firefighting on cruise ships

[jf1940]

does anyone have any information about fire fighting on cruise ships?

[mfdfire3]

Firefighting duties on ships fall to the crew such as AB's (able bodied seamen) and deck hands. I don't know of any companies cruise or commercial which hire strictly firefighters. Many of the crew go through a 1 week firefighting academy and then are considered ready to fight ship fires in addition to their regularly assigned duties.

When it comes to ship fires the key is Prevention. I spent about 9 months on various ships as the medical officer but also did trained the ships crew in firefighting techniques and tactics. Shipboard firefighting is unique field and the consequences for not containing a fire can be quite high.

Best of Luck,

AL

[Eng34FF]

Several of the local firefighters including the new chief of my old department are instructors at the Joeseph Sacco shipboard firefighting school, part of the Harry Lundberg school of seamanship. (see link)
http://www.seafarers.org/phc/PhotoGallery/firefighting/

They train both cruise ship crewmembers and merchant marine crews in basic seamanship, including firefighting. The firefighting portion is approximately 1 week. My understanding is that there are not dedicated firefighters, but every able bodied seaman is required to pass this training. From talking to the instructors, they learn simple basic firefighting. How much experience can you give them in a week.

[mcaldwell]

How much experience can you give them in a week.

Well you could probably give them a Marine-style FF1 eqivalent, which is more than most Volunteers start with.

But "Surround and Drown" takes on a whole new meaning.



My little brother who is in the Navy spent some time teaching Maritime FF at the Vancouver Island school, and had a blast. They had a pretty slick centre there, but he stated that the most valuable practice/experience occurs once they return to thier ship and start running drills.

If there is any advantage to Marine ops, it's that you have one environment to learn, and your volunteers are always in town.