Elements and Performance Criteria
- Prepare for flight.
- Listen to and follow pre-flight instructions from pilot or boarding controller
- Undertake pre-flight preparation including wearing appropriate clothing and personal safety equipment such as immersion suits and personal floatation devices (life jacket)
- Check own gear for suitability including covered footwear, long trousers, and no loose items or hats
- Check the supplied safety gear is fitted and worn correctly
- Board the helicopter
- Approach helicopter as directed by the pilot or ground crew
- Put on seat belt and hearing protection.
- Familiarise oneself with the helicopter layout
- Locate and identify all the safety equipment
- Locate and identify primary and secondary exits
- Listen to instructions on emergency egress from the aircraft.
- Prepare for helicopter ditching
- Facilitate a controlled and safe egress from a ditched helicopter from a knowledge of helicopter layout, including the location and operation of emergency exits and equipment
- Secure personal items within the cabin prior to the evacuation to facilitate escape
- Check harnesses, seat belts and life jackets to ensure that they are properly fastened and secured prior to the ditching in order to minimise personal injury or gear failure
- Adopt the required brace position in order to allow for proper positioning prior to ditching
- Acknowledge and respond to information communicated by the helicopter crew advising the nature and extent of the situation.
- Undertake evacuation from the helicopter
- Identify appropriate primary and secondary escape routes in order to determine the locations through which the evacuation will be undertaken
- Wait until rotors have stopped turning and all movement has ceased
- Undo, in a controlled sequential manner seat belts and harnesses to facilitate exit from the helicopter
- Deploy available safety equipment as instructed in order to assist the individual's sea survival after evacuation has been safely completed
- Acknowledge and respond to information communicated by the helicopter crew advising the nature and extent of the situation.
- Facilitate recovery process
- Deploy position indicating devices and use appropriate signalling devices to facilitate the location of personnel by air-sea rescue group
- Use emergency supplies and equipment to ensure that available supplies are maximised and are able to meet the nature and extent of the emergency
- Apply appropriate helicopter/vessel rescue techniques to the recovery process.
- Control hazards.
- Identify and act upon potential hazards to minimise injury to personnel or damage to equipment
- Manage use of life raft by applying a knowledge of life raft operation and requirements
- Apply suitable swimming techniques (whilst wearing life jacket) in the water in order to aid movement and boarding of the deployed life raft
- Rescue and recover persons in the water, minimising further potential for injury through the appropriate raft boarding and righting techniques.
- Employ suitable techniques, both in the life raft and in the water, in order to delay the onset of hypothermia
- Assess and treat hypothermia as required.