Island Times Blog

ITCs Buzz, Dakota, and Adam getting “hands on” training in dive safety!

This past November I proudly represented SeaTrek BVI and NAUI while attending DEMA 2015 in Orlando, Florida.  As a brand new NAUI Instructor, I was thrilled with the opportunity to look at the newest products, network with incredible divers, and attend the NAUI Member Reception at Disney’s Epcot Living Seas Pavilion.  Over the course of the weekend, I attended several NAUI meetings and seminars and was ecstatic when the NAUI/DAN alliance was announced.  With the goal of promoting dive safety through education, NAUI and DAN created the partnership “to extend the reach of dive safety programs.” (*From the DAN public release*)  The cornerstone of this joint initiative focuses on incorporating DAN’s medical training programs into NAUI dive courses and will eventually offer NAUI members a simple on-line instructor program so that they may instruct the DAN medical courses.  I couldn’t contain my excitement. As a NAUI instructor, as well as an Emergency Medical Technician, these two organizations were making it possible to bridge my interests and expand my career possibilities.

My senior year of high school, I applied and was accepted for an internship with North Shore Fire Rescue, a career Milwaukee County fire department.  As an intern, I was riding every day on the medic unit and the engine.  This is where I first began to develop my passion for emergency medicine.  Throughout the year, I completed an EMT course and began to respond to calls as an EMT.  The previous summer, I had completed my intern year at SeaTrek BVI and was certified as a NAUI Divemaster.  While continuing through the NAUI leadership courses and working for a live-aboard dive company, I was able to not only learn a great deal about dive medicine, but to also teach and practice it.  Throughout the past three years, SeaTrek and NAUI have given me the opportunity to expand my horizons as a dive leader as well as an EMT and has also been instrumental in helping me to identify my future goals.

Buzz checking out some marine life!

This past summer, I was given the opportunity to attempt my NAUI Instructor Training Course (ITC) with SeaTrek BVI.  Throughout the course, I was required to complete a number of presentations.  After researching and presenting on DAN’s applicability to the dive professional and a few physiology lectures, I came to the realization that I could combine my love for diving and my passion for emergency medicine into a future career.  I am hoping to continue my medical education and become a paramedic, and eventually attend medical school to practice emergency medicine.  My end goal is to be an emergency medicine physician specializing in hyperbaric and undersea medicine.  As a NAUI and DAN member, I am comforted in knowing that these two organizations strive to make the sport that we all love safer.  I am also excited to be able to offer DAN courses to my students as well as the full array of NAUI courses.  DEMA 2015 was an incredible experience, and I am inspired by the growth of NAUI and what the future holds for me as an instructor and medical professional.

Be sure to check out Buzz’s full article in the upcoming NAUI Sources magazine. You can also find out more about the NAUI/DAN alliance on the NAUI Dive Team Report podcast (available on iTunes/YouTube).