International Association of Nitrox and Technical Divers

International Association of Nitrox and Technical Divers

Abbreviation	IANTD
Motto	Leader in Diver Education
Formation	1985
Type	NGO
Purpose	Underwater Diver training
Location	119 NW Ethan Place, Lake City, Florida 32055[1]
Region served	Global
CEO	Tom Mount
COO	Luis Agosto Pedro
CFO	David Mount
Key people	Dick Rutkowski
Website	http://www.iantd.com/
Formerly called	International Association of Nitrox Divers (IAND) European Association of Technical Divers (EATD)

The International Association of Nitrox and Technical Divers (IANTD) is a scuba diving organization concerned with certification and training in recreational diving, technical diving, cave diving, wreck diving, rebreather diving and diver leadership. Formed in 1985, it pioneered the introduction of Enriched Air Nitrox diving to the recreational diving community. The European Association of Technical Divers (EATD) became part of IANTD in 1993.

History

Dick Rutkowski, the former dive supervisor for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), formed the International Association of Nitrox Divers (IAND) in 1985 to teach nitrox to recreational divers. This program was developed through NOAA during his tenure. In 1992 Tom Mount became the President and CEO, and the name of the organization was changed to the International Association of Nitrox and Technical Divers (IANTD). Billy Deans has also served as a director of IANTD. Prior to founding IAND, Rutkowski worked for Dr Wells and was director of the diver training at NOAA.

As the first agency to offer recreational certification in nitrox, IANTD grew at a steady pace from 1985 through February 1992 with the support of Hyperbarics International. The European Association of Technical Divers (EATD) was formed by Kevin Gurr, Richard Bull, and Rob Palmer in the UK in 1992 and merged into IANTD the following year. In 1992 Tom Mount became President of IANTD, a position that he held until 2005. During this period of time IANTD saw rapid growth as the diving community began to accept the use of technology such as nitrox.^[2] In 1992 the National Association of Underwater Instructors (NAUI) became the first mainstream US agency to accept IANTD qualifications, and the Sub-Aqua Association (SAA) became the first UK agency to recognise IANTD certifications in 1993.

On January 7, 2016 IANTD becomes the first agency in the scuba industry to acknowledge digitally validated logs as an official proof of diving experience,^[3] furthermore it declares Diviac its official digital logbook.

Qualifications

The IANTD qualification system was structured as follows as of January 2013.^{[4][5][6][7][8][9]}

Recreational programs Supervised Diver Open Water Diver Essentials Diver Advanced Open Water Diver Open Water Side Mount Diver Rescue Diver EANx Diver Deep Diver Advanced EANx Diver Speciality Diver Elite Diver Public Safety Open Water DPV Diver Decompression Specialist Self-sufficient Diver Diver First Aid

Oxygen Administration Diving Medical Technician AED Hyperbaric Chamber Operator CPR EANx Blender Trimix Gas Blender LSS Service Technician Underwater Theatrical Performer Recreational Trimix Diver Technical programs Technical diver Expedition Trimix Diver In Water Recompression Normoxic Trimix Diver Trimix Diver

Cave Programs Cavern Diver Introductory Cave Diver Cave Diver Limited Mine Diver Mine Diver Technical Cave Diver Rebreather Cave Diver Advanced Cave - Stage Advanced cave - side mount Advanced Cave - DPV Advanced cave - survey Wreck program Wreck diver Rebreather Wreck Diver Advanced Wreck Diver Technical Wreck Diver

Rebreather programs Rebreather experience Recreational CCR Diver SCR Rebreather Diver CCR Diver pSCR Diver[10] Leadership programs Dive Master Cavern Dive Master Advanced EANx Supervisor Advanced Recreational Trimix Supervisor

References

1. "IANTD World Headquarters". IANTD. 2015. Retrieved 14 May 2015.
2. "About IANTD". 2011. Archived from the original on September 2, 2012. Retrieved January 2013. Check date values in: |access-date= (help)
3. "IANTD to use Diviac for its online dive logbooks – DeeperBlue.com". DeeperBlue.com. Retrieved 2016-01-12.
4. "Recreational Programs". IANTD. Retrieved 26 January 2013.
5. "Technical programs". IANTD. Retrieved 26 January 2013.
6. "Cave programs". IANTD. Retrieved 26 January 2013.
7. "Wreck programs". IANTD. Retrieved 26 January 2013.
8. "Rebreather programs". IANTD. Retrieved 26 January 2013.
9. "Leadership program". IANTD. Retrieved 26 January 2013.
10. IANTD Standards & Procedures ed 2016

External links

• The IANTD website