When you are on vacation the last thing you expect is to
have to deal with a fire on board a ship, but being mentally
and physically prepared could help avoid damage. Most cruise
ships are very safe and emergencies are quite rare, but they
do happen as we have all learned with the fire onboard the
Carnival Splendor.[1] Cruise ships today can carry thousands
of passengers, so many in fact they are very much like
moving hotels. Their physical layouts with very long
corridors with huge numbers of identical or similar rooms on
different floors are conditions one needs to be aware of
during a fire in order to avoid injury or death.
!! Steps !!
* Participate fully in any muster drill. This is an exercise
designed for passengers to practice moving safely and quickly
during an emergency to prevent injury and save lives. Passengers
learn how to use life vests and about escape routes on their
ships. Muster drills are required by international law and for
good reason. While they may seem like a nuisance during a vacation
they are done for your own safety and well-being. (Some people try
to hide out in their cabins, but their attitude is likely to
increase their risk of injury.) Rehearsing your movements and
safety precautions before an actual emergency could prove to be
the difference between life and death. Imagine the chaos of
thousands of panicking people. The muster drill is your chance to
practice the things that could save your life.
* Seek out all fire/emergency information available on the ship for
passengers, such as pamphlets, brochures, or maps. You can also
inquire about the availability of presentations from ship staff
about what to do during a fire or other emergency. Accurate
information you can read, or view in a video or listen to in a
presentation should help prepare you in case you need to move
rapidly away from smoke or fire.
* Walk the routes from your cabin door to fire exits, or other
access to open air. Make mental notes about the location of your
cabin and the paths you will travel in order to get to fresh air.
Then note the possibility a fire might begin at night and you
might have to move in darkness from your cabin to the fire exits.
If you are aware of this possibility and imagine it, there is less
chance of panicking, and panicking generally causes people to make
poor decisions and lose their ability to think clearly in an
emergency. Make sure you have at least one back-up route from
your cabin away from smoke or fire in case your first pathway is
blocked.
* Pack a flashlight or two with extra batteries in your luggage, in
case the ship's interior lights are not working during a fire
and your room and corridor are dark. Cabin doors and corridors on
ships look very similar and the experience of being of being on a
very large cruise ship can be like walking in a large maze where
it is easy to become confused and disoriented, even with normal
lighting.
* Consider the fact if a large amount of smoke is present in the
hallway when you open your cabin door, you will have to crawl on
the floor because smoke rises, and there should be better air
quality at floor level. Also carbon monoxide could be in the
air[2], and staying low helps to avoid it. It should be avoided
because breathing will cause a person to pass out, and it is
odorless so it isn't easily detected.
* If no instruction has been given about where to go during an
emergency for leaving the ship, inquire about how you can learn
this information. Or if it has been given, but you were not paying
attention, or unclear on some points, then ask for instruction
again. Also, make sure you don't blow off such safety training
for a trip to the buffet or entertainments, because it could save
your life.
* Pack some food in your luggage that does not need to be
refrigerated. If power is lost on the ship, food that requires
refrigeration will spoil quickly and you may have nothing to eat
if the ship's food supply also is spoiled and there is no way to
cook properly. If you pack prepared foods such as crackers,
cookies, granola bars, or dry cereal at least you will have safe
food to get you through the ordeal. Having a reliable source of
safe food can be very emotionally reassuring during a time of high
stress.In addition you may want to bring some bottled water just
in case drinking water is not available.
* Maintain calm by doing whatever coping activities you have learned
which reduce your stress, such as deep breathing (if the air is
clean) stretching, holding a positive attitude, being observant,
listening rather than talking, and not panicking.
!! Video !!
!! Tips !!
* Bring extra doses of medication onboard in case a ship is disabled
and is at sea longer than the scheduled trip, so you don't run
out of medications you need to maintain your health.
* You may want to practice tracing your pathways from your cabin
door to fire exits with whomever you are traveling with, or the
people in cabins next to you. Working with others in groups can
reinforce the new behavior, and it can lead to enjoyable social
interaction. It may also help create a sense of community with
people around you so you are more likely to help each other and
communicate.
* Pack warm clothing in case the ship's heating system is disabled
during an emergency. You might have to remain onboard in unheated
conditions, including nights waiting for the ship to be towed to a
port or during an evacuation process which requires hours because
there are several thousand people who go before you. Also, extra
layers of clothing can keep you warm if you are ever on an
unheated lifeboat, which also may be uncovered. In addition, pack
any waterproof clothing such as a jacket, gloves or hat.
* If you wear contacts and can't see without them, make sure to
bring prescription glasses with you so if you have to wake up in
the middle of the night you can quickly put on your glasses and
go, instead of spending precious minutes handling and inserting
contacts. In emergencies every second matters.
* Request a map of the ship and your cabin's location BEFORE you
get on the ship so you could study it at home.
* Test the smoke alarm in your cabin. If it is not working report it
to the ship staff. All smoke alarms on ships[3] must be working in
order to protect passengers.
!! Warnings !!
* Smoke inhalation causes lung damage, blackouts, and death, so even
when there are small amounts of smoke you need to pay attention
and make sure you are moving away from smoke and towards fire
exits.[4] Smoke inhalation causes more deaths than burns during
fires.
* Getting drunk on a cruise ship is probably not a good idea, as one
might sleep through fire alarms and not wake up in time to escape.
* Wearing ear plugs at night is not a safe practice on a cruise ship
because you might not hear fire alarms, or other warning alarms,
and therefore would be sleeping when you need to be awake, alert
and ready to move away from danger or get in a lifeboat.
!! Sources And Citations !!
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