Hi Ron,
I just took a YMCA SLAM course this past May -- I took this over 2 days with other courses at the same time -- CPR, Y-med/First Aid, DAN O^2....so I may get some of the details and order mixed up, but here goes.
The first day of the course we spent in the pool and classroom. In the pool we didn't have a surface swim test but had to do a 50 foot underwater swim (mask, no fins). We also had to tread water for 5-10 minutes, I forget exactly how long.
Next was basic lifesaving skills, discussing the preference (as with lifeguards) of not entering the water if not needed. We briefly discussed rescue equipment available on most boats/shorelines and practiced use of a life ring with rope.
We then donned our gear and worked on various victim tows, including a gear/tank tow and dos-i-do while performing CPR/rescue breathing. We practiced getting the victim out of their gear in prep for getting them on shore. We also practiced out of air emergencies -- you started across the pool from your buddy (opposite ends of pool horizontally). We singaled OOA, made the swim across the pool with reg out (exhaling continuously, of course), and then shared air while swimming back across the pool before surfacing.
Next, we worked on victim rescue techniques, both for conscious victims on the surface and for unconscious victims on the bottom -- how to approach (and avoiding becoming a victim yourself), how to surface safely, getting them buoyant (dropping weightbelt/inflating BC) and then towing, etc. All very useful
After breaking for lunch, we were in the classroom for the rest of day. We spent some of the time discussing stress/potential victim identification. The rest of the afternoon was spent on first aid topics.
On Sunday, we spent the better part of the morning doing our ocean OW rescue dives. This involved 2 portions -- first, we had to locate and surface an unconscious victim off of the bottom (the instructor). After getting them buoyant, we had to tow them about 100 yards back to shore while rescue breathing, and get their gear off in preparation for evacuation from the water once we reached shore.
The rest of the afternoon was spent back in the classroom learning CPR (adult and child), DAN O^2 and various first aid techniques.
All in all it was a good class. The OW portion could have been more rigorous I thought -- more time should have been spent on search techniques when you don't know where the victim is. Still, I found it to be a helpful course.
BTW -- I took this with the same instructors that Ralph did.
As for prereqs -- I think it was 15 OW dives.
Let me know if you have more questions.
