Letter from NAUI Worldwide CEO about COVID-19 (Coronavirus) Pandemic
Tampa, Fla. (March 25, 2020) – Coronavirus (COVID-19) is changing the landscape for 2020. Be assured that NAUI WORLDWIDE is here and ready to help meet your needs.
Caring for Dive Centers and Members
We are ready to meet these challenges. Plans are in place to deliver your orders in even the most difficult circumstances.
We understand the impacts of COVID-19 will affect Dive Centers who may find themselves with financial difficulties. We encourage those impacted to reach out to NAUI headquarters to discuss how we might be of assistance.
Connecting digitally with NAUI WORLDWIDE
As always, you can rely on NAUI.ORG for easy, anytime access to accounts and eLearning platforms. More than 90% of transactions with NAUI WORLDWIDE are completed online and can be achieved without leaving your home or having to call.
If you need to speak with a representative, please call your local Service Center. NAUI headquarters is also available at +1 (813) 628-6284.
Safeguarding Employees & Customer
We are committed to providing the best, possible service while ensuring employee, dive center, member, and customer safety by using the CDC guidelines and best practices.
Avoiding Disease Transmission in Diver Training
Your health and safety, and that of your diving students, is and must be of utmost priority. As we confront the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) outbreak worldwide, it is critical that dive instructors, dive centers, and dive operators take precautions to minimize the potential risk of disease transmission to their students and guests.
The suggested best practices you can take are to:
- Follow local health and safety authority guidelines, Centers for Disease Control and World Health Organization recommendations for personal and public health.
- Follow manufacturer’s guidelines for dive equipment disinfection.
- Related to diving, the World Recreational Scuba Training Council (WRSTC) recommends that you do not teach while you are ill and that you defer training for students that are ill.
- Ensure you and your dive operation have clear procedures in place for health and safety, such as staff handwashing, routine cleaning/disinfection of shared surfaces, and a disciplined policy for regular equipment disinfection, especially between users, based on manufacturer’s guidelines.
- Equipment disinfection is particularly important relative to regulator second stages, BCDs and BCD inflators, and masks (including the display and new masks that may be tried on by customers), and snorkels.
- In addition to equipment manufacturer recommendations, Divers Alert Network provides an additional resource on disinfection.
NAUI Worldwide will send out the latest information on conducting diver training and training techniques when they are developed to minimize the chances of disease transmission.
Your association remains steadfast in these uncertain times, focused on helping to ease the hardships you may face.
Thank you for trusting NAUI WORLDWIDE. Please be safe.
Respectfully,
Rick Lorimor, 44715L
NAUI Worldwide CEO
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About NAUI Worldwide
Founded in 1960, NAUI Worldwide is one of the scuba industry’s largest agencies whose purpose is to encourage people to enjoy underwater activities as safely as possible by providing the highest quality practical education, and to actively promote the preservation and protection of the world’s underwater environments. As a pioneer in diving education, NAUI has developed many of the programs and concepts accepted throughout the diving industry. NAUI: The Definition of Diving! For more information on NAUI, call 1.813.628.6284 or visit www.naui.org.