Fishermen First Aid and Safety Training
Don’t let the amputated thumb distract you.
Angee Doerr of Sea Grant Oregon coaches several fishermen-trainees on how to assess and assist a comrade out cold on the deck. Photo courtesy of Mark C. Anderson
Not from the dangerous deck conditions brought on by heavy seas. Not from your spiking heart rate. Not from the hidden foot wound that might kill the fisherman missing the finger without anyone noticing.
That wisdom ranks highly among the lessons soaked up by local fishermen who participated in last weekend’s first annual Fisherman First Aid and Safety Training (FFAST) hosted by Monterey Bay Fisheries Trust in partnership with California and Oregon Sea Grant.
Prominently featured is a tool called the assessment pyramid, which moves a person through assessing scene safety: first with priority issues, then secondary and tertiary reads of the incident. After that is the decision whether to call the Coast Guard and evacuate a patient, or treat at sea and keep fishing.
This approach proves handy for any human, but particularly for those often found far away from dry land and any emergency room.
The inspiration for the workshop is precisely that. Perilous situations await all who head out to sea, as the workshop’s student workbook lays out up front.
“Commercial fishing is a dangerous and challenging occupation,” the introduction reads. “The risk of injury is always present.”
Like one of the attending fishermen, Wesley Williams, puts it, noting a fish spine in his foot has already sent him to the hospital: “Commercial fishing is not a joke. It’s the hardest job I've had in my life.”
Then he adds, “With this class I’m definitely feeling better about how to assess things when you come up on an emergency situation and the steps to go through to ensure your own safety and safety of the crew.”
Doerr and Ashleigh Palinkas practice helpful acronyms with the assembled Monterey Bay fisherfolk. Photo courtesy of Mark C. Anderson
California Sea Grant (CSG) organized the two-day session, which was held at the Santa Cruz Harbor’s Public Meeting Room, with simulated drills aboard the FV Classic Lady, one of Santa Cruz’s resident commercial fishing vessels. (Its captain, Doug Gilbert, was among those who attended.)
California Sea Grant is a unique organization whose partnership unites the resources of the federal government (including NOAA Fisheries), the State of California and dozens of universities across it to benefit the economy, the environment and the citizens of California. It was built upon a similar land grant program to support the agriculture industry through science, research and innovation. CSG is simply the coastal equivalent of that earlier effort.
In this case, CSG was building upon an Oregon Sea Grant program designed to protect Oregon-based fisherman safety and keep them fishing. Veteran instructor Angee Doerr of Oregon Sea Grant (based in Newport) joined the original California installment to help lead and train staff to run these courses in California.
CSG Marine Research Associate Ashleigh Palinkas oversaw the affair, and the slate of activities proved brisk. One morning alone included training and simulation drills around evacuations, hypothermia/frostbite, abdominal injuries, how to move wounded crew, drowning epidemiology and prevention, and more.
“This is targeted survival skills, with more realistic scenarios that would be likely to happen on a boat, removing the assumption you can get someone to the hospital within minutes or even hours,” Palinkas says. “It’s critical for me to make it interesting and engaging, and not death by PowerPoint.”
California Sea Grant research associate Emily Miller ran support.
“It’s the best safety training fishermen can get besides wilderness first responder,” she says.
On top of that, the weekend workshop was provided free of charge, with breakfast and lunch included. (Wilderness first responder classes, meanwhile, can take up to eight days and run $2,400+.)
Monterey Bay Fisheries Trust partnered with CSG staff to plan the event, and helped spread word of the class and arrange facilities. Santa Cruz Harbormaster Blake Anderson also promoted the event and provided the meeting space free of charge.
No death by powerpoint here: Fishermen took turns playing the impaled, knocked out, or otherwise bruised and bleeding victims while the Sea Grant team led them through the ways to navigate the trauma.
“It sounds bleak, but once you start thinking about what can go wrong [out there], you realize how much really can!” Palinkas says. “It’s heavy information and we do a lot of repetition, so when they find themselves in the scenario, it removes a lot of decision-making under stress, creating a controlled response rather than a frantic reaction.”
The familiar team that staffs the San Giovanni simulates stabilizing a broken leg. Photo courtesy of Mark C. Anderson
At one point a fisherman pantomimes the loss of a finger and his colleagues run through stages of assessment, including vital signs with the help of acronym’d checklists like AVPU (alertness, verbal response, pain response, unresponsiveness).
“Don't rush! Do the same assessment every time and it's easy!” Doerr says. “Don’t let the amputated thumb distract you from other issues!”
Peter Donato-Leeming, who fishes off the Mas Tiempo out of Santa Cruz Harbor, played the amputee. He lost his finger but not the wisdom.
“I've been on the water for 27 years, so I’m familiar with all the stupid things you can do on the ocean,” he says. “The instructors are fantastic. Having people who are really knowledgeable and can answer all your questions—What about this scenario?—is hugely valuable. The whole team was great at content delivery. I know it sounds basic but it’s not: I feel a lot more confident responding to a medical emergency at sea.”
Completing the course means fisherfolk can meet the U.S. Coast Guard requirement that one or more crew on board be first aid- and CPR-trained. It also provides powerful capabilities and the peace of mind that comes with it—and, by the way, a free first aid kit filled with equipment they spent the class days learning how to use..
Palinkas helps put the arc of the weekend in perspective.
“You get people coming in not having any idea of what to expect, who are a little skeptical, or who are safety nerds and super excited,” she says. “However they arrive, halfway through the second day their minds are blown and they’re thinking, ‘I want to learn even more about safety.’”
Learn more and find additional resources at FFAST’s parent, Fishermen Led Injury Prevention Program.