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Training can help you survive the perfect storm
Getting out of a sinking ship in a storm could be very difficult - unless you're doing sea survival training at the National Maritime College in Cork. Cormac McSweeney, a lecturer at the college, shows SCOPE the survival craft jetty where trainees can get a feeling for what it's like to launch a free fall lifeboat. The lifeboat has fire-retardant material built into it and it also has built-in buoyancy tanks (tanks of air to keep it afloat). Inside the boat there's a compressed air supply system, so the occupants are not breathing fumes from outside the boat. Buoyancy "What we do is get everybody on board, get everybody strapped in and the lifeboat freefalls," says Cormac. "People don't like to say things are unsinkable but with the buoyancy in it, should it get into an area where it has been damaged and it does flood, it won't sink." SCOPE checks out some more high-tech sea survival kit at the college. Peter Walter, a nautical science lecturer, can turn what looks like an ordinary swimming pool into a nautical storm. The pool is actually an environmental tank or sea survival training pool. It's very different to a normal swimming pool. Here's how:
Our brave SCOPE presenters check out the pool - but not before putting on some special dry suits, or survival suits. "They are designed to breathe and yet they're still waterproof," says Peter. "Water doesn't contact your skin at all." Cold water Peter says that when a person falls into cold water, their body goes through a whole series of natural reactions. Below 50 degrees Centigrade, the body experiences cold water shock, a natural reaction to being immersed in cold water. Cold water shock lasts two or three minutes and during this time, here's what happens to the body:
The colder the water is, the greater the onset of unconsciousness and possibly death. Courses at the National Maritime College range from marine engineering to a degree in nautical science. Shorter courses include: personal survival techniques, navigation and radar training, certificate of proficiency in survival craft, marine fire fighting and first aid. The sea can be a very dangerous place. Science is behind using the best training and equipment to make it as safe as possible. Learn more: Visit the careers at sea website. Read more about survival at sea Find out about where to do a sea survival course |
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