Drills, drills, drills.

As the Africa Mercy nears its departure from Liberia, we are spending more time drilling for those emergencies we hope will never happen. Yesterday we had a Fire Drill, in which I led Fire Team 4 into a smoke filled cabin using breathing apparatus, searched and located one victim, extracted her from the scene, checked her vital signs, and delivered her to the waiting Emergency Medical Team for treatment. It was great fun, although I got covered in tomato ketchup which the victim was using as simulated blood. Today we had a Lifeboat Drill, in which I worked as a Sternman on one of the ship's huge 150 person lifeboats, which we lowered and raised in preparation for our 5 day sail to Gran Canaria. This is where many hours of safety training over the last four years pays off. Pictured, a 150 person lifeboat like ours. Olly