When going into any space that may be deficient
in oxygen or contain poisonous or explosive
vapors, be sure to maintain communication with
someone outside. Wear a lifeline, and be sure
that it is tended by a competent person.
Do not use, wear, or carry any object or material
that might cause a spark. Matches, cigarette
lighters, flashlights, candles or other open
flames, and ordinary electrical lights must
NEVER be taken into a compartment that may
contain explosive vapors. The kind of portable
light used by cleaning parties in boilers, fuel
tanks, and similar places may be taken into a
suspect compartment. This is a steam-tight,
glove-type light whose exposed metal parts are
either made of nonsparking alloy or protected in
some way so they will not strike a spark.
An electrical apparatus or tool that might spark
must never be taken into a compartment until a DCO
has indicated that it is safe to do so. When electrical
equipment is used (e.g., an electric blower might be
used to vent a compartment of explosive vapors), it
must be explosion proof and properly grounded.
If you go into a space that may contain explosive
vapors, do not wear clothing that has any exposed
spark-producing metal.
For example, do not wear
boots or shoes that have exposed nailheads or rivets,
and do not wear coveralls or other garments that might
scrape against metal and cause a spark.
A particular caution must be made concerning the
use of the steel-wire lifeline in compartments that may
contain explosive vapors. If you use the line, be sure
that it is carefully tended and properly grounded at all
times. When other considerations permit, you should
use a rope line instead of the steel-wire lifeline when
entering compartments that may contain explosive
vapors.
RESCUE FROM THE WATER.You should
never attempt to swim to the rescue of a drowning
person unless you have been trained in lifesaving
methodsand then only if there is no better way of
reaching the victim. A drowning person may panic and
fight against you so violently that you will be unable
either to carry out the rescue or to save yourself. Even
if you are not a trained lifesaver, however, you can help
a drowning person by holding out a pole, oar, branch,
or stick for the victim to catch hold of, or by throwing a
lifeline or some buoyant object that will support the
victim in the water.
Various methods are used aboard ship to pick up
survivors from the water. The methods used in any
particular instance will depend upon weather
conditions, the type of equipment available aboard the
rescue vessel, the number of people available for
rescue operations, the physical condition of the people
requiring rescue, and other factors. In many cases it
has been found that the best way to rescue a person
from the water is to send out a properly trained and
properly equipped swimmer with a lifeline.
It is frequently difficult to get survivors up to the
deck of the rescuing vessel, even after they have been
brought alongside the vessel. Cargo nets are often
used, but many survivors are unable to climb them
without assistance. Persons equipped with lifelines
(and, if necessary, dressed in anti-exposure suits) can
be sent over the side to help survivors up the nets. If
survivors are covered with oil, it may take the
combined efforts of four or five people to get one
survivor up the net.
A seriously injured person should never, except in
an extreme emergency, be hauled out of the water by
means of a rope or lifeline. Special methods must be
devised to provide proper support, both to keep the
victim in a horizontal position and to provide
protection from any kind of jerking, bending, or
twisting motion. The Stokes stretcher (described later
in this chapter) can often be used to rescue an injured
survivor. People on the deck of the ship can then bring
the stretcher up by means of handlines.
Life
preservers, balsa wood, unicellular material, or other
flotation gear can be used, if necessary, to keep the
stretcher afloat.
MOVING THE VICTIM TO SAFETY
LEARNING OBJECTIVE: Recognize the
different patient-moving devices and lifting
techniques that can be used in patient rescues.
In an emergency, there are many ways to move a
victim to safety, ranging from one-person carries to
stretchers and spineboards. The victims condition and
the immediacy of danger will dictate the appropriate
method. Remember, however, to give all necessary
first aid BEFORE moving the victim.
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