West Coast Groundfish Observer Program Manual, Part2 - NOAA

CHAPTER 8
Life Rafts
The assigned vessel will have enough life rafts or life boat
capacity for everyone on board. Life rafts are stored in
canisters that allow them to float free and automatically
inflate if the vessel sinks. It is much better to manually
launch and inflate the raft if there is time. Know where the
rafts are stored, how to remove them from the cradle,
where to launch them, and how to inflate them.
Survival Kits
A personal survival kit can take up very little space in an
immersion suit yet greatly enhance the ability to survive.
Think of the seven steps to survival and choose items that
may help in an emergency situation on board a vessel.
Items such as a knife, dental floss (a strong multi-purpose
line), plastic garbage bags, matches, signal mirrors, a
compass, hard candy, or bouillon cubes are small items that
fit in a zip-lock bag and could save your life. Vessels may
have an emergency bag stored and a person named in the
station bill to bring it.
EPIRBS
The vessel will have at least one 406 mHz EPIRB mounted
in a float-free bracket that will be automatically activated in
the event of sinking. The signal is received by satellite, and
in new styles, will identify the sender. It is important to
know where the EPIRB is mounted and how to activate it
manually. In the event of an abandon ship emergency it is
an item you want to take with you. Someone will be
assigned that duty on the station bill. Be sure to locate the
EPIRB(s) on the vessel and read the directions on how to
activate them.
8-22 1/30/2004