288 seamanship secrets
use a towel or scarf. A jacket or PFD protects the chest sides. To protect
the remaining zones: armpits, groin, and behind the knees (see below: Use
the H.E.L.P. survival position), you must be wearing a life jacket. A Type I
PFD/life jacket is the most eff ective PFD available (see photo).- Reduce body-core immersion. Attempt to get as much of your body out of
the water as possible. Pull yourself up onto large pieces of fl otation or fl otsam.
Th e more body zones that you free from immersion, the slower your body
will cool. - Reduce movement. Th e University of Victoria in British Columbia conducted
extensive tests on cold-water survival times. Th e results showed that a person
in motion lost heat 82% faster than when still. If someone falls overboard,
you must get a PFD to them right away. Remember, they might soon lose the
ability to grasp an object or don a life jacket. - Train your crew on in-the-water PFD donning. Show your crew how to
don a PFD if they fall overboard. Th is requires a totally diff erent approach
than donning one on dry land. Use a Type I or II PFD during practice. For
more realism, get onto your knees in front of a table. Th is places the table
top near chin height and simulates the water surface for a person in the
water.
Th e bulky Type I life jacket off ers the best protection of your heat-loss zones. It is the only
true “life jacket” and turns an unconscious person from a face-down to a face-up position.