Bespoke Training Projects

SOFAB is mindful that your specific training needs and learning objectives may cross the boundaries of two or more of our off-the-shelf suite of courses. We understand the financial and operational implications of over-training or under-training, and believe it is important to tailor the learning objectives to the role or competency profile of your Staff. SOFAB courses are constructed in a modular fashion with this issue in mind. Following a period of discussion with your Managers we will be able to pick appropriate modules and to formulate a course which more accurately reflects your requirements. It is also true that some of our learning modules are repeated in more than one standard course where this reflects the desired learning outcomes when each course is taken in isolation. For example it would be possible to configure a training programme to cover all of our off-the-shelf courses over a course duration of approximately 9 weeks or 45 days rather than the standard 11 weeks or 55 days if all courses were taken separately. For training programmes of more than 3 weeks in duration SOFAB would recommend breaking the course into sections with students returning to the workplace for short periods between each section. This will help to maximise the learning potential.

Competence Profiling

Whilst the core competences required for SAR are very similar from country to country there are significant differences in detail wherever you travel in the world. SOFAB’s expertise can help you to create a competence profile for your particular SAR organisation. Such profiling is accepted across the globe as best practice and is recognised as the foundation for many personnel and development strategies such as recruitment and training. Competence profiling can be a lengthy process to set up, first of all examining the role of various SAR Officers to identify “competence clusters”, and subsequently developing a series of “competence statements” under each cluster. Two sets of competence clusters will emerge; Technical Competences and Behavioural Competences. SOFAB can start from a generic SAR competence template which will simplify the process significantly. For example the Technical Competence set for RCC Officers may have cluster headings such as;

• SAR Admin, Organisation & Procedure
• Chart work
• General Maritime & Navigation
• Search Planning
• SAR Communications
• Meteorology
• SAR Mission Coordination
• On Scene Coordinator
• SAR IT Systems

Each of these clusters will be developed from the global generic template to reflect the local cultural, political, environmental and organisational shape of your National SAR Organisation. Competence statements will line up under each cluster, and represent the finest detail of knowledge and skills required to deliver a particular role or function in SAR. For example a single competence statement under Chart Work might be;

“be able to plot a position fix onto a nautical chart from a two or more compass bearings, a compass bearing and distance, and a GPS latitude and longitude”.

Each cluster will contain a large number of statements which breaks the role down into the individual items of knowledge and skill. These statements will form the basis for course learning objectives, and a course can be designed to exactly meet the requirements of a particular role. In addition to this profiling, SOFAB recommends that each rank or grade of SAR officer should have a level of achievement required for the role and set against each competence statement. This provides a means by which staff can be objectively measured during a performance assessment. For example, a lower ranked RCC operations officer will need to have a high level of competence in the use of a search planning system, so that he can operate the system during SAR incidents to develop effective SAR plans. A more senior manager in the RCC may only require an overview knowledge of the system which will help with his strategic planning role, for example procurement.

Alternative Training Options

Most of the off-the-shelf training offered by SOFAB on this website is focussed on Rescue Coordination Staff, and spills over towards Commanders and Senior Officers of SAR response facilities. There are other forms of training more dedicated to SAR Facilities which we would like to discuss. SAR facilities take their basic training through IMO/ICAO mandatory training programmes such as STCW. SAR operations will make use of these skills, along with a high degree of experience and seamanship or airmanship on the part of individual Commanders. There are other elements of training which will sit outside the IMO/ICAO standard training, such as Rescue Swimmer and some small boat handling courses for example RHIBs. SOFAB is able to utilise a very wide network of expertise and training delivery organisations to formulate efficient solutions to any of your needs in this respect. Detailed discussions will be necessary to determine the exact learning outcomes that you require, and SOFAB will be very pleased to engage with you in such a planning process.

Examinations

IMO/ICAO through their publication IAMSAR recommends that trainees should “demonstrate” competence in the required areas. This will give the organisation confidence that it has properly qualified people in post, with the ability to respond to SAR incidents as required. It will also give the individuals confidence that they have the ability to cope with the pressures of the role. SOFAB can use SAR experts who have significant experience in preparing examination modules, both written and oral, for new entry SAR Officers as well as for promotion candidates. Competence assessment is possible through observation of individuals performing certain tasks and undertaking, for example, the role of SMC. SOFAB would be pleased to discuss with you how we can help to draw up a programme of examinations and assessments, mindful of the wider employee relations issues which may arise.