Realistic, practical, sea-based training. Have you had the opportunity to test yourself working in salt water, working with strangers to organise yourself in a liferaft with plumes of water beating down on you? Red Ensign's one-day STCW 95 Personal Survival Training course is run fortnightly in the waters of the Solent, to introduce you in some way to what it might feel like to be lost at sea.

Run by professional trainers who have really been there and done that, Red Ensign's training is a cut above other courses. Here you'll get the opportunity to jump into cold water, practice survival techniques in the sea and work with others to learn survival techniques. You will get the opportunity to test yourself in fully controlled, but more difficult conditions than those usually experienced in an indoor swimming pool.

Unlike real-life conditions, you'll be wearing dry-suits and thermal clothing, but we aim for all other parts of the course to be as realistic as possible. A recent participant said that, of all the sea survival training courses that he had taken part in this was the most useful and was "way above" all other training he had received.

The purpose of this training is to give all persons intending to go to sea the essential basic knowledge and experience of personal survival principles and techniques that can be applied to maximize their chances of survival in the event of a marine casualty.

You will develop competence in:

• Surviving conditions at sea in the event of ship abandonment

Knowledge, Understanding and Proficiency in:

• Types of emergency situations which may occur, such as collision, fire, foundering
• Types of life-saving appliances normally carried on ships
• Equipment in survival craft
• Location of personal life-saving appliances
• Principles concerning survival

Demonstrating Practical Competence in:

• Don a life jacket
• Don and use an immersion suit
• Safely jump from a height into the water
• Right inverted life raft while wearing a life jacket
• Swim while wearing a life jacket
• Keep afloat without a life jacket
• Board a survival craft from ship and water while wearing a life jacket
• Take initial actions on boarding survival craft to enhance chance of survival
• Stream a drogue or sea anchor
• Operate survival craft equipment
• Operate location devices, including radio equipment

This course is taught as a combination of on-site classroom instruction at the Red Ensign training facility Medina Village, Cowes, and practical instruction in the Medina River.

Other than the required minimum age of 18, there are no pre-requisites for this course.

The PST course costs £114.03 inc VAT.

This price does not include accommodation.

If accommodation is required please contact us and we will provide a list of local bed and breakfasts at reasonable rates.

Alternatively, we can suggest the accommodation pages on Cowes Online