Heidi Wigman: Drill, Baby, Drill! May 26, 2015

NOAA Teacher at Sea
Heidi Wigman
Aboard NOAA Ship Pisces
May 27 – June 10, 2015

Mission: Reef Fish Surveys on the U.S. Continental Shelf
Geographical area of cruise: currently @ 30°22.081’N 088°33.789’W (Pascagoula, MS)
Date: May 26, 2015

Weather Data from Bridge: 82°, wind SW @ 10 knots , 90% precipitation, waves 3-5 @ 3 sec.

Science and Technology Log

We are 3 hours from raising anchor, untying from the dock, and heading out to sea.  Being aboard the Pisces for 2 days before departure turned out to be a blessing: getting to map out the lay of the 206′ labyrinth, hanging out with the crew, and even getting in a couple of runs around Pascagoula (even in the extreme humidity).

Yesterday was a day of dewatering drills, in case of lower-level compartment flooding.  We used the diesel and the electric pumps to run through set-up in the event of a flood in the engine compartment.  As the resident TAS, I don’t think that I would necessarily be relied upon to place gear in an emergency, but nevertheless, I wasn’t going to sit out and miss all of the fun.

Today we are running through a series of drills: fire, man overboard, and abandon ship.  Each of these events has a series of alerts that indicate what the emergency is, and all hands are to report to their designated muster areas – in the case of an abandon ship, that would be the life rafts.  Each of these drills also requires everyone to bring their immersion suits and PFD (Personal Flotation Device), and in my case, to don the suit.

Another training that we did today was to learn how to use the Ocenco EEBD (Emergency Escape Breathing Device) – basically a cool re-breather that fits in a pouch and provides about 10 minutes of fresh oxygen. This would generally be used in case of a fire, not if you are submerged.

So, with all of the drills and trainings, I feel ready for any major disaster that we may encounter while at sea.  Thanks NOAA Corps for making sure that I am safe and in good hands!