Ann Backus, MS is an Instructor in Occupational Health at Harvard School of Public Health, 665 Huntington Ave., Boston MA 02115, 617/432-3327, abackus@hohp.harvard.edu
Did you put on weight this summer? Are you still the same size as you were when you bought your survival suit? Oh, you don’t have a survival suit yet? Hmm it’s time.
Flooding, sinking, capsize and man overboard are common incidents according to U.S Coast Guard data. Being prepared for having to abandon ship means having a survival suit ready and at-hand to put on. What do you need to do to be ready?
Pick up your immersion suit from the pilot house, that is where it should be stored, not down below. Spread it out on the deck or the dock and check the material thoroughly for tears, pinholes, and weakness in the cloth. Fuel oil, solvents, drying in the sun, and age can compromise the integrity of the material. Does the zipper run easily? If not lubricate it with the stick that came with the suit; it is a beeswax-based lubricant. Purchase another stick if you can’t find one, but do not under any circumstances use a petroleum-based product such as petroleum jelly (Vaseline) or WD 40. Petroleum will cause the neoprene material to disintegrate. Run the zipper up and down several times and leave it about an inch up from the bottom of the zipper track.
Now try on your suit. Can you get into it in 60 seconds? Feet first, non-dominant arm (usually left), hood, dominant arm (usually right), zipper, Velcro™ closures around the ankles (if present), followed by the face cover before you jump in. Do you have a small strobe light and a whistle attached to your suit? Can you locate the one-way valve you will use to blow up the pillow once you are in the water?
The captain and each crew member should have his/her own suit, with name on the bag. And by the way the vessel name should be written on the back of the suits.
It would be advisable for you and your crew to do this exercise together. You can help each other get into the suits, and everyone then knows that everyone knows the drill.
Once you know your suit fits properly, you are ready to try it out in an immersion drill.
Gather your crew or a few other fishermen to participate. Unless you know the correct jump-in and survival swimming techniques, arrange to have a U.S. Coast Marine Safety Officer or a fellow fisherman who has been through a drill instructor course (perhaps an apprentice lobsterman who has fulfilled his requirement…new Maine regulation) help you with the in-water exercise. There are several techniques that are very important to know regarding how to jump in (such as, cross your legs), how to burp your feet, and how to stay warm using survival swimming techniques.
There is no substitute for having practiced jumping-in with your suit on. The correct technique is critical for a safe jump. Moreover, it is a strange feeling to be highly buoyant and important to realize that the suit is specifically designed for swimming on your back. I have seen some people try to do the front crawl in an immersion suit because that is how they usually swim, but they soon realize that it is a real struggle and not how the suit is intended to be used.
The suit is designed to keep you warm and dry, however there are several positions that will help maximize heat conservation and save precious energy. The head, chest, and groin are the critical areas that need to be kept warm. The HELP position with arms across chest and knees tucked is an energy and heat conserving position. The human chain where the second person lies against the chest of the first and holds the knees of the first person is a technique that keeps people together, allows them to swim together to reach something that is floating, and conserves energy and body heat. In a chain of three or more the top person (the paddler) can drop to the bottom of the chain when he is tired and the next person can be the paddler.
Another survival technique is to make a human raft by positioning one person’s head next to the next person’s feet. The arms hold the feet, and the arms of the outside people can move the human raft. This configuration keeps people together, can be used to protect and shelter a non- or weak swimmer, or one who is sick or injured. The size of three or four people linked together creates a “target” that enables the search helicopter to see the group better.
When you have finished practicing these skills, hose-off your suit with fresh water and dry it out away from the sun. Remember to bag it and take it aboard before your next fishing trip.
Have new crew members obtain an immersion suit and go through this try it on, try it out, and dry it out drill before they join you fishing. As a goal it would be a very good achievement if we on the East Coast could say that none of our fishing fatalities resulting from the lack of a useable immersion suit.
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