Tag Archives: training from the U.S. Coast Guard
Commercial fishermen undergo safety training in Charleston
The water was somewhere between 45 and 50 degrees and here I was about to jump in. Though I had donned the bulky orange survival suit, which would protect me from the quick onset of hypothermia, I had been told that hypothermia could still set in after days spent in the water. Of course, I would only be bobbing like a cork in the Charleston harbor for maybe 15 minutes, but the idea was still daunting. This was the end of a two-day safety training for commercial fishermen. It was to teach us what to do when a boat starts to sink. Though I was only tagging along for the end, it is a requirement for commercial fishermen to earn the certification. Every vessel must have at least one certified safety instructor, and to get certified these fishermen undergo two days of training from the U.S. Coast Guard. A group of 10 men joined in on that training this week under the direction of Commercial Fishing Safety Examiner and Coast Guard civilian Steve Kee, who also threw me in the water to understand a small piece of what it would be like in a fast-moving crisis. continue reading the story here 14:58
