Some of us have wondered about the content of the survival course attended by the lady featured in the recent North Rim Grand Canyon rescue....

This brings up the question - Are there any standards? How does one know if the instructor is qualified? What determines qualification?

It seems right now that survival instruction is pretty much the wild west - anyone can put up a shingle -"two months ago i couldn't even spell 'survivval' and already I are an instructor" and away you go.

Does anyone rate the various schools and courses? track the experiences of the graduates?

Have we even had a thread before discussing this issue? Do we appraise the various offerings that are out there?

Of course ETS is itself such a survival service - offering succinct and essentially mainstream, almost always correct advice (IMHO).

This isn't to say there should not be controversy and differing opinions about the various aspects of survival - controversy is essential to any field of knowledge that is vital and growing.

Just my $0.02....