It fundamentally deals with the removal of psychological hindrances, conditioning every human being used to live in a normobaric (atmospheric pressure) environment from the birth, and "reconditioning" him/her to operate into the liquid element with the same rationality and controlled emotiveness.

Anxiety, neurosis, anguish and self-preservation instinct could cause unsormountable difficulties for those preparing to penetrate the liquid environment without the essential professionalism being the principal - if not the only - form of prevention and preservation of physical safety in diving activity, whatever its purpose may be.

The School's students-selection starts with an accurate medical examination, assessing psycho-physical attitudes the School itself considers crucial for the admission to its courses, carried out as provided by the Sanitary Card enclosed to Ministry Decree of Merchant Navy 13.01.1979, Official Gazette no°47 - 16.02.1979.

The attendance to the Technical Diver Operator course is at present restricted to 15/20 students, in order to keep a balanced ratio within the existing request and offer of national and international kind, constantly updated by the School itself.

In 2002 the School is holding its 58° course for applicant Technical Diver Operators, coming - as in past years - from most Italian regions, in order to achieve the professional skills and qualification, as provided by General Policy Law n°845- 21.12.1978 in matter of vocational training, which only will give them professional right.

One of the many peculiarities of the School's underwater teaching - given that the School itself has been absolute precursor and establisher of sectorial figures such as the Technical Diver Operator (1959) and the Hyperbaric Technician (1973) - refers to the complete performance of the student's vocational training in operative environments as lake, sea and training turret, in total absence of visibility, "in" and "with" hyperbaric chambers.

Only 30 hours of technical teaching - out of the 800 h. on schedule - are dedicated to the pool training, considered by the School essentially propedeutical.

Introducing young working candidates into an environment at high index of danger as the underwater sector is - where security and preservation of physical safety depend on essential requirements like caution, self-control, operative coordination, diving hygiene, self-discipline - presupposes a detailed and "personalized" vocational training with an elevated and responsible dedication of both the School's teaching staff and trainers.

The Divers Technicians will later be able to execute demanding tasks on professional level, to be carried out into any kind of "liquid" environment (lakes, seas, shafts and wells, cisterns, rivers a.s.o.), often in conditions requiring elevated technical and psycho-physical engagement, even in total absence of visibility and in presence of currents and/or submerged obstacles.

The applicant Diver Technician must therefore be "trained" with analytic, profound "information", in order to develop particular mental aptitudes, among which self-control will be the most outstanding one.

The student will - obviously gradually - be exposed to an ongoing impact with natural environments into which he will operate (nothing to do with the swimming pool's warmish water or the sea's crystal-clear one), to get more and more used to the chilliness of prolonged permanence in water; to cover long swimming distances for the surface-transfer, in light set-up or in full equipment; to operate under water in total absence of visibility; to coordinate the operations and to develop - even in nocturnal training - a complete operative and/or psycho-physical autonomy of endurance, in order to guarantee - with complete participatory consciousness - the strict compliance with preventative protocols of accident-prevention, in one with the operative performance often involving team-work.

It could sound rhetorical, but according to the School's dictates, from the very beginning of their training course the students must get used to the fact that it won't be them choosing location, time, geographical area, best psycho-physical conditions and meteorological situation suited for their diving. As well known, each professional activity implies the concept of DUTY, unlike the recreational or amateur activities, exclusively involving delight, and therefore PLEASURE.

It must in fact be considered that the risks concerning a diver - whatever the purpose of him /her entering the liquid element - are not only to be found in his working environment or instruments, individual fittings and/or equipment he uses, neither in the adopted breathing-techniques, but also and mostly in his "unconscious" psychic structure; only when unconscious desires and drives are in agreement with his "conscience", the applicant diver can consider himself provided with the basic SELF-CONTROL needed to face any kind of perils, in terms of preventative and accident preventing safety.

According to the School's direct experience, in the formative professional diving sector can furthermore exist two basic teaching typologies:
 

	one characterized by a selective/athletic approach with little room left for a controlled practice in real situations;
	the other, defined by a participatory criterion of repeated simulation of concrete situations, in order to obtain operational safety through practical experience, accurate knowledge of equipment and fittings and of the preventative protocols regarding accident prevention methodologies.

	In the first case, it is very complex and accurate;
	In the second, the target consists in the clear and correct exemplification of the most important technique ad safety application rules.

The first teaching-method is rather professional; the second prefers seminaries and/or training teaching rules.

The School embraces both theoretical/practical methodologies, enlarged, experimented and updated by 40 years of specific experience, relying on the experiential "return" of its students and on the suggesting one of the national and international entrepreneurs, so to guarantee, in terms of absolute professionalism, that "final human product" which, by right and constantly up-to date, will enter the underwater and connected hyperbaric sector.

From the diving risk's prevention point of view, physical fitness is undoubtedly an advantage for people intending to enter upon a professional activity rightly considered "of elevated risk index"; anyway, a diver in perfect physical shape, but lacking technical and practical experience can by no means be considered "safe".

So, still according to the School's dictates, safety will result from a mixture of physical and psychic fitness, practical experience and accurate technical knowledge (theoretical/practical).

From the physical point of view, the School's students are specially trained with ordinary free exercises in gymnastic and ballasted land-courses with 3m-body-line. The land-courses are held in harmonic and gradual "crescendo" , to promote the "operative performance", during a period of 6 months and reaching a maximum distance of 15km, often with given time-limits.

It is amazing to learn that in Italian and worldwide statistics, accidents of mortal kind occurred to amateur-divers are not mainly caused by physio-pathological problems, but are mostly referred to emotiveness, lack of technical training, complete loss or lack of physical training, superficiality, improvisation.

We are therefore facing a total loss of that essential SKILL (not to be mixed up with PROFESSIONALISM) which should by right concern those individuals preparing to enter the hydro-space.

According to the School, it is therefore correct to put risk-prevention on the level of body fitness and selection, using a teaching program targeted on psychic, physical/athletic development, allowing to overcome any kind of unforeseen event or contingency , together with updated and accurate knowledge, regarding physio - pathology and preventative technique of accident-prevention.

The School also lays a particular stress on the compound drills, studied on purpose, targeted on physic concentration and mnemonic power, developing through more and more complex training and executed even in total absence of visibility, using prearranged signs, surface-guided methodical researches , teamwork a.s.o. , so the student can show - even and mostly to himself - his executive rationality in underwater operations, to be always performed in total observance of the preventative regulations of accident-prevention prescribed by the School.

With regard to this, the School never actually talks about safety in theoretical terms, but each training stage is permeated by SAFETY, expressed by technical and behavioural notions; by knowledge of the proper use of equipment and instruments; in automatic execution of the required manoeuvres ; in hours of practical experience spent in real-operativeness condition, - always executed under control of expert and professionally thrilled teachers and/or trainers; in practical training with hyperbaric chambers used as pressure-simulators, inside which to train in a more and more gas-concentrated atmosphere, preceding the execution of wet compression.

When the practical part of such a course reproposes in the theoretical part what has been said on safety, and doesn't, for instance, put off to real submersions the observance of the "couple-submersion" rule with body-line, the precautionary control of individual fittings and/or equipment, the compression program, the preventive air-consumption, the planning of possible emergency-interventions (stand by) , it will be amazing to notice how the observance of rules and the "conditioned" behaviour in safety's regard, at the end of the course will become integrated part of the student's diving approach, rather than a list of boring rules to be remembered at present and probably forgotten after a period of time.

So, in the end, the School reckons that an efficient risk-prevention must include clear, participatory technical grounding (psycho-physical/practical), which must not be worrying, but rather describing the causes of danger and the suitable techniques to prevent and/or face it.

On the other side, theoretical teaching (physio - pathology/technique and theory) can't and must not be limited to a simple description of concepts, followed by a final examination, but on the contrary must provide for learning checks and didactic arrangements on a student's scale as well as seminaries, during which the students can discuss among them and with the teachers about the notions which have been matter of in-depth study and from whose correct application may depend their own and other's safety.

The trainers and the teachers, last but not least, must have clear and established professional competence, to be given with "steely coordination", in order to avoid possible incongruities, contradictions and confusion, which could create a lack of credibility and/or reliability and therefore cause greater risks.