Water Survival and Rescue UNITED STATES COAST GUARD AST1 Scott Rady

Water Survival Water survival starts long before you are sitting in the water waiting for rescue. Survival starts when you are planning your flight and fallows a set of steps leading to you being in a survival situation..

Water Survival It is my intention today to take you through the steps to finding yourself in a survival situation. Assuring that you have the gear to survive and others can find you. Then to address actions that will help you survive while help arrives and lead to your rescue.

Flight plan Preflight the plane and yourself. Weather. Dress for the flight. Make sure the necessary gear is on board. Passenger brief. Realization there is a problem and communication with ATC. Make plane and self ready to ditch. Ditching Egress. Safely out of the plane. Steps We Will Be Addressing

Survival Situation Action with a Raft Actions with No raft Psychology of survival Seven steps of survival Rescue

File a Flight Plan and Follow It. File a flight plan and stick to it.. If you must change your plans, update the plan while enroute. A complete flight plan gives rescuers every thing they need to locate you. Use the remarks section of flight plan to give additional information about your gear. vests, raft (be specific), signal devices,. This information helps establish search parameters. Make sure family knows your plans, inform them when you have landed.

Inspect Self and Plane. Airplane condition, pre-flight Only fly a well maintained aircraft. Conduct a thorough pre-flight inspection, use check list. Fuel load Fill tanks to weight limit. Do not fly into reserves. Set reserves as required by FAR regulation. Your condition IM-SAFE

IM-SAFE CHECKLIST I - ILLNESS M – MEDICATION S – STRESS A – ALCOHOL F – FATIQUE E – EMOTIONS DO NOT FLY UNLESS HEALTHY !

Weather  Get a weather briefing as part of pre-flight  Monitor in fight updates of weather.  Observe changing weather patterns during the flight.

Dress for the Flight.  Based on weather enroute  Keep critical items on person  Preferred clothing Nomex Wool Cotton  DO NOT WEAR POLYESTER.  Consider wearing an ADC.*

Make Sure the Necessary Gear Is on Board. Life vests. Also called PFD’s are a must when flying over water. Even if you have a raft on board there is no guarantee you’ll get it out. Always wear your life vest while over water. Ideally a vest designed for regular wear. You may have no time to don a quick donning vest while in an emergency. Raft. Packing the right raft can be difficult. Rafts come in a variety of styles, single tube or double tube, single cell or multiple cell, those with and without self-erecting canopies and insulated floors. Survival gear. Make sure the right gear is in your vest and raft.

LPU 26PE

CO2 Inflation

Oral Inflation

LPU Survival Equipment Knife EPIRB Pyro Whistle Strobe Light Signal mirror

KNIFE

EPIRB and hours

PYRO

Whistle 1000 Yards

Strobe 8 Hours

Signal Mirror 8 Million Candle Power

Heeds. The heeds is a spare air device used in all our helicopter vests. They are available on the open market from various suppliers. They cost several hundred dollars, but they give you up to 45 breaths of air to escape a submerged aircraft. Your supplier can give training in how to use them, but a water course that uses them in a simulated airframe is best.

HEEDS

LRU-20 Life raft

Raft Survival Items

Passenger Brief.  Operation of aircraft exits and seat belts.  Location of survival equipment and how to deploy it. Pay special attention here to make sure they know how to retrieve the raft if its stored in the cargo compartment and not active it in the plane.  Use and donning of PFD. Emphasis the importance of not activating the PFD until after egressing the plane  Crash position and actions to take in case of ditching.  Emergency egress procedures.  Actions taken after clear of plane in a crash or ditch.

Realization There Is a Problem and Communication With ATC Early recognition of the emergency and prompt contact with ATC are vital. Curse Don’t loose valuable time accept the reality. The sooner ATC is notified, the quicker search and rescue forces can be on the way, and you are more likely to be rescued. Also, ATC can give you vital information that might help in ditch such and wind and sea condition.. The most important information to get out is your location. Know how to get your position on your nav aids. If not give the best fix you can.

ALWAYS KNOW YOUR POSITION WHILE FLYING OVER WATER. IN AN EMERGENCY THERE MAY NOT BE TIME TO TRY AND FIGURE IT OUT.

Make Plane and Self Ready to Ditch  Transmit MAYDAY.  Assure ELT is turned on.  Assure all seat belts have been fastened and are tight.  Tighten all Life Vest straps.  Remove shoes only if they are a egress hazard or may damage raft.  Secure or Jettison all loose items.  Doors unlocked and ajar if possible  Review emergency exits and how to operate them.

Ditching Remember, never inflate raft or PFD until clear of the plane Have passengers assume the crash position no more then one min before touchdown, Read the wind and the seas. Touch down in such a manner as to have the minimum rate of deceleration and what's best for your plane design. The typical light plane will take only about 100 feet to stop, if that much.

Two Additional Things to Carry.  Seat Belt safety knife. Velcro knife to the vest of shoulder harness itself.  One hand open, or fixed blade knife. Keep in a place of easy access where it can be reached with one hand.

Getting Wet. How will the plane react to ditching. The plane may skip on impact with the water. If this happens warn everyone to stay in crash position and keep flying the aircraft at all times. The plane may nose into the water, briefly submerge and come to an abrupt stop. It is not unusual for the windscreen to cave in and water inundate the cabin. Be forewarned and don’t inadvertently swallow this water. The aircraft may flip over ending up on its back. No matter what happens, Maintain the crash position until all forward motion stops. Don’t panic. It is easy to become disoriented from the water rushing in.

Egress. Establish good reference point. Remove all gear except seat belt. Locate exit doors and windows open if needed Reestablish reference point. Take deep breath if possible Count to 8 Release seat belt Hand over hand to exit. NEVER GO BACK INTO TO THE PLANE TO HELP ANOTHER PERSON, REMAIN OUTSIDE, REACH IN AND PULL.

Safely Out  If you exited the aircraft under water head for the surface follow your air bubble or inflate your vest. Remember to keep a hand above your head incase you encountering debris.  Get clear and upwind of the aircraft as soon as possible, but stay in the vicinity until the aircraft sinks.  Get clear of fuel-covered water in case the fuel ignites.  Try to find the other survivors  You are in a survival situation.

Life Raft Inflate life raft First person inflate floor raise canopy Help remaining crew members into raft Inventory gear Establish leader Assign response abilities First aid Keep busy and maintain positive attitude

Life raft not available Muster with crew Tether yourselves together Inflate vest If water temp is below 98.6 assume the HELP position Inventory gear and activate signaling devises Post look out for predators Maintain positive attitude

Help Position. (Heat Escape Lessening Posture)

Hot Weather Considerations Cover your skin, wear possible use sun block Rig a sun shade or canopy Drink plenty water.

Cold considerations Rig a wind break or spry shield Give extra rations if available Huddle to maintain body temp. Put on anti exposure suit if available Apply ointment for wind burn

Psychology of Survival Tips to survival. Accept your situation. Act like a survivor. Don’t give up. Be positive. Pray. Survival is a state of mind between inaction and panic. Training drives us to action and decreases fear.

DON’T GIVE UP. Do not underestimate the will to live, People often survive what they believe they can survive. Some in seemingly unlivable circumstances. Steven Callahan survived for 76 days alone in a life raft in 1982,

Seven Steps of Survival Recognition. Inventory. Shelter. Signals. Water. Food. Play. Stranded 5 months on the ice, 22 men survive on the Endurance..

Recognition Recognize that you are in a survival situation. Your life depends to a large degree on your state of mind, think and act like a survivor. Curse. (get it over with, this is real.) Know your capabilities and limitations. Keep a positive attitude. Develop a realistic plan Anticipate fears Combat psychological stress. You are now on the beach

Inventory DON’T THROW ANYTHING AWAY, YOU MAY NEED IT LATER.  Take time to inventory your circumstances and resources. DON’T THROW ANYTHING AWAY, YOU MAY NEED IT LATER.  Determine what is working for and against you.  Where are you?  How is the weather?  What skills do you and your fellow survivors have?  Is there useful debris one the beach?  What is the crews physical and emotional state?  Is anyone injured.

Shelter In a survival situation, its not hunger or dehydration that kill you, it’s exposure. Even in temperate environments, the affects of wind, water and sun can cool the body and lead to hypothermia killing you directly or robbing you of your will to live.

Signals.  You are pre-supplies with signaling devices, use them to get attention and get rescued.  Turn on your EPIRB.  Have flares ready.  Use flares when target sighted.  Use signal mirror and sea dye marker.  Be creative to get your self found.  In short do all the things that we wish people would do when YOU are looking for them.

Active signals.  You are pre-supplies with signaling devices, use them to get attention and get rescued.  Turn on your EPIRB.  Have flares ready.  Use flares when target sighted.  Use signal mirror and sea dye marker.  Be creative to get your self found.  In short do all the things that we wish people would do when we are looking for them..

Water Water is critical for survival, drink 2 to 4 quarts of water a day to survive. Exertion, heat, injury and illness increase water loss. Without adequate water, most people will die within a week Do not drink.  Contaminated water.  Urine.  Fish juices.  Blood  Sea water  Alcohol Drinking these can lead to diarrhea and vomiting and increase the onset of dehydration

Food Food is a wonderful thing. It allows the body to repair itself and to resist infection, providing us with energy and body heat, keeps our brain functioning and helps ward off depression. Food is important, but most people can survive for a month or more with little or no food. That is why it is number six in the Seven Steps. Food can often be found in abundance if you know what is edible and where to look.Concentrate your food gathering efforts on. Plants. Berries. Seaweeds Fish Small mammals.

Play. You have recognized the emergency, done an inventory, built a shelter, put up signals, discovered a source of water to boil, and even found some food. Now play. Stay mentally active and physically busy, improve your shelter, signals, water catching and cooking arrangements. Tell stories and jokes, and emphasize the Positive. Continue to act like a survivor. Don’t be a victim.

Rescue Rescue is the final stage of your survival situation. Rescue can be a traumatic experience. Emotions on both sides of the missions can be high. You may be tired from your survival ordeal. Now that you have signaled for help and they have arrived relax and let the rescuers take the lead. If there is more then one person in distress, the rescuer will take the neediest first and come to you in turn. If rescued by a helicopter, there will be a lot of wind and confusion, don’t panic, close your eyes and experience a ride up the cable.

Conclusion. Ditching can be a very survival experience if you are prepared. Have the correct training. The correct gear. The correct frame of mind. And a will to survive.