Alarms and On-Ship Evacuation

Do you see a fire? An accident? A hazard or danger? Raise the alarm!

In this step, we will look at important phrases to use when worried guests are asking questions. In an emerging incident or emergency you may not yourself know at first the extent of danger or be able to get an overview of the situation at hand. Hence, protocol and rehearsed actions are a great way to avoid panic and take security measures. 

General Emergency Announcements

The General Emergency Alarm is used for all types of incidents, consisting of seven short blasts and one long. In the next video, you can hear the alarm signal coming from the ship's horn and PA system simultaneously. This is followed by an announcement from the bridge.

When the general alarm is sounding and the bridge announces to evacuate to assembly stations, passengers might get worried and naturally will have many questions. A very important job is to calm and secure a safe and incident-free evacuation. In the upcoming video, you will find examples of phrases and exchanges.

In situations like an on-ship evacuation, it is vital to explain to the guests what is happening, when and how they will receive more information, and how they can get to the assembly stations as quickly and safely as possible.

The final response in the exchange above that the “crew is solving the problem as quickly and safely as possible” is chosen to calm and act de-escalating. As a crew member, you may not know much about the situation yet. However, it may help to remind yourself that you are more prepared and trained for situations like these than guests are. 

To assert calm and build trust in a condition of impatience and transport can be a life-saver as the situation unfolds. If an evacuation is needed, everybody’s readiness and cooperation may be required. 

Here are some examples of varied responses when you don't have all the information yet yourself.

Building Relationships and Asserting Calm

Guests may be panicked over the situation and may not handle events in the way they would during normal circumstances. Remember to talk in a calm voice. You will assert calm and readiness by showing leadership and helping them manage a situation you have trained and prepared for.

Try to give extra focus to and calm guests that seem especially worried. This is for their own sake, but also to help avoid them agitating the whole group. It can sometimes help to give scared people a task to perform, something to focus on. Calming phrases to help you lead:

“Try not to worry. We are all trained for situations like these”.
“Can I sit with you for a while?”
“I understand that you are scared. But try to stay calm. Could you please help me with something?”

When the situation is over, it is important to keep informing and calming guests. They might be shocked or traumatized.

Crew: “The situation is now under control. Please return your lifejackets.”
“You can now leave the assembly station. Thank you for your patience and cooperation.”

In case the situation looks worse, and demands to abandon ship:

Crew: “Orders from the captain, we have to leave the ship. Stay calm and follow the instructions.”

More about this situation in the following step.

In Case of a Fire

In your training, procedures, and routines for handling fire and smoke on the ship should be extensively covered. Let's have a quick reminder. In case of a fire, you should:

Listen to,  and practice important words in situations of a fire emergency in this vocabulary:

Communication with guests is one important task in an emergency. Other tasks also require practicing communication, in an emergency closed-loop communication and message markers are extra important. 

Listen in on how radio communications can sound like during a fire (or a fire drill):