Volunteer personnel from Ramsey RNLI Lifeboat Station have recently achieved qualifications in two intensive training courses, the RNLI Casualty Care Course and the RYA Yacht Master theory course.
The Casualty Care Course was facilitated by an RNLI mobile training unit and instructor Vicky Tomalin, an RNLI Sea Survival and First Aid Trainer. The aim of the course is to train crew to a level which enables them to confidently carry out the principles and practices of casualty care to the injured or sick at sea or on land. Nineteen volunteer crew gave up their evenings to participate in the course.
The course, developed by the RNLI charity, was held at the lifeboat station over the last two weeks in eight 3 hour sessions. It has a symptom based approach and meets all the criteria approved by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency and is recognised by the British Paramedic Association, and the Anaesthetic, Trauma and Critical Care Association.
Volunteers are trained to deal with a whole range of injuries and illnesses and the use of specialist items of first aid equipment that are routinely carried on board RNLI lifeboats. Although there are two multiple choice exam papers, the content of the course is predominantly practical with crew members demonstrating hands on competency in the assessment and treatment of casualties in numerous realistic scenarios.
Seven lifeboat crew volunteers, five from Ramsey RNLI station and two from Douglas RNLI station, have also successfully achieved the gruelling RYA Yacht Master theory qualification. The course was held over the last six consecutive Saturdays, from 9 am until 5 pm, under the expert tutelage of Ramsey RNLI branch based Dr Gordon Dickens, who is Yacht Master ocean qualified and also a qualified RYA Yacht Master shorebased instructor and examiner. There were thirteen tutor marked assessments and three formal examinations.
The aim of the Yacht Master theory course is to teach candidates to be proficient navigators, enabling them to navigate a vessel in a safe and seamanlike manner on coastal or offshore passages by day or night. It is an intensive course covering international collision regulations, or Colregs, advanced navigation techniques and meteorology used when planning and executing passage plans. The qualification is a pre-requisite for the Yacht Master practical examination.
The purpose of the RNLI charity is to save lives at sea and high quality training for its volunteers is paramount to the organisation, which uses a competence based training framework to ensure all volunteer crew are trained to an appropriate and safe standard.
Dr Dickens observed: ‘To the participants on both courses, well done! They have willingly given up their spare time and worked extremely hard. They should be proud of themselves.’
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