Baja Marine Performance 342 - Manual (Page 21)

342 Performance ® 1.11
S
ection
1 • S
afety
a. M
eDical
e
MerGencY
you may be far from professional medical help when
you are boating. at least two people on board your
boat should be CPR certified, and should have
taken a first aid course. Equip your boat with a
first aid kit.
b. W
aTer
r
escue
a person who has fallen overboard will die from
hypothermia in water temperatures below 70 ° f if
not rescued quickly. Water rescue consist of three
steps: returning to the victim, making contact with
the victim, and getting the victim back on board.
Returning to the Victim
• Immediately make everyone aware of the incident
and keep the victim in sight.
• slow the boat and keep pointing toward the person
overboard. at night, direct the best available light
source at the person.
• Throw a life preserver, even if the person is wearing
a PfD. It will serve as another marker.
Making Contact
• slow the boat and circle toward the victim.
• Try to approach heading into the wind or into the
waves.
• keep the victim on the right (starboard) side so the
boat operator has the victim constantly in sight.
• When almost alongside, turn off the engine in gear
to prevent propeller "windmilling."
Getting Back Aboard
• Try to reach the victim with a pole, or by throwing
a life preserver. Do not swim to rescue the victim,
except as a last resort.
• assist the person in boarding the boat. The person
should normally be brought in over the stern.
• If the person is injured or cannot get into the boat,
a rescuer should put on a PfD with a safety line
attached to the boat and enter the water to assist
the victim.
• handle the victim with care. spinal injuries may have
occurred.
c. f
ire
fire is a serious boating hazard. Boats can burn
quickly. Do not remain on board and fight a fire
for more than a few minutes. If the fire cannot be
extinguished within a few minutes, abandon the
boat.
Have fire extinguishers handy. A small fire can be
extinguished quickly with the right size and type of
fire extinguisher.
• Extinguish smoking materials, shut off blowers,
stoves, engines and generators.
• Throw burning materials overboard, if possible.
• If the fire is accessible, empty the contents of fire
extinguishers at the base of the flames.
• If the fire is in the engine compartmentand you have
an automatic extinguisher that activates, wait 15
minutes before opening the compartment. have a
portable extinguisher ready in case the fire flares
up.
• signal for help.
• grab distress signals and survival gear. Put on
PfDs. Prepare to abandon ship.
D. f
looDinG
, s
WaMpinG anD
c
apsizinG
In the event of flooding, swamping or capsizing:
• Try to shut off engines, generators and blowers
before leaving the boat.
• have everyone put on Personal flotation Devices
(PfDs).
• account for all who were on board.
• If the boat is floating stay with the boat. Hang on, or
climb on the boat and signal for help.
• Only as a last resort should you attempt to swim to
shore - it is further away than it looks and you can
tire and drown.