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IAHD News
4TH Quarter 2008
Picture by David Pilosof
Members: online member database
Pro-Training: Don’t take it for granted!
Wanted: IAHD.org Webmaster
Exceeding limitations: meet Jose Gomez

IAHD Foundation
Board of Directors
Klaas Brouwer Fraser Bathgate Daniël Zuidema
President & CEO Vice-President & Director of Marketing
klaas@iahd.org Director of Training daniel@iahd.org
Skype: scubaair fraser@iahd.org Skype: daniel_zuidema
Skype: fraser_b
Daniel Zuber Dirk Wondrak Flemming Thyge
Board member Board member Board member
daniel.zuber@iahd.org flemming@iahd.org dirk@iahd.org
Skype: danielzuber2005 Skype: Thygedive
IAHD Service Centers
IAHD Worldwide
Contact: Klaas Brouwer
Email: info@iahd.org
Region: all other countries not served by IAHD Americas
IAHD Americas
Contact: David Valaika
Email: info@iahdamericas.org
Region: North America, Central America
the Caribbean, excluding the Dutch Antilles
IAHD Regional Co-ordinators
IAHD Japan IAHD Greece IAHD UK
Manthos Marras Naomi Walton
japan@iahd.org greece@iahd.org uk@iahd.org
IAHD Germany, IAHD Spain IAHD Hungary
Dirk Wondrak Jose Garcia Borrell Dr Anna Göbl
germany@iahd.org spain@iahd.org hungary@iahd.org
IAHD USA IAHD Switzerland IAHD Nederland
David Valaika Hans-Jürg Brönnimann
usa@iahd.org switzerland@iahd.org netherlands@iahd.org
IAHD Hong Kong IAHD Israël IAHD Italy
Stephan Au Mosheko Bachar Elio Filidei
hongkong@iahd.org israel@iahd.org italy@iahd.org
IAHD South Amer- IAHD Mexico IAHD Adriatic
Daniel Zuber Ricardo & Karen Branko Ravnak
argentina@iahd.org mexico@iahd.org adriatic@iahd.org
IAHD China IAHD Scandinavia &
Michael Lim Russia
FEIDA Ltd Haikou Flemming Thyge
china@iahd.org scandinavia@iahd.org

Klaas Brouwer
President & CEO
Dear all,
It has been a rainy summer in the Netherlands, not much good for diving. Nevertheless we
have been working hard ‘behind the scenes’ to improve our services. Soon we will be able to
show you the results of all this hard labour.
Elsewhere you will read more about the new member database and the possibilities it will offer
your. This winter period we will be attending a number of dive and rehabilitation shows.
Daniel Zuidema will inform you about that.
Our IAHD Americas Service Center is now fully operational. If you live in the North America
region (USA, Canada), Mexico or the Caribbean you can contact the IAHD Americas team for
support. Here are their contact details:
Address
IAHD Americas
310 Broad Street
Harleysville, Pa 19438
USA
Contact details
Phone Number (toll free): 866-685-IAHD (4243)
Local: 215-256-1992
E-mail: info@iahd-americas.org
If you come to the DEMA show in Las Vegas (22-25 October), please make sure you visit our
stand (2737).
Since the beginning of this year we work with different committees. Currently, the committee
Training is working hard on some important changes to our standards and is preparing some
interesting new concepts for new courses and update programmes. In the next newsletter
you will be reading about all these new and updated programmes.
Also, I would like to introduce to you Dirk Wondrak, a new member of the IAHD board since
last month. Dirk will not have a specific task yet. He is already very busy representing IAHD
in Germany, Austria and Turkey.
Till then...don’t forget to keep diving!
Klaas

Fraser Bathgate
Director of Training
Hi guys,
It is DEMA time and soon more show to come, so heads down for most of us and hopefully
some new colleagues will be joining our growing band!!!
At DEMA we will be launching a new course which is aimed at a completely new group for us
‘Children at Risk’. The programme is aimed specifically at them. The course has been beta
tested by our colleagues at Barry University and the first signs are, well… not just good, but
AMAZING (!). It is more than we had hoped for. The course is there to integrate able-bodied
kids to assist and become not just buddies for the disabled, however to be assistants to instructors
and dive centres.
The whole course is a cross (and more) between Surface Support Specialist, Dive Partner
and Pirate Fish. It opens up a whole new world to IAHD and its family members. It gives you
the chance to go into your local community and offer a course to a group who need help and
a structure to their lives.
For too long these kids have not been given the support and chance to show what they really
can do, if given a chance. The launch at DEMA will give everyone a chance to talk with us
and the people from Barry University about the course and look at the material. I really hope
you embrace this course because along side our other courses this dove tails in and expands
the range and opportunities that you can offer to your local community.
Another honour has been bestowed upon us. We have been invited to give a presentation to
all HSE (Health and Safety Executive) doctors for the UK and various international countries.
The presentation is to be about medicals for the disabled in diving and for the ones who wish
to be involved in professional diving and for those who need to have and pro medical. I hope
this will now stop the issues that medics have had in giving people with disability a ‘Pro
medical’. We will integral in assisting change and helping write the changes to HSE medical,
giving more people the chance to try and attain a professional status within the industry.
We are very honoured to be given the chance to affect change in a governmental policy on
diving for the disabled. This is the first step and ground breaking. If this is adopted the other
medics from different countries will be able to take back this information and possibly have
an opening to change their policies as well.
Last but not least, Eagle Divers are going from strength to strength and will be visiting us at
DEMA. Our association with this Army group is becoming a bond that I hope we will be able
to expand next year by having some soldiers from the UK join in one of the events we now
hold twice, the try-scuba event in Miami. For many years this event is being supported by
our friends at Pegasus Thruster, Barry University, Dick Rutkowski and Ocean Divers. This will
be the ultimate for myself, a put closure on a dream I have had for many years now.
I hope to see many of you at DEMA. If we won’t have that chance, please drop me an email
with your thoughts. Take care and keep those bubbles going.
Your buddy, Fraser

Daniel Zuidema
Director of Marketing
Dear IAHD enthusiasts,
It is a truly Dutch ‘thing’ to complain about the weather. It either is too cold or too hot.
Hardly ever it is the right temperature and when it is, you will notice in the water, underwater,
at the beach, on the terrace…etc. I guess it just a matter of waiting a couple of years before
we have the Red Sea’s climate. But, is that something to look forward to or worry
about?
Climate change is key topic on many agendas and on that same agenda (higher priority
though) the financial crisis. How are both topics going to reflect your business and our industry?
The latter has not really been blooming for already some years.
For those who did not (yet) do the IAHD Pro-Training course (or have not been active for
years); magic words might be DIVERSIFY! Why only train able-bodied people when you could
also be instructing people with a physical or mental challenge? Not to forget that they (in
many cases) bring along friends and/or family. They may want to learn to scuba dive too
and, even better, might be interested to do the IAHD Dive Partner course.
Regarding corporate responsibility; how is your business dealing with that and what about
IAHD? Although IAHD does not have a corporate responsibility policy in place, we do act on it
as much as we can. For instance, since this year the purchase of certifications and request
for certification are online. This saves us a lot of paperwork and is more efficient. Moreover,
the IAHD course manual is now provided in electronic format and latest versions are
downloadable for members in active status.
Underwater we suggest to practice extra natural buoyancy skills to prevent damaging coral.
Especially to people who miss the function of both legs and use their arms instead. No touching
policy should be practiced and instructors lead by example.
In the first newsletter this year you may have read that I have been doing voluntary work
fulltime since October 2007. It has been a great twelve months dedicating myself to IAHD.
Recently I found a new position with Leaseplan Corporation as international product developer
(marketing), where I will be starting on 1 November. Leaseplan is the largest car leasing
and fleet management company worldwide. Nonetheless, I will still be doing voluntary
work for IAHD, like before, part-time.
Further on in this IAHD newsletter you will find an article about exhibitions. Please, let us
know if you are attending an exhibition. We have promotional material which you may want
to use in multi-languages. Suggestions for exhibitions are also welcome, though we are limited
financially. Then again, a number of show are sponsoring IAHD with a free stand, so it is
always worth a try.
We hope to see you soon, either at DEMA or elsewhere!
Take care,
Daniel

Dirk Wondrak
Board member
Hello everybody,
For already 21 years I am scuba diving and actually quite coincidentally. Since then I have
always been involved in scuba diving. Many scuba diving holidays and diving some nice spots
in Europe led to the conversion of hobby to work. In 1990 I was certified as professional scuba
diving instructor by the fire brigade where I was working. Then in 1992 I became NAUI
instructor and 1993 a CMAS instructor.
And then it happened, in 2003 I took the IAHD course and in that same year I met Daniel
and Klaas for the first time on the REHAcare in Düsseldorf. After some intensive collaboration
we started IAHD Germany, which now grew to being the representative office for Germany,
Austria and Turkey at the moment. To be able to cope with all the work we created a team in
Germany. Thorsten, Miriam, Olaf and Christian are members of this successful team.
I hope to meet you in person one day!
Best regards,
Dirk

Flemming Thyge
Director of Quality Control
Dear fellow divers,
The first IAHD Pro-training course for the Our World Underwater Scholarship (OWUSS) scholars
is a fact. On 1 August the four participating scholars came to Denmark to join us for the
Pro-Training, which was the debut of the collaboration between OWUSS and IAHD.
Igor Valente (England), Jamie Brisbin (USA), Eline Feenstra (the Netherlands) and Vibe
Christiansen (Danmark) visited 2Dive in Copenhagen to learn all about diving with disabled
people and actually taking them underwater, which is part of the practical training.
IAHD Scandinavia choose to sponsor the course, hoping to spread the message through
these wonderful young people and at the same time giving them the unforgettable experience
of being able to help physically/mentally challenged people in achieving something that
for many people still seem completely out of reach. The course was a fantastic success for all
and we will strive to repeat it next year, when there is a group of new OWUSS scholars.
Currently, IAHD Scandinavia is working on securing grants from various foundations, so that
we will be able to run some Dive Challenge Tours. A Dive Challenge is ‘try-diving’ for disabled
people on a completely voluntary and non-profit basis, which is excellent to get in
touch with potential divers, network amongst IAHD professionals and possibly invite VIPs and
press to promote the story (as free publicity).
Key team member of IAHD Scandinavia team are Maybritt Jarnsborg and Sole Victor who
both are very active within IAHD. Maybritt is presently working on updating the members database
(amongst many other things) and Sole is helping me finishing the update program for
DEMA. Also, Sole is the first certified IAHD Training Manager in the world (replaces the IDC
staff instructor). The Training Manager education is a new program. More about this in the
update program.
For now I wish you all happy diving and maybe we meet at DEMA!
Flemming
PS: Read the very nice letter we receive from the Chairman of OWUSS at the last page.

Daniel Zuber
Board member
In order to expand our organisation in South America, I will travel to Florianopolis at Santa
Catarina, South of Brazil to conduct a Pro Training in March 2009. This is a beautiful diving
and holiday area with warm waters visited by thousands during summer and a large number
of fully equipped Dive Centers. This course is organised by Parcel dive center
(www.parcel.com.br).
After that I will travel to Argentina where two Pro Training courses are scheduled, one in
Buenos Aires and one in Puerto Madryn, Patagonia. A series of activities such as Dive Challenge
Tours and lectures will take place at the two locations during the instructor training.
Again Aquatours (www.aquatours.com.ar) will host the course in Patagonia.
Back in Spain a number of projects involving scuba activities for disabled people are planned.
I added to my equipment two OTS full face masks with Diver to Diver, Diver to surface communication
systems to use as training aid and to life broadcast the experience of disabled divers
during their first underwater adventure. This will be a great way to share first underwater
emotions during training or during rehabilitation process with friends and family.
Also I would like to introduce a new area on the IAHD website and member news letter
called: “Exceeding Limitations”, a space where IAHD Instructors and members share stories
about our fellow students, or divers that achieve outstanding things. I will introduce to
you Jose Gil Gomez further on in this newsletter.
Let’s dive!
Adios,
Dani

Online member database
The new online member database is almost ready for use. It has some very useful tools for
all our members and will allow you, as a member, to actively control your own information.
To give you an idea: your personal details, keep track on who you certified and you can even
use the database to upload a copy of your certification card, insurance card and medical
statement. Very useful when you are traveling a lot or in case you have forgotten to bring
your c-card. Just go online and show it to the dive-center/instructor or print it and handover
to them.
Dive instructors can also use the database to publish new training courses and/or trips and
other dive activities. Members can use the database to sign up for these trips and activities.
Last but not least the database will be linked to our new website, which will make searching
for an IAHD instructor or dive center a lot easier
Our Dutch members will soon receive an email with more information on how to use the online
member database. We will ask them to beta-test the site and user manual. When this
test has been successful all members will receive an email and user manual for the site.
IAHD Website delay
Many questions we received about the new website and when the expected ‘going live’ date
is.
Unfortunately, there has been a delay due to the fact that the programming initially was being
done in a certain programming language, which was too complicated for some functions
we wanted to include. Therefore, the web design company had to change to another programming
language.
Nonetheless, we hope and expect to go online soon.

Exhibition update
Recently, we had the biggest European rehabilitation show in Germany (Düsseldorf), REHA-
CARE 2008. Once again, IAHD Germany devoted their spare to represent IAHD on this major
exhibition. Many of us merely go to scuba diving shows, as that is the industry we work in.
However, rehabilitation show can be a welcoming eye-opener and source for building up
business too. Many rehabilitation centers, manufacturers, specialists and of course people
with a disability can be found there. IAHD Germany, thank you very much...again!
Furthermore, DEMA 2008 is about to start and (nearly) followed by Dive 2008 in Birmingham
(UK). December is full of other plans and in January it starts again with the many shows that
are being organised. This year we already were invited to come to a number of shows in
2009. We are very grateful to receive sponsorship by DYK 2009 (Copenhagen, Denmark),
MIDE 2009 (in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia), ADEX 2009 (in …), Golden Dolphin Show 2009 (in
Moscow, Russia).
Boot 2009 is the first and biggest scuba diving show in Europe. Very interesting, but so are
the smaller ones where you catch up with people you met over the
years.
Make sure you stop at our booth at DEMA 2009, BOOTH 2737 or on
any of the other shows.
WANTED: IAHD.org Webmaster
IAHD is looking for a IAHD.ORG webmaster. Currently, our completely
new and fresh website is in production with Wowww Webdesign.
However, soon we will have the website up and running. To
keep the website ‘looking good’ and ‘in shape’ we need a knowledgeable
volunteer who is willing to support us with that. Ideally you
have experience in this field and are working in this industry, so you
know about the latest developments and solutions.
We will ask you to:
• Pro-actively maintain the website;
• Come up with new ideas and website solutions
Like all our jobs, this position is voluntary and can be done from virtually any location worldwide.
You will work in close contact with IAHD board members and manage your own activities.
Please, do not hesitate to contact us for more information, per email: daniel@iahd.org

SEASIGNS DIVERS aanwezig op participatiedag in Lelystad
Input IAHD Netherlands
SeaSigns Divers uit Almere, met de bijbehorende duikvereniging AA Dive en beiden in opstartfase,
was prominent aanwezig op de participatiedag in Lelystad.
Met een heuse duiktank en duikers liet SeaSigns Divers bij hun stand zien dat
duiken niet alleen is weggelegd voor mensen zonder, maar ook voor mensen met een
handicap.
Ouderen, jongeren, kinderen stonden ademloos te kijken naar de indrukwekkende duikers in de speciaal
voor deze dag opgestelde duiktank. SeaSigns Divers hoopt binnenkort dat haar bedrijfsplannen
goedgekeurd zullen worden, zodat zij medio januari/ februari 2009 in Almere kunnen starten met hun
duikactiviteiten.
De duiker in de duiktank toonde gebaren aan de toeschouwers, welke konden deelnemen aan de wedstrijd
gebaren raden. De winnaar, onder de 48 deelnemers, kreeg van SeaSigns Divers een overheerlijke
taart aangeboden.
SeaSigns Divers heeft als streven om zowel mensen met en zonder handicap de duikwereld te laten
ervaren en ervan te genieten. Integratie is een belangrijk item binnen deze nieuwe duikschool.
Belangstellenden kunnen voor meer informatie terecht bij: edwin.leenards@seasignsdivers.com of
prik.leenards@seasignsdivers.com
Op de foto krijgt de wethouder van Lelystad, de heer Kok uitleg van een van de
SeaSigns Divers hoe zij een invulling van integratie met gehandicapten willen
realiseren.

Pro-Training: Don’t take it for granted!
Input by Jamie Brisbane, OWUSS US scholar 2008
As a diver, it can be too easy to forget how fortunate we are. Sometimes we take the ability to just
throw a tank on our backs and hop in water for granted. The truth is, being able to dive is a privilege
and we are all incredibly lucky to be healthy enough to enjoy the incredible experience of diving. The
unfortunate truth is that a number of people, due to physical or mental disability, never had the opportunity
to experience scuba diving. Like a lot of other divers, this thought had never crossed my
mind, until I was invited to participate in a training course offered
by IAHD.
IAHD is an scuba training organization committed to making
scuba diving as accessible as possible to individuals with all
sorts of different challenges. I had the pleasure of taking my
IAHD Pro course from Flemming Thyge. On August 1 st I joined
European Rolex Scholars Eline Feenstra, Igor Valente and Vibe
Schourup-Kristensen at 2Dive in Copenhagen for our course.
Along with Flemming, Sole Viktor and Daniel Zuidema from
IAHD, we spent the next three days learning about the unique
challenges involved in teaching disabled individuals how to
dive.
Before I started diving, I had volunteered as a Special Olympics swim coach, so I was very interested
in learning how I could combine my love for diving with my interest in helping other people. I was
very impressed with the careful planning and thought that had been put into the IAHD Pro course. We
dove into great detail about the physical, mental and social challenges that disabled people can face
and how we as dive professionals can assist them in overcoming those challenges. The training that
IAHD offers is extremely flexible, adapting to the differing abilities of each diver, so that everyone is
given the assistance they require to safely experience diving, and may even have the opportunity of
being certified as an open water diver.
The most rewarding part of my IAHD experience was on the last day of the training course, when we
were able to visit a local rehabilitation center and run a series of try dives for some of the patients
there. It is great to put our new knowledge to work and everybody involved had a fantastic time. Seeing
the look on the participants’ faces as they descended below the surface of the water for the first
time was fantastic. Once they discovered the sensation and freedom of being weightless while submerged,
it was like they had been set free.
I am really thankful that I was given this opportunity to help these individuals try ‘a taste of diving’.
Hopefully I will be able to use my IAHD certification in the future to help others as well, and I will definitely
never take the ability to dive and explore the underwater world for granted again.

Exceeding limitations
Input by Daniel Zuber
Jose Gil Gomez, 39 years from Madrid, a diver
since 2003 and IAHD Advanced Open Water
diver who had Polio when he was young, 80%
disabled. He travelled to Mexico with his girlfriend
Adriana to fulfil a dream, diving in the
Caribbean and in a cenote.
Well, he did both and I want to share what I
believe is an outstanding achievement by a
diver that is an example of self improvement.
The 4 August, Jose and Adriana lead by Vicente
Fito from Playa del Carmen Dive Center, went
to the “cenote” named Angelita, located in Tulum,
Quintana Roo. (A video of the adventure
can be seen at http://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=F18rus1RjKM)
Using only his hands, following all safety cave diving procedure, Jose reached 58 meters
depth and experienced the freedom of diving in crystal clear warm waters of the Caribbean in
the cenote.
Congratulations for this outstanding Achievement Jose!!!