Importance of evacuation procedures ..

[dannc]

I have noticed on some boats that the deck hatches would be very difficult. if not impossible. for some someone to pull themselves up and out of the boat. One boat had a ladder on a bulkhead for this purpose. I would think the house evacuation ladders sold in home store would work as long as one is tall enough to hook the ladder through the hatch. I also wonder if some deck hatches are too small for some crew members.

I have forgotten the number of boats at Fastnet that were abandoned and later towed to port but it was a large percentage of the abandoned boats. Only a few boats actually sank and a good many of the deaths were during the rescue.

Life rafts have to be designed to handle heavy seas and winds. It is likely that the raft is going to get rolled in these storms and the people have to be connected to the raft to keep inside. There was a raft found from a boat lost in one of the Australian/New Zealand storms with nobody aboard but the rescuers think people made it into the raft. Most likely the crew were tossed from the raft. There have been documented cases of this happening. Getting on a rescue ship is also very dangerous. The raft/boat are going to be moving in heavy seas as is the ship. If the boat has rigging still standing it is almost certainly going to get damaged against the rescue ship. People have died trying to climb onto the rescue ship. One person seems to have panicked when the rescue ship was on scene and she died.

Having a plan and practicing the plan is important. The event almost certainly will not happen as one has planned but you will know what you need to do and adapt as long as you don't panic.

For decades I have taken CPR classes and one year I had to use the chocking procedures for a family member. The person had classic choking symptoms and I reacted without thought and cleared the blockage. It takes longer to type and read about it than to do what I did. If I add up all of the time I have spend in CPR classes, it really is not that much training when you get right down to it. The training comes back from somewhere in your head. If you don't panic.

If you go through the likely what ifs on a boat and come up with a plan of action you have a good chance of reacting correctly. OTH, if you have not thought about these things, one's chance to reacting quickly and correctly is not very good.

Later,
Dan

[a64pilot]

I just sent the wife to Nursing school, figure the older I get, the more likely that may have been a good investment