2007, Piran, Slovenia

Environmental Ergonomics XII
Igor B. Mekjavic, Stelios N. Kounalakis & Nigel A.S. Taylor (Eds.), © BIOMED, Ljubljana 2007
CASUALTY RECOVERY AND HANDLING ON SMALL RESCUE
CRAFT
Clare Eglin 1 , Geoff David 2 , Frank Golden 1 , Michael Tipton 1
1 Department of Sport & Exercise Science, Institute of Biomedical & Biomolecular Sciences,
University of Portsmouth, UK
2 Robens Centre for Health Ergonomics, EIHMS, University of Surrey, UK
Contact person: clare.eglin@port.ac.uk
INTRODUCTION
In the UK Oil Industry sector of the North Sea, Fast Rescue Craft (FRC) and Daughter Craft
(DC) are involved in rescuing and recovering man over board (MOB) casualties, or survivors
from ditched helicopters. DC are specialised FRC, they are slightly larger and may have a
cabin to provide shelter from the elements for the three crew members (coxswain and two
boatmen) and a limited number of survivors. FRC and DC are normally deployed from, and
work in conjunction with, an Emergency Response & Rescue Vessel (ERRV). They are
designed to operate away from the ERRV rather than only being launched in an emergency.
The primary function of a DC is to provide close support and to assist in either the recovery of
people from the water or survival craft, or in the evacuation of an offshore installation in
conjunction with other vessels. The aim of the present work was to examine the capacity of
the crew to perform both single and multiple casualty handling on a small boat at sea.
METHODS
Ethical approval was obtained from local Ethics Committees. The investigations were
undertaken on an 11.6 m (38 ft) DC in the southern North Sea using the crew and facilities of
an ERRV. All volunteers gave their written informed consent to participate in the sea trials. A
total of 9 male DC crew volunteered for the study (mean [sd] age = 31 [6] years; stature = 181
[9] cm; mass = 79 [14] kg; experience on DC = 9.8 [6] years).
Man overboard (MOB) exercises: A lightweight dummy casualty (35kg) was put overboard
and the DC motored away to a distance of around 25 metres to begin the recovery exercise.
The DC approached from behind (port side to) and one crewmember attached himself to a
safety line, and moved forward along the deck with a boat hook to reach the dummy in the
water. Once secured, the dummy was manoeuvred towards the stern until it could be reached
by two crew members and dragged onboard the stern deck, from where it was carried to the
cabin door. The time from initially securing the dummy with the boat hook to drawing it to
the position for lifting was recorded (manoeuvre time), as was the time to lift, recover it from
the water and carry it to the cabin door (rescue time). Immediately following completion of
the recovery task the subject’s heart rate (HR, Polar watch), rating of perceived exertion
(RPE, “minimal” - 6 to “maximal possible” – 20, Borg Scale), and grip strength (GS, handheld
dynamometer) in either hand were recorded. Four MOB exercises were conducted in a
sea state of 3.5 to 4 m with 2 crew members (each contributing to the recovery as best they
could in the cramped and restricted space available). The following casualty recovery
scenarios were simulated in a calm sea with an estimated 0.5 m swell: (1) One dummy
recovered by 2 crew members; (2) One dummy recovered by 3 crew members (one to secure
dummy the other 2 to lift the dummy on board); (3) Ten dummies recovered by 2 crew
members in succession. (4) Ten dummies recovered by 3 crew members in succession (one to
secure dummy the other 2 to drag the dummy on board). (5) Two dummies recovered using a
Jason’s Cradle by 2 crew members: the Jason’s Cradle allowed the dummy to be lifted onto
the aft deck (rolled inboard over the side) as opposed to hauling the casualty from the water.
560