask A diver wearing an Ocean Reef full face mask A full-face diving mask is a type of diving mask worn by SCUBA divers so that they can talk with the surface or other divers. ...
Inspiration closed circuit diving rebreather A rebreather is a type of breathing set that provides a breathing gas containing oxygen and recycles exhaled gas. ...
Marine biology is the Scientific study of the plants, animals and other organisms that live in the ocean. ...
car wreck in a lake A NikonosV underwater camera with flash and lanyard Underwater photography is the process of taking photographs while underwater. ...
External links
BSAC club and school web sites | 
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