As part of its mission to save lives at sea, the RNLl insists on top level training for lifeboat crews. The hope is that the better trained the lifeboat crews are, the more lives will be saved and the less likely it is that the crews themselves will be lost at sea. Changes in 2002 brought competence-based training to the coast, which gives nationally and internationally recognised qualifications to crewsIn the late 1990s the RNLl realised that its crew training needed a rethink. The trigger was that a waiver from the then Department of Trade, which allowed people to operate lifeboats without qualifications, would expire in February 2002. For years crew members that came on a course received an RNLl certificate of attendance, but from February 2002, they would need more than this internal seal of approval. Many lifeboatmen were also calling for change. Dan Nicholson, Alt Weather Lifeboat Training Manager, remembers a coxswain telling him: Tve got a £1.8M lifeboat here. I should have a qualification to drive it!' The RNLl planned a system of qualifications and requirements to help better justify its position on the open market. The RNLl hoped it would also give the crews something for all the time they gave as volunteers, giving them qualifications in recognition of their expertise. The RNLl chose a system of training, called competence-based training (CoBT). Its aim was to satisfy the requirements of the RNLl and of the outside body that accredited the courses.

Dan recalls: 'We took the bull by the horns. We were proactive and put a system in place that is all about individual competencies in every area of the operation of lifeboats.'When CoBT was being set up the RNLl analysed all the possible jobs that a lifeboat crew member could do - for example a crew member on deck, a first aider or a navigator. The RNLl designed each course specifically for each role.

The outside qualification gives something else to the crew. It's an extra incentive.' The courses are accredited by organisations that are experts in certain fields, including the British Red Cross, the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, the Royal Yachting Association and the Association of Marine Electronics and Radio Colleges. A benefit of the new system is that volunteer lifeboat crew with full time jobs can go back to their workplace and say, for example, they have a first aid qualification from the RNLI/British Red Cross. It gives qualifications to the people who earn them and also gives something back to the companies that kindly provide the time for the crew to come and do the courses.

Coxswain Martyn Phillips, who has done two CoBT courses in 2003, comments: 'The outside qualification gives something else to the crew. It's an extra incentive.' In these days of litigation, the CoBT provides crews with legal support. Dan explains:'Before the system was introduced, if anybody were to accuse a crew member of being incompetent, the crew member had little defence. Now he can say: I'm a qualified Yacht Master Offshore - here's my international certificate of competency.' Practical, hands-on training Although some amount of cross-training is advisable, there is no need for every crew member to be trained as experts in everything. The RNLl only trains crew members in the areas in which they need to specialise. For example, if a mobile training unit went to a station and trained 18-20 people in first aid, this would be excessive.

Not all of them would ever get the chance to use it. It is also recognised that with a 10-15% turnover of lifeboat volunteers, it would be wasting a lot of time and money training people in everything if they only stay for a relatively short time.

CoBT did not necessarily mean a complete overhaul of what had been taught on all the RNL! courses for years. One major change was that more emphasis was placed on practical, hands-on training. For example, the RNLl presented the British Red Cross with the first aid course outline based on the one they'd been following for over a decade. The Red Cross were delighted with it and only changed a few aspects.

The changes in training have generally been welcomed on the coast. Some crew were concerned it was change for change's sake but, after being on a course, most lifeboat crew see the benefit of CoBT. The crew have training handbooks to track their progress and are invited to fill out feedback forms at the end of their training. Dan comments: 'The vast majority of people who have done CoBT like it and are enthusiastic about it. Some aren't keen on the assessment side, but they're delighted with the qualifications they get.' Martyn Phillips has enjoyed his two courses in 2003: 'We're doing everything we did before, but with CoBT you see where you're going- it has structure.'The first CoBT course happened in February 2002, but the system is still evolving. At the moment CoBT affects all the crews who go to sea on lifeboats - all weather and inshore lifeboat crews, including "he Thames crews. In the future it's likely to affect shore helpers and inland rescue people as well. By the end of 2003, Beach Rescue will also have a list of competencies to which they have to perform.

CoBT training in practice - first aid course First aid is one of the most common training courses run by the RNLl and ft is accredited by the British Red Cross. Fewer than one in 10 shouts involves first aid, but lifeboat crews need to be prepared when someone does need medical attention. Dan stresses that when people's lives are at risk: 'It's better to be overtrained than under-trained.' Four Mobile Training Units (MTUs) travel around the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland to train up to 10 crew at each station. All the instructors are trained to paramedic level and the course is repeated, with updates, every three years. The course takes 20 hours - eight 2VZ hour sessions in the afternoons and e /. nings.

The first aid course is specifically targeted for injuries at sea, but it also covers 'Red Cross practical first aid' and 'Red Cross appointed person in the workplace'.

So when the volunteer crews are back at work they have a recognised certificate that fulfils the requirements of the Health and Safety Executive. Trevor Stevens, MTU first aid instructor, enthuses: 'In the case of first aid the crews get training second to none because it encompasses an advanced level of first aid that surpasses some of the shopbought courses that are available on the market place.

The lifeboat crews are taught how to treat specific medical problems that are common at sea, such as hypothermia and a crack of a boom to the head, but they are also taught to be ready for anything, from a wasp sting to a birth at sea.

The classroom-based course used to end with one big exam session assessed by the lifeboat medical adviser and the instructor. Now, like most other CoBT courses, continuous assessment is done by the instructor. With CoBT there is now more of an opportunity to practise the skills as part of the course. Trevor comments: 'The teaching of the course has changed over the years, from "chalk and talk" classroom to a more practical way of doing things.' Towards the end of the course the lifeboat crew do some scenario work.

Some crew play the role of injured people at sea or on the coast and the rest of the crew pretend it's a real shout. This takes place either in the classroom itself, or on the locaf beach. The actors could be playing casualties with broken bones, heart problems or asthma and the crew have to use their expertise to treat them. As well as practising their skills and familiarising themselves with medical equipment, the exercise is also intended to be team building. Dan comments: 'First aid lends itself very well to a lot of scenario work and the instructors 'dress up' the casualty/actors using make-up kits to simulate severe wounds.' 'The teaching of the course has changed over the years, from "chalk and talk" classroom to a more, practical way of doing things' Douglas Mechanic Tony Radcliffe, who took the first aid course earlier in the year, thinks the scenario work was worthwhile: 'The more you practise first aid, the more second nature it becomes. You're more likely to be able to cope with the real thing when it happens/These scenarios are especially important for young or new lifeboatmen who might panic if they saw such injuries for the first time on a shout.

Dan reflects: 'Exercises like this can simulate very well what the real thing is like - except it is all under controlled conditions and with the instructor there throughout for guidance.' As this issue of the Lifeboat was going to press we learned that the RNLl had been shortlisted for the National Training Awards. The prestigious awards recognise new skills and lasting excellence in training.Practice makes perfect Early in 2003,10 of the Hastings crew took a competence-based training course in first aid with Instructor Trevor Stevens. After the classroom work, they were taken to the local beach in East Sussex to practise their first aid. Coxswain Martyn Phillips thought the CoBT training was useful and enjoyable, particularly the scenario at the beach: 'It makes all the difference that you're actually seeing the injuries because of the make-up and costumes. You're out in the real world, so it's so much more realistic.' The crew who were actors had to pretend there had been an accident on the cliffs. Three people acted as injured workmen who had been spraying weed killer near the beach. The tide was rising and it was getting dark, so time was against them..