Program Description

Do you have the perfect canoe trip to the Boundary Waters planned for your unit next summer?  How about two weeks sailing or scuba diving at Sea Base?  Maybe an Okefenokee Canoe Trek?  Maybe just a quiet day tubing down the Chattahoochee?

What all of these have in common is the Local and National Tour Permit Applications requirement to list two adults (21 or older) participating in the trip that are certified in Safe Swim Defense and Safety Afloat (SSD and SA).  Without these certifications, you can’t get a trip permit and your unit cannot go on the activity.

Proper aquatic safety training shouldn’t be a point of pain for your unit.  The training and subsequent aquatics activities are lots of fun.

Taking both courses at Camp Allatoona costs only $15 and takes just one Saturday, from 8:30am to 4:00pm.  A good plan is to bring your Scouts up for any of the skills courses the base offers for them and then have several of your parents and Scouters spend the day learning about SSD and SA.

Remember that you shouldn’t get just the minimum two adults trained – you need enough adults trained that you have the depth to plan and deliver aquatic programs for your unit without burning out your SSD/SA trained volunteers.  If your unit trains 6-8 adults a year in SSD/SA, then you’ll be able to draw from a pool of 12-16 trained adults for any aquatics activity.

Certification is valid for two years.  Now wouldn’t that make your life easy!

During the course you’ll make a Safe Swim Defense kit you can use for your next unit swim.  The group will practice reaching, throwing rescues and other non-swimming rescues.  And the instructor will show you how to make a Buddy Board using readily available materials.

The first part of the day is classroom learning about Safe Swim Defense with lots of discussion and several participatory activities.  After lunch we generally change into swim suits and go down to the waterfront for swim checks.  Participants will get the opportunity to take a BSA swim test and to supervise a swim test for another participant.  You do not have to participate in the swim test but it’s highly recommended (all adults and Scouts must take one before participating in an aquatic activity) and we have lots of fun with it.

After that, it’s back to the classroom to finish up the Safety Afloat material.  We also usually do some hands-on work with the canoes and/or rowboats at the end of the session.

Class size:  Minimum 4, maximum 15.

What to Bring

Wading shoes or shoes that can get wet
Sack lunch and drink

Certification Requirements

Swimming is NOT required for certification.

Also refer to the following:
Certification program guidelines
Online certification requirements