Step 4 of 4•3 minutes read
The Organisation in an Emergency
To cope with an emergency onboard, the crew must receive the correct training. The effectiveness of any life-saving equipment depends on the knowledge of the team! It is essential to attend all safety meetings, drills and exercises carried out on board to increase your knowledge about the life-saving appliances carried onboard. A happy ending of an emergency implies that you can perform your duties with responsibility and care.
When an alarm sound, you need to know what it means. Learn the different alarms by heart.
To avoid chaos and optimise efficiency, everyone on board must know what needs to be done in the case of an emergency. Where to go, what to do and what to bring. These emergency instructions are given via the ship's muster lists, which are placed so that everybody onboard can easily read them. You must study the muster lists as soon as you have signed on.
Different Muster Lists On Board
Several muster lists exist onboard a vessel:
- General muster list.
- Evacuation muster list/boat muster list.
- Fire muster list.
- Man overboard muster list.
- Muster lists for SOPEP and ISPS are also available onboard, but those are not included in this course.
Pay Particular Attention To:
- What is my task and do I understand what I have to do?
- Where do I have to go?
- Where is the equipment I have to use and how does it work?
- Who gives the orders?
- Whom do I report to?
- What are the vessel's alarm signals?
Training in various activities is given via regular muster and drills. Your place on the muster list is specified by your position, your name, your vessel's number or your cabin number. The positioning of life-saving appliances has been carefully considered. The appropriate authorities approved the positioning of the equipment before the yacht was even built. Wherever you find yourself in the vessel, life-saving appliances are always in the immediate vicinity – but remember that it can be challenging to find in the rooms if they are filled with smoke.
Learn where the equipment is located before you need it. If you are unlucky enough to find yourself in the water, you will improve your chances of surviving if you already know what to do.
Communication is crucial in a life-saving situation.
Equipment for localisation and communication is on the vessel and in the lifeboats.
Ship Alarms
The alarm signals typically give the first warning and also indicate the type of situation in question – both in an actual emergency and for drills. It is vital to know the meaning of the various alarm signals. Learn the signals by heart!
Main alarm or lifeboat muster – Seven short blasts followed by one long given by the ships whistle and fire alarm bells.
Fire muster – Continuous sound for at least 10 seconds using the ships whistle and fire alarm bells.
Man overboard – Three long blasts (Morse Oscar 'O') using the ship's whistle and fire alarm bells.
Extra Equipment and Survival
If an 'abandon ship' situation occurs, the equipment included in a lifeboat or liferaft is not enough. Some items are stowed in other locations onboard the yacht and have to be brought in case of such a situation. Extra equipment to take from the vessel to the survival craft if time permits are:
- EPIRB.
- SART.
- Pyrotechnics.
- Portable emergency radios (VHF).
- Medicines.
- Additional first aid equipment.
- Line throwers.
- Extra water and food.
- Logbooks.
As the crew must be prepared to act correctly in an emergency, it is necessary always to be aware of what could lead to an accident; because of that, drills for various emergencies take place onboard frequently. However, it is important to keep in mind that a real scenario might differ from a drill scenario and although knowledge of the drills may assist in emergencies, this may not be enough in a real situation.
All crew should be prepared to perform additional tasks if the crewmembers assigned to those duties are incapacitated. This means that during drills, each member should watch the whole team at work as well as carry out his/her responsibilities.