I do. Or at least having the knowledge of how such rescues are done should be required. Perhaps a more reasonable requirement may be at least how to give inwater rescue breaths while towing to safety-- not necessarily even through rough surf exits. And how to deal with a panicked diver at the surface. But, many disagree with me, I admit.
Almost all of the time spent in scuba training is dealing with things that go wrong. Over decades, agencies have tried to determine what is likely to go wrong so that students can be prepared for it. They don't prepare students for everything, though. For example, there is no training on how to fend off a saltwater crocodile attack. There is no training for being extracted from a high wave storm by a Coast Guard helicopter. That is because the risk for those things is too small to be considered worth the time it would take to teach it. In that regard, let's look at carrying a semi-unconscious body through a surf line with no one else there to help. I wonder how often that has happened--I can't imagine it has occurred more than a few times in world history. The scenario of bringing in an unconscious diver on the surface, giving rescue breaths as you go, while removing the victim's equipment and yours is part of the Rescue class, but in most agencies, not at the OW level. That is not just because the need to do that is so very, very rare (and it is), but also because it is even more rarely successful. This discussion comes up nearly annually over the years I have been on ScubaBoard, and I regularly ask people to present an example of a successful rescue using that procedure. No one has done it. Oh, people will always give me an example of someone who was rescued through another process, but I have never seen an example of a successful rescue using that process.
The reason many skills like those are not part of the OW class is related to two concepts: 1) Interference theory and 2) Just in time instruction.
Interference Theory: In curriculum design, the goal is to have students know the essential material well in the class, and one of the things that interferes with learning is
interference. To be brief, time spent learning things you don't need to know interferes with the ability to learn what you do need to know. Ironically, teaching fewer topics can result in students learning more material.
Just in Time instruction: This is actually a form of interference. "Just in time" instruction contrasts with "Just in case" instruction. In "Just in case" instruction, students are taught concepts and skills
just in case they might need it. That is pretty much what constitutes all OW content. Students may encounter an OOA incident, and they need to be ready in case that happens. "Just in time" instruction is content that is not likely to be encountered without enough warning to give time to prepare. For example, I had logged over 800 dives before I did my first dive in a location where I had to plan for tides, and I got instruction on local tide conditions before planning the dives. I had probably 1,000 dives before I did a shore dive in a location with a heavy surf line. Again, I had time to prepare for the knowledge I needed. Things like that are not part of my OW instruction, because students are likely to forget it all if and when they ever need it, and time spent on it interferes with their ability to learn the critical scuba skills. In contrast, all the local students in Colorado dive at altitude, so altitude considerations for their dives becomes part of the OW class. Students shore diving in California will find surf entries and tides in their OW class.
