The World Recreational Scuba Training Council (WRSTC) was founded in 1999 and is dedicated to creating minimum

recreational diving Recreational diving or sport diving is diving for the purpose of leisure and enjoyment, usually when using scuba equipment. The term "recreational diving" may also be used in contradistinction to "technical diving", a more demanding aspect of ...

training standards for the various

scuba diving Scuba diving is a mode of underwater diving whereby divers use breathing equipment that is completely independent of a surface air supply. The name "scuba", an acronym for " Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus", was coined by Chr ...

certification agencies across the world. The WRSTC restricts its membership to national or regional councils. These councils consist of individual training organizations who collectively represent at least 50% of the annual diver certifications in the member council's country or region. A national council is referred to as a RSTC (Recreational Scuba Training Council). Significant training organisations which are not associated with WRSTC via membership of its regional RSTCs include

Confédération Mondiale des Activités Subaquatiques Confédération Mondiale des Activités Subaquatiques (CMAS) is an international federation that represents underwater activities in underwater sport and underwater sciences, and oversees an international system of recreational snorkel and scub ...

(CMAS).

Member Councils

United States RSTC

On the basis of the experience of past attempts within the United States (US) to control various aspects of recreational diving activity by legislation, the US RSTC was created in 1986 as a permanent body to sustain a relationship between various recreational diving training organisations. In 1991, it replaced the ''Diving Equipment Manufacturers Association'' (DEMA) (renamed as the

Diving Equipment and Marketing Association Diving Equipment and Marketing Association (DEMA, formerly the Diving Equipment Manufacturers Association), is an international organization dedicated to the promotion and growth of the recreational scuba diving Recreational diving or sport ...

in 1998) as the secretariat for the then

American National Standards Institute The American National Standards Institute (ANSI ) is a private non-profit organization that oversees the development of voluntary consensus standards for products, services, processes, systems, and personnel in the United States. The orga ...

(ANSI) committee for ''Underwater Safety'' (also known as the Z86 Committee). The Z86 committee was subsequently replaced by the committee for ''Diving Instructional Standards and Safety'' (also known as the Z375 committee). In 2007 it retained its appointment as the ANSI Accredited Standards Developer (ASD) for the ''Z375 committee''. The US RSTC has been responsible for the development of a standard medical statement (in conjunction with the Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society) and minimum training standards for diving hand signals and the following recreational diver grades - Introductory Scuba Experience, Supervised Diver,

Open Water Diver Open Water Diver (OWD) is an entry-level autonomous diver certification for recreational scuba diving. Although different agencies use different names, similar entry-level courses are offered by all recreational diving agencies and consist of a co ...

, Enriched Air Nitrox Certification, Entry level Rescue Diver, Dive Supervisor, Assistant Instructor, Scuba Instructor and Scuba Instructor Trainer. In 2020 the revised 'RSTC Medical Declaration Form' and 'Notes for Physicians' (diving medical guidance) were published, following a three-year review by the 'Diver Medical Screen Committee'. (DMSC) comprises a team of internationally respected diving medicine experts; Dr Nick Bird, Dr Oliver Firth, (the late) Professor Tony Frew, Dr Alessandro Marroni, Professor

Simon Mitchell Simon Mitchell (born 1958) is a New Zealand physician specialising in occupational medicine, hyperbaric medicine and anesthesiology. Trained in medicine, Mitchell was awarded a PhD for his work on neuroprotection from embolic brain injury. ...

, Associate Professor

Neal Pollock Neal (Neil) is a given masculine name and surname of Gaelic and Irish origin. The name is an Anglicisation of the Irish Niall which is of disputed derivation. The Irish name may be derived from words meaning "cloud", "passionate", "victory", "hono ...

and Dr Adel Taher. Membership of a US RSTC council member is one of the recognition criteria used by

Boy Scouts of America The Boy Scouts of America (BSA, colloquially the Boy Scouts) is one of the largest scouting organizations and one of the largest youth organizations in the United States, with about 1.2 million youth participants. The BSA was founded in ...

(BSA) for the selection of recreational scuba diving instructors for the training of its members in order to receive the BSA ''Scuba Diving merit badge''. As of 2020, the following agencies are members: * IANTD - International Association of Nitrox and Technical Divers * NAUI - National Association of Underwater Instructors * PADI - Professional Association of Diving Instructors * PDIC - The Professional Diving Instructors Corporation * SDI - Scuba Diving International * SSI - Scuba Schools International * SNSI - Scuba and Nitrox Safety International *

RAID Raid, RAID or Raids may refer to: Attack * Raid (military), a sudden attack behind the enemy's lines without the intention of holding ground * Corporate raid, a type of hostile takeover in business * Panty raid, a prankish raid by male college ...

– Rebreather Association of International Divers *

NASE ''Chondrostoma'' (from the Ancient Greek roots (''khondros'') 'lump' + (''stoma'') 'mouth' = 'lump-mouth') is a genus of ray-finned fish in the family Cyprinidae. They are commonly known as nases, although this term is also used locally to de ...

– National Academy of SCUBA Educators

RSTC Canada

The following agencies are currently members: * ACUC Canada * PADI Canada * SDI North America

RSTC Europe

''RSTC Europe'' currently is a member of the

European Underwater Federation The European Underwater Federation (EUF) is an umbrella organisation representing the interests of scuba diver training organisations operating in both the not for profit and for profit sectors within Europe. Purpose and scope EUF seeks to ...

. The following agencies are currently members: * ACUC International * Divers Alert Network Europe * International Aquanautic Club (IAC) * International Diving Association * International Disabled Divers Association * IDEA Europe * National Association of Scuba Diving Schools Germany (NASDS) * PADI EMEA * Professional Diving Association * Professional Scuba Schools * SDI Germany * Scuba Nitrox Safety International * SSI Europe * Verband Internationaler Tauchschulen

RSTC Japan

, the following agencies were members: * BSAC Japan * National Association of Underwater Instructors * PADI Japan * SDI Japan * SNSI Japan * SSI Japan

References

External links

WRSTC Official Site

RSTC Europe website
{{Authority control Underwater diving training organizations Supraorganizations