Recently I had the pleasure of attending a course at the International Safety Training Centre, at Ħal Far. The course was Basic Offshore Survival and Emergency Training. This course is a requirement by international safety standards for personnel working on offshore installations.

There were two parts, theory and practical, both of which were very professionally executed. The facility boasts of classes designed for presentations and also houses changing rooms, a kitchen and a dining hall.

A pool equipped for helicopter underwater escape training, includes a simulator that actually represents a helicopter crashing into water and overturning. Attendees are guided and instructed on survival techniques, using special breathing apparatus.

Together with all these amenities there is an area reserved for fire fighting, where the use of different types of fire extinguishers is demonstrated and hands-on training is given.

A series of containers, purposely fitted, simulate a building that is full of smoke, where the participants enter and are guided on how best to escape in those pitch black, smoke engulfed situations, using breathing masks.

I must say that the course was superbly executed by all the staff and a big thank you goes to the management, instructors, divers and the catering staff for their hard work and for a job well done. This course and the facility equals, if not exceeds, those that I attended in other countries.