EDIT: After reading Diver0001's last couple of excellent posts, something occurred to me. Do any rescue classes attempt to teach people how to organize personnel for a rescue? i.e. do any of the courses say to establish a "hierarchy" of sorts? In our Search and Rescue training for the SAR team I used to be involved with, that was a key to getting things done efficiently and thoroughly. One of the tasks, which Diver0001's posts got me thinking about, was basically PR. Handling crowds, and expectations of onlookers and non-active participants. Do any of the SCUBA rescue courses teach any of this?
Mine addresses the "management of the scene" as a direct result of the experience we had. One of the lessons learned we took from that was the there is a glaring omission in the course content for Rescue and "managing the scene", while given lip service, is far more essential to executing a successful rescue than people are taught. PR and crowd management are not something I go into in great detail. Managing and organizing other *divers* and/or other dive-pros who are at the scene and want to help is the focus.
I know one other instructor who does as well; however, it seems to be far from the norm. Happily few instructors have direct experience executing full blown rescues but as a result few *really* know what it involves....
R..