Joe has been diving since 1990, and has over 10 000 dives as a commercial, public safety, military, recreational and technical diver. Joe has been a teaching here in New Brunswick since 2007, and regularly conducts advanced training dives in the Bay of Fundy, on Deer Island, at Atlas Park NB and, all over the country.
 |
| Joe working with the COJO Rescue team on a search & recovery project. |
Diving History
Joe was first certified as a diver in 1990 in Ontario, and spent much of his early diving exploring the wrecks in Tobermory Park and other local lakes. He has traveled and dove in overseas locations such as Croatia, Montenegro, Rose (Adriatic Sea), and the Gulf of Mexico.
In 2005 he became a certified commercial diver with ADC International, and while waiting on contract work he became a recreational scuba instructor for CMAS in 2006. He then worked in the Gulf of Mexico for over a year repairing oil platforms damaged from hurricanes, and doing various underwater pipe laying and repairs.
In 2007 he switched over to ACUC when he relocated to New Brunswick and started teaching locally at CFB Gagetown. He was elected to the position of Vice President of the Tankers Club for 2008-2009, and led the club through one of it's busiest training years in it's history.
In his teaching career, he has certified more than 2000 students from Open Water, to advanced certifications and specialties through Trimix and other technical programs.
Joe is currently employed with the Canadian Armed Forces, and is a still a current Combat Diver and a Combat Dive Supervisor.
In recent years his interest has included wreck diving off Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, and the St. Lawrence River; and marine life diving at Deer Island, Cape Breton and Newfoundland as well as exploration throughout the world. He enjoys technical diving whenever possible and teaches most training here in New Brunswick as well as throughout the world. Joe has always loved cave diving and has obtained his Full Cave and Deep Cave certification in Florida with his wife Connie. Joe has also explored some of the deepest places divers have gone!
He offers most of his training locally, and arranges training in other locations or via Skype on request.
In 2012, Joe was certified as a PADI Open Water Instructor. In 2015 his rating was upgraded to PADI Master Scuba Diver Trainer.
Joe also teaches very comprehensive Public Safety Dive programs starting with Public Safety Diver Basic and moving to a very wide range of specialties used in the field.
In 2014 - Joe added Helitrox, Trimix, Advanced Trimix and Normoxic Trimix to the available course offerings and joined IANTD as a technical instructor.
First Aid and Medical Training History
Joe was certified as a First Aid Instructor in 1990 through St. John Ambulance, and as a First Responder in 2000.While training as a commercial diver in 2005, he was trained in Hyperbaric Chamber Operation. In 2006 while working as a commercial diver in the Gulf of Mexico, he was certified as a Diving Medical Technician for Offshore Operations.
In 2008, Joe was certified as a First Aid Instructor Trainer and First Responder Trainer. He has recently added the Red Cross to his credentials and now offers courses through them as a Red Cross Training Partner.
In 2011, Joe certified as a DAN instructor and offers a full range of training. In 2013 Joe was certified as a DAN Instructor Training.
He is currently participating in medical programs in university to further his understanding and teachings in diver physiology.
Volunteer Work
Joe has organized many Discover SCUBA events since 2007 for Boy Scouts, Girl Guides, Local Children's Sport Teams, Schools and Cadets. He volunteered to help the Fredericton Sea Cadets by raising a sunken sail boat in 2008. He has voluntarily provided first aid training for the St. John Ambulance Babysitting Course.
Philosophy
Joe strongly believes that continuation in training, and broadening one's experience is a fundamental requirement to being a good diver. He applies that rigorously to himself, and seeks to continue personal training and experience every year. He believes that most diving incidents can be attributed to divers going beyond their training or experience. He believes that dive planning, preparation, and dive debrief are critical components to successful diving. He believes that good Buoyancy and Trim are cornerstones for divers to master, and ensures his students are comfortable with these skills before moving on to advanced training. He stresses the importance of Self Reliance and believes in Solo Dive Training, but encourages students to use Team Oriented Planning and Diving.
While there may be some debate in the instructional field about recreational divers using Dive Tables vs. Personal Dive Computers, Joe believes that computers are safer and insists on students using them in his training. All students receive a solid foundation in Dive Table training in the classroom to understand how the computers work.
Joe ensures that all of his graduating students feel safe to dive in the environment they were trained!