Fire Fighting Training

If there was a fire in your workplace for you home would you know what to do? There are few people out there who know how to fight fires. Working an living on board a ship you are onboard a floating time bomb. This is mainly focused towards tankers but any ship if it is in the middle of the sea is basically left the experience of eth crew to control a fire. On a ship you are in an environment where if there is a fire on board you cant ring the fire brigade to come and help, you are it! Fire training is a huge part of shipboard trills and safety management. On my current ship we have fir drills every week. We muster, gear up and get involved in pre-planned fire scenarios. Sometimes this may include a dangerous goods spillage on deck, electrical wires involved, medical casualty and some even end in the crew having to abandon ship (just in practice sense) At all times on board we are to know where the nearest emergency exit is, the closest fire extinguisher and alarm call point and also the quickest action to be taken in that area. Whether it is to contain the fire by shutting the fire doors, attacking it by yourself if it is manageable, or evacuating the area and going to muster stations. It all depends on the situation at the time. All we can do as crew on board a ship is know that we are confident and competent in using the fire fighting equipment and know the procedures to be followed to ensure safety in an emergency.
Training done on board ships these days usually involve a smoke machine to give a drill a real life feeling. In some drills the masks of the crew wearing the BA gear get covered up so they cant see where they are going. Everything is dodne by sound, touch and senses.