Entry & progression
Exam module: Q161. See also: 46 CFR 26.03-2, the posted Emergency Checkoff List.
The Emergency Checkoff List
46 CFR 26.03-2 requires it posted. It should cover, at minimum, the four emergencies that actually happen:
| Emergency | First action | The thing people get wrong |
|---|---|---|
| Fire | Alarm, muster, cut fuel and power to the space, put the fire downwind | Opening the hatch to look. It feeds the fire the air it lacked |
| Flooding | Find it, stop it or slow it, pump, call early | Pumping without ever finding the source |
| Man overboard | Shout, throw buoyancy, assign a pointer, press MOB, manoeuvre | Nobody watching the casualty — and the propeller during recovery |
| Abandon ship | Only on the master's order, and it is the last order | Going too early. Step UP into the raft — never abandon a boat that is still floating |
Drills
Run them with the crew you actually have, in the conditions you actually work in, and run them until they are boring. A drill that has only ever been done alongside on a calm Tuesday morning is a drill you have not really done.
- Who does what. With a crew of two, one person cannot both drive and recover. Decide now, not then.
- Time it. How long does it actually take to get the life raft over the side? People are consistently wrong by a factor of three.
- Practise the recovery, not just the approach. Getting a limp, cold adult over the topsides is the part that fails.
- Involve the passengers in the brief, so that when you tell them to sit down and hold on, they do.
WARNING — Never abandon a vessel that is still floating The boat is a large, visible, radar-detectable platform that is keeping you out of the water. A life raft is a small, low, cold bag. Step up into the raft — meaning, do not leave until the deck is going under. Mariners have been lost from rafts while the vessel they abandoned was found afloat the next morning.
Distress signalling
Get the call out early. A Mayday you cancel costs you a phone call and some embarrassment. A Mayday you left too late may never be made at all, because by then you are busy with something else — like swimming.
- Mayday — grave and imminent danger, immediate assistance required. Channel 16 or DSC.
- Pan-Pan — urgency. A serious problem, but not yet grave and imminent danger.
- Securité — safety. Navigational or meteorological warning.
The Mayday format: Mayday x3, this is [vessel name] x3, MMSI/callsign, position, nature of distress, assistance required, number of persons on board, any other information, over. Write it on a card and tape it to the bulkhead by the radio. On the day, you will not remember it, and neither will anyone else.