We had a full-day sea survival course before starting Level 2 training. It was in a local middle school, so we got the experience of sitting in uncomfortable and slightly-too-small chairs with all the walls covered by middle school geography material, at least for the first half of the day. There was a vast amount of material to cover, and I can't claim to have absorbed a lot of it. I'm not even sure we were expected to though. Well, yes, we were expected to come away with a lot of knowledge about how to handle ourselves if our boat should sink. But more than that, I think the idea was to build confidence than to really know every last detail. As long as individuals don't panic, and everyone knows the basic bits, then you can survive. At least that was my main takeaway.
Also, in my defence, the instructor was extremely Northern, and while I've spent a lot of time with a lot of Northern people, I just couldn't even understand about a third of what he said.
At one point early on, he asked how many people didn't know how to swim. I thought it was a joke until a few hands went up. His follow up, "Don't worry. It doesn't matter. If you go in, the sea doesn't care if you think you can swim. You're relying on the survival gear no matter what."
The second half of the day, we were in the pool, actually applying some of the techniques we had discussed. We got comfortable with the life jackets, including how they would automatically get you floating the right way up. We practiced the recommended backstroke technique for moving around, how to latch onto other people and two them around, and how to huddle together as a group to keep warm and keep track of each other. Then we deployed the raft, which was pretty cool, and practiced getting in (tougher that you'd think), helping others in, and securing the raft, all while having water thrown at us.
In the end, I was a lot more confident about the situation. But even with the extra confidence, it also rammed home the lesson that you just really don't want to have to abandon ship in the first place.
Also, in my defence, the instructor was extremely Northern, and while I've spent a lot of time with a lot of Northern people, I just couldn't even understand about a third of what he said.
At one point early on, he asked how many people didn't know how to swim. I thought it was a joke until a few hands went up. His follow up, "Don't worry. It doesn't matter. If you go in, the sea doesn't care if you think you can swim. You're relying on the survival gear no matter what."
The second half of the day, we were in the pool, actually applying some of the techniques we had discussed. We got comfortable with the life jackets, including how they would automatically get you floating the right way up. We practiced the recommended backstroke technique for moving around, how to latch onto other people and two them around, and how to huddle together as a group to keep warm and keep track of each other. Then we deployed the raft, which was pretty cool, and practiced getting in (tougher that you'd think), helping others in, and securing the raft, all while having water thrown at us.
In the end, I was a lot more confident about the situation. But even with the extra confidence, it also rammed home the lesson that you just really don't want to have to abandon ship in the first place.
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