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New training DVD hones offshore medical skills
A new training DVD aimed at maintaining and enhancing the basic medical skills of North Sea rescue vessel crews – often the first personnel on the scene of an offshore incident - has been launched.
The DVD, entitled Beyond the Call, brings key medical training material for emergency response and rescue vessel crews right up to date, and is already being used by all the major standby vessel companies supporting the offshore energy industry.
Produced by the Emergency Response and Rescue Vessel Association (ERRVA), it is also aimed at illustrating to the industry more broadly, the life-saving role crews can play as they daily support offshore activity.
John Wilson of ERRVA said:
“Around 3,000 people are employed to crew standby vessels and they are routinely at the forefront of the response to offshore incidents and rescues. As the first people on scene their basic medical skills can help keep people alive until professional medical help is able to take over.
“It is vital that the tools are in place to refresh and update their medical capabilities. This DVD outlines the latest medical practices that they can deploy, and does so in an innovative, interactive way that enhances training sessions.
“It is intended it will become part of crews’ wider ongoing development and training programmes run by their employers, and is capable of being updated to reflect changing medical practices as they develop.
“At the same time, it serves to illustrate the dangerous and often underrated work that these crews perform, so we hope the DVD will also help convey something of their role to the wider offshore industry that they serve on a 24/7 basis.”
Featuring footage of emergency response and rescue crews at work, its development was supported by the UK Offshore Operators’ Association (UKOOA).
John Wilson added: “Many industry organisations, individual operators, training providers and other industry parties contributed in one form or another to the completion of the DVD, and we are extremely grateful for the co-operation we received. It is very much a product for the industry, created by the industry.”
ENDS (24.02.05)
Issued on behalf of ERRVA by the BIG Partnership. For further information contact Bill Phillips on (01224) 224425 or 07970 544663.
Note to editors:
ERRVA is an Association representing ship owners/operators involved in emergency response and rescue vessel activities on the European Continental Shelf. It has 10 members owning/operating 115 emergency response vessels.