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In Australia (80+% of population living on the coastline) it's common to see schools providing the "Bronze Medallion" (http://www.royallifesaving.com.au/training/bronze-medallion) as a recommended course for students.

I'm not sure how applicable this would be to the USA, but I can't see that it would hurt (it also provides basic first-aid training and CPR practice which have saved some lives as an incidental side effect).

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Same in Sweden, but it's for pupils in secondary school and it also covers stuff like getting yourself out of ice holes and swimming in cold water with lots of clothing.

That would have been very useful the time I almost died falling into a frozen creek skiing in the Australian Back-Country. For a country that only has a few square kilometres of skiable terrain in winter, it's got some really nasty terrain!

Not a lot of call for that in Australia. Brilliant mental image though. "Now it's time for your 'Avoiding Hypothermia In A Hole In The Ice Whilst Being Stalked By Polar Bears' Lesson, children! Line up quickly please!"

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