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In the Beginning...
The Emergence of Diving Education |
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In 1953 scuba diving was in its infancy. Newspaper
accounts of the time reflect a truly frightening if
often inaccurate picture of the dawn of recreational
diving. It was a time of trial and error with
frequent tragic results. |
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| Early
Lung Divers circa 1950s |
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Early
Skin Divers circa 1950s |
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It was an era of home made scuba equipment and a four
page instruction manual. It was during this time
that the Los Angeles County Department of Parks and
Recreation launched its first Underwater Instructor
Certification Course, commonly known today as UICC.
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The First UICC's
The first three courses lasted only 20 hours; 4UICC grew
to 32 hours; 5UICC grew to 50 hours. Today, some
50 plus years later the Los Angeles County Underwater
Instructor Course leads the scuba education community
with over 200 hours of training extended over a three
month period of weekend training. More than
250,000 safe divers have received certified instruction
from the family of over 1100 Los Angeles County
Underwater Instructors trained since 1954. |
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| 14 UICC
circa 1967 |
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Original Instructor Patch |
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15 UICC
circa 1968 |
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The Los Angeles County
Underwater Safety Committee
The following is one of the earliest available
historical documents that first suggests that the County
develop an Underwater Safety Committee to oversee public
activity in the sport of scuba diving. Click the
picture to read the document. Adobe Reader is
required to view this file. If you don't have
Adobe Reader you can download it by clicking
here. |
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| Safety Committee - Circa
1954 |
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Dedication
This website is dedicated to the history, tradition and
the ongoing diver educational programs offered by the
County of Los Angeles Underwater Unit. With that
in mind, we welcome you to our website and invite you to
look around and see first hand where diving education
got its start. |
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