The members of NUSHIP Canberra’s crew who were selected as Standing Sea Fire and Emergency Party underwent training at the Royal Australian Navy School of Survivability and Ship’s Safety (RANSSSS) in Jervis Bay.
The training conducted at the school in May aimed to enhance the skills of the Standing Sea Fire and Emergency Party in the fire fighting and leak repair techniques specific to Canberra, and also to build cohesion within the team.
The Standing Sea Fire and Emergency Party are the first onboard the ship to respond to any emergency and are the core of the damage control organisation at sea. Once the alarm is raised for a fire, flood or toxic hazard the team has a standard time in which they must arrive at the scene and begin to deal with the problem.
The team used the training to become familiar with new equipment, two new fire hose nozzles, the 38mm and the 64mm. The whole team used the nozzles and became familiar with them as they differ significantly from the Elkhart nozzle that is standard throughout the rest of the Fleet.
The Standing Sea Fire and Emergency Party also worked with the new Mk IV OCCABA breathing apparatus to be used onboard Canberra.
[mappress] Press Release, June 30, 2014; Image: Australian Navy