April 11, 2017 — Don’t put the injured on the raft first, they can slow down the evacuation.
Don’t stow survival suits below decks.
Don’t leave port without a Nerf football.
This was some of the wisdom imparted to a group of 35 commercial fishermen gathered at Coast Guard Station Menemsha on a gray, windy Thursday morning, where, appropriately, a storm front was bearing down on the Vineyard.
It was day one of two training days for commercial fishermen — along with sailors, harbormasters, and shellfish constables — provided by Burlington-based Fishing Partnership Support Services (FPSS).
The focus of the day one was safety and survival. Participants rotated among six training modules: man overboard procedure, firefighting and flares, survival suits, helicopter hoist operations, flooding and pump operations, first aid and CPR, and life raft equipment.
“Part of the success of this program is that it’s very hands-on,” Ed Dennehy, FPSS Director of Safety told The Times. “They will put out an actual fire. They will put on survival suits and get into the cold water. They control flooding and leaks in a simulator provided by the Coast Guard.”
FPSS has been providing this training all over New England, primarily in Massachusetts, for the past 11 years. The program has been so successful, it has spread beyond New England to New York.