MUSTER, DRILLS AND CONTINGENCY PLANS.

segoro39.blogspot.com An abandon ship drill consists of a muster of the crew and passengers (if appropirate) at the stationas referred to in the muster list, and a muster and drill at survival craft stations. A fire drill may be held simultaneously with the first stage of the abandon ship drill. Other emergency drills might include collision, damage control, closing of watertight doors, valves and closing mechanism of scuppers, grounding, cargo or bunker spillage, rescue of personnel from the water or from dangerous spaces, and medical treatment. Each crew member must participate in at least one abandon ship drill and one fire drill every month. These drills must be held within twenty-four hours of leaving port if more than 25% of the crew have not taken part in drills on board the ship in the previous month. If it is not practicable to hold full drills with in the twenty-four hour period then the crew should be mustered and instructed on their emergency duties and abandon ship procedures. However, in the case of ro-ro passanger ferries these instructions should be given before any passenger carrying voyage is commenced. Full drills should be held as soon as possible. In passenger vessels in abandon ship drills and fire drills must be held every week, and so arranged that each crew member participates in at least one abandon ship drill and one fire drill every month. Where passengers are to be on board for more than twenty-four  hours then a muster of passengers must take place within twenty-four hours of their embarkation.

Other requirements concerning drills relate to the frequency that lifeboats are lowered and launched, demonstrations of liferaft inflation and deployment, and the requirement to rotate the use of fire extinguishers when they are used for drill purposes.

THE PURPOSE OF DRILLS

Some personnel do not fully appreciate the purpose and necessity of frequent and, as far as is possible, realistic musters and drills. It has been clearly and often demonstrated that familiarity with equipment and procedures can make the difference between, literally, life and death, so the importance of taking practice musters and drills seriously cannot be over emphasised.

The main purpose of practice musters and drills are :

• Equipment : To know what equipment is available, where it is located, how to use it and to prove it to be in good working order.
• Organisation : Does everyone know where to go and what to do? Can they actually do it, or are they limited by their own shortcomings or those of the organisation? Is the system flexible enough to cope with every contingency?
• To increase familiarity with and build confidence in the equipment, the organisation, the individual and others.
• To develop appropriate responses.
• To reduce response times through practice, training and repetition.    

The response of untrained persons may be broadly detailed as follows :

• 10-20% will be compliant. That is they will respond appropirately.
• 10-15% will be non-compliant : their response will be inappropirate (panic or paralysis)
• 65-80% will be bemused or dazed.
• Training and drills seek to increase the number of those who will respond in an appropirate manner and decrease the number who panic, become paralysed, bemused or dazed.    

WHY DRILLS ARE AVOIDED 

Many people do not conscientiously organise or take part in training and drills because :

• Of an "it will never happen to me" mentality.
• They are not willing to incur the cost, time and effort involved.
• It may be perceived by themselves or by others as 'weak'.     

CONTINGENCY PLANS

In an emergency situation, be it fire, man overboard or abandoment, time and circumstances will be important factors in determining how an incident is dealt with. Contingency plans worked out for various scenarios could save lives. Do not wait for the event before thinking about what to do as planning is better done when not under such stress. Take time to consider questions like, 'what would we do if there were only 5 or 15 minutes to prepare for abandonment?'' "How would we actually retrieve an unconscious man from the water?'' "What would we do if the main fuel pump caught fire?"

Thanking about and practically working through contingency plans may cause them to be re-thought, equipment locations revised, procedures modified, or personnel re-allocated. Well thought out, well rehearsed contingency plans will drive down response times, ensure more persons act appropriately and save lives.   

# Thanks and I hope this article is useful,....segoro39.blogspot.com