Last weekend’s training took the whole weekend, with 9 base and boat crew volunteers taking part in First Aid training.Â
This is the first wave (see what we did there?) of refresher training for established crew teams and new training for the latest volunteers, for the Level 3 First Aid at Work course.
The first part of the course involved 6 hours of in-depth online training, then two days of practicals delivered by tutor Corrina Anderson, who was amazing in guiding everyone through the practicals and in ensuring that our understanding and competencies are fully in place so that, if the need arises, we can be there to support any emergency, or rescue situation with the appropriate first aid until the emergency medical services arrive.
There were plenty of action shots taken across the two days. Day 1 provided quite a few out-takes as those newbies amongst the crew got to grips with slings, CPR and burns first aid. Passers by were treated to the sight of us all in the boathouse all gloved up and in various stages of dressing (s)!
But such sights were all in a good cause as by the time the assessments took place on day 2, our practice had paid off and we were able to offer a clean sweep of competencies when it came to the practicals, the written / oral questions and our reflective practice: with all 9 volunteers passing the course.
Of course, we’d prefer never to have to use any of this training, but beaches can be dangerous places and accidents happen so it’s essential to have the skills which help us prepare for any eventuality on a call out or a situation on the beach.
When we’re there, our boathouse base is a First Aid point for Pett Level beach, and now there will be many more first aiders around to help provide these services to beach visitors. In fact, from now and particularly once more crew complete the training, we should have qualified first aiders available on the boats and at the base, at the same time.
Special thanks go to Corrina for giving up her time to come and spend the whole weekend with us, and to Kev for organising it all. Oh, and for the fact that it’s happening all over again for another raft of crew members and trainees in the Autumn … Corrina was amazing so we can’t wait to welcome her back to do it all over again! Thanks so much for supporting us with this training, Corrina!
Another busy morning of training down at the base today! The boat house was given over to a wonderful crew of friendly and talented artists exhibiting work for sale in support of us – thanks so much to all of you for your support.
With the boat house being extra busy, this gave us a good chance to focus today’s training session on land rather than using the boat and launch vehicles. So radio and geographical co-ordinate and bearings practice were the ideal aspects for experienced crew members to support new trainees in learning.
From the base, two separate crew teams were dispatched across the Pett area with radios, in order to practice radio calls, responding to and reporting co-ordinates and in reporting conditions / geographical positions accurately so that locations can be identified even without specif co-ordinates (as can arise in rescue situations).
Trainee volunteers are all working hard to complete the training requirements needed to become fully fledged crew members and radio practice is a vital part of this. Many volunteers are also in the process of taking their formal marine radio course so today’s training also supports their progress in this.
We’ve also been finalising plans for next week’s gala Open Day, so please pop the date onto the calendar and come along to see us … you’re assured of a warm welcome, fun, games and entertainment and a display using both boats. See you then!
Today’s training session brought the base and boat crews the challenge of an exceptionally low tide and the need to launch both boats in order to practice towing and use of stretcher between the two boats.
This meant that Kev had to get both boats down to the sea in tandem, using the tractor. This kind of double launch is particular hazardous on the steep shingle ridge: it’s important to keep an eye on the front, to avoid jack-knifing the boat / tractor combination because if this happened, the rear would also jack-knife.
And that’s without the hazards associated with moving vehicles on the beach generally, and the additional problems of a low tide launch in the Pett beach area: submerged hazards, sinking sand and slippery rocks and timbers.
Oh and did we mention that on a bright, sunny Sunday in July the beach is already starting to get busy with swimmers, sunbathers, walkers and dog walkers?
Thankfully, Kev’s not only up to the challenge but also extremely skilled in manoeuvring the tractor safely.
Once safely launched, the two crews practised boat towing between both boats – it’s particularly important that the crew of the smaller Tornado practice handling and controlling the towing of a larger boat, in case they need to take this action in a rescue situation. In this instance, although the term used is ‘towing’ technically the smaller vessel is actually using a controlled ‘push’ to manoeuvre the large boat to safety.
The crews also took the opportunity to practice stretcher handling between the two boats. This particular activity is an extension of recent casualty retrieval training, as managing a casualty safely is of paramount importance:
To prevent further injury
To ensure the casualty is comfortable (as possible) during transfer to the ambulance.
To ensure that crew are well practised in casualty retrieval.
There are limited photographs of the crews actually training today as they were necessarily a long way from shore (and the paddling photographer) with such a low tide!
Successful stretcher and ‘casualty’ retrieval of crew trainee Rob
Two boats, one low tide, one successful training session!
Back to Sunday May 27th’s casualty retrieval training and session #3 involved finding a casualty at the Cliff End of the beach. For training purposes, the casualty had fallen off the groyne and had sustained a hip injury.
Of course, in this kind of situation, the casualty may be aware of ‘where it hurts’ in respect of an injury but of course there may be other hidden injuries too, so the first aiders in the crew had to treat and handle the casualty in a way which would minimise pain and prevent exacerbation of any other potential injuries typical in a fall, such as back, pelvis or neck injuries.
Once the injuries were assessed and it was identified that the stretcher would be needed, extra crew were brought along with the stretcher to help handle the stretcher safely across the very rough, rocky part of the beach.
In a real-life incident an ambulance would have been called to be ready at base for the casualty to receive paramedic attention and transportation to hospital as quickly as possible.
Sunday 27th May 2018’s beautiful weather and rising tide offered great conditions for a very busy training session! The main focus was casualty retrieval, carried out over several different exercises which involved crew acting as casualties and both Bob and Resusci Annie dummies being used.
In fact, there was so much going on that the morning’s training for the PLIRB volunteer crew has been split across a series of posts, so that the images don’t overload the blog page!
The focus was on the types of rescue and casualty retrieval which most commonly happen around the local beach areas – and the first one of these was retrieval of an individual who was uninjured, but cut off by the tide down towards Cliff End, notorious for its disappearing under-cliff beach once the tide turns.
🙂 Apologies for the hazy quality of some of the photos, it was just so sunny for a change!
It’s been a busy weekend for the boat and crews, with the Margaret and John Pulfer boat due back out twice more in the afternoon, so this morning’s training session was mainly shore-based and equipment training.
To get things going, nature provided its own training challenge! After yesterday’s vertical shingle ‘wall’ for the tractor to negotiate, today’s surprise was in the form of a dead tree, left by the retreating tide right in the middle of the launch area. This would be a hazard not only to the PLIRB boats and trailer during launch and recovery – a tree that size in the water could easily take the blades off the propeller – but also to other boats and beach users.
Once again, Kev’s tractor-management expertise meant the tractor was able to be positioned as close as possible for retrieving the tree. Meanwhile, trainees were challenged with the task of tying appropriate knots to the ropes needed for the tractor to haul the tree back up.
After this, full crew and Launch Authority Darren took trainee volunteers through vital training, including:
Dinghy recovery.
Inventory and familiarisation with the Pulfer boat and equipment.
Propeller changing (on dry land today, but there are times when the propeller may need to be changed at sea.Â
Familiarising with GPS dashboard on the boat.
Then it was time to get the boat prepared for the afternoon’s events, so more time well spent down at the PLIRB!
Don’t forget to stop by if you are interested in volunteering for us or supporting us!Â
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