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Helping you make the most of your emergency response training.
“It’s always Friday at 16:30 when I’m supposed to be asleep”
“I hate rolling up the hoses every week”
“Recharging the SCBA bottles takes ages while everyone else is finished”
Ask a crew member their thoughts on emergency response drills and these are typical responses. Too often, drills are a ‘tick-box’ exercise fulfilling the bare minimum to satisfy the drill matrix rather than preparing the crew for a worst-case scenario.
The purpose of drills is to train and prepare the crew for real-life emergencies. This means being familiar and confident with best practice, the onboard procedures and the vessel’s equipment. Whilst we must provide evidence that drills are taking place, the primary goal must be to ensure the crew are ready in all areas to effectively respond to an emergency.
In short, we need to take drills seriously. They should be properly planned and engage as many of the crew as possible.
Variety is the spice of life
The focus of a particular drill session may be dictated by the vessel’s training matrix. However, how and when the drills are carried out are not. Here are some helpful hints on getting the most out of your drills:
- Vary drill times: this makes it less ‘routine’ and more realistic as all staff will be instantly engaged. There should be nothing ‘routine’ about preparing for emergencies.
- Target specific areas: there is little point in running a scenario-based drill if the crew are not 100% confident in what they are doing. All crew must know and fully understand their own emergency duties and responsibilities, from the messman to the Master. If someone is unfamiliar with their duties, the impact can be significant.
Before carrying out a full scenario-based drill, consider a series or group of targeted drills that focus on specific areas.
For example, before running a full scenario-based drill of an accommodation fire, carry out focused drill sessions that cover aspects such as:
- Donning breathing apparatus, including pre-entry checks and tests.
- Entering a fire space as a fire team – from pre-entry precautions to tackling the fire.
- Conducting a search of an area with zero visibility.
- Rescuing a casualty and administering first aid.
- Running fire pumps including the emergency fire pump.
- Using portable fire extinguishers and identifying the right type for specific fires.
These sessions can fulfil drill requirements on their own. When carrying out the full scenario-based accommodation fire drill, the crew should be able to successfully demonstrate the skills they learned in the previous week(s).
This approach is likely to have a more positive effect than simply repeatedly running half-hour scenario-based drills where a significant proportion of the crew do very little and become disengaged.
Vary who is in charge: is it always the chief officer or chief engineer running the drill with the Master in overall charge? If so, this has several shortcomings:
- The crew become accustomed to just blindly following instruction
- The next generation of senior officers are not trained as effectively
- In a real event, it is very possible that the person ordinarily in charge would in fact be a casualty
Involve the shore-based team: in an emergency it’s not just the crew that have to react, they will need support from shore staff. Consider running scenarios involving the shore-based operations teams and superintendents.
Debriefing
After the drill, crew must engage in a debrief, which should be recorded. Lessons learned and areas for improvement can be highlighted, but don’t forget to highlight what went well. Encourage open participation and questions from all crew. This breeds confidence, and that will help in a real emergency.
The dreaded paperwork
It is of course important to record your drills, but this should not be a burden. Keep it simple and avoid duplication. It is a good idea to record the lessons learned and carry forward any identified training requirements to address any weaknesses.
Drill bits
To help you get the most out of your drills, we have released a new series of articles and advice called ‘Drill Bits’. We provide example sessions and scenarios that could help shape your drills in the future.
Drill no.1: Fire!
To construct a fire drill, you need drill bits – these are the different elements of the fire drill. It is important that the crew are familiar and confident in their own emergency responsibilities, focusing and practicing each element before bringing it all together for a larger scenario-based drill.
Preparation
Four separate training sessions can be run, each focusing on particular areas. Each of the four groups should be led by a responsible officer.
The four groups are:
- The bridge team.
- The engine room team.
- The fire team(s).
- The first aid team.
Running the drills
The bridge team
Location: Bridge
Group leader: Master
| Learning Objective | Exercise |
| Demonstrate use of GMDSS | Each member of the bridge team learns how to place a distress call by sending and receiving acknowledgements using the GMDSS equipment. This should be logged in the GMDSS logbook. |
| Familiarity with contingency plans | Focus on fire contingency plans, and ensure the team knows where the plans are located. Check all relevant situations are addressed in the plans and that the contents are accurate. |
| Understand record-keeping | Describe how training records should be maintained, remembering that these may prove to be valuable evidence in the event of an incident. |
| Demonstrate use of emergency systems and shutdowns | From the bridge, test items such as fire pumps, emergency fire pumps and ventilation stops. |
The engine room team
Location: Engine control room
Group leader: Chief Engineer
| Learning Objective | Exercise |
| Demonstrate use of emergency fire pump | Take turns in starting the emergency fire pump locally and remotely. Check that everyone understands how pump function is checked (e.g. pump pressures, current drawn). |
| Familiarity with contingency plans | Focus on fire contingency plans, and ensure the team knows where the plans are located. Check all relevant situations are addressed in the plans and that the contents are accurate. |
| Discuss system of electrical isolation | Talk about how to safely isolate electrical power to different areas of the vessel in the event of a fire. |
Fire teams (Deck and/or engine)
Location: Fire locker
Group leader: Chief Officer
| Learning Objective | Exercise |
| Demonstrate correct wearing of fire suits | All SCBA crew members to don full fire suits and equipment. Check the condition of the equipment and ensure the crew can don correctly. |
| Demonstrate checking of breathing apparatus | All SCBA team members to don SCBA equipment, conduct full checks such as bottle contents, whistle check, mask seal test and mask positive pressure check. |
| Demonstrate use of the SCBA board | Familiarity in the use of the SCBA board – know what to record and when to alert the team leader. |
| Demonstrate safe entry procedures | Fire team to practice safe entry – including:
· Check the door for heat using the back of the hand – simulate cooling with water spray if necessary · Brace against each other and against the door · Crack the door open, do not stand in the path of the door opening in case of backdraft · Enter (and leave) the space connected as a team
|
| Demonstrate search and rescue techniques | Demonstrate search techniques through several rooms. Practice rescue of a casualty and safe evacuation |
First aid team
Location: Hospital
Group leader: Third Officer
| Learning Objective | Exercise |
| Demonstrate recovery position | Know how to position a casualty post-rescue |
| Discuss first aid treatment of burns injuries | Discuss treatment in event of skin burns caused by fire or heat |
| Demonstrate familiarity of first aid equipment | Ensure team are confident in administering medical oxygen |
| Demonstrate use of stretcher | Practice using a stretcher with a dummy |
De Briefing
Each group should carry out a debrief. Highlight any lessons learned and encourage questions from the team. Don’t forget to highlight what went well and give praise where its due.
It doesn’t end there! The lessons learned will direct you towards the areas that require more practice and shape future drills.
Next time, we’ll look at a full scenario-based drill where the crew can put into practice everything that was learnt from the above drill bits.
