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Plan for those 911 moments
By Richard P. Fiems This information taken from the published article on espn.com
Download the black and white or color version of the CAST card. It's about the size of a business card, so you can print it out on regular paper or card stock and keep it in your wallet as is, or you can laminate it. Just cut it out along the outside dotted lines and fold in half.
In August 2009, the Harvester Bass Club was conducting one of its Tuesday Night Tournaments out of the LeClaire, Iowa, boat ramp. In total, 28 teams had gotten together to see if they could find five keepers in Pool 14 of the Mississippi River before the weigh-in time of 8 p.m. Blast off took place at 4:45 pm.
At 6 p.m., the call came in. There had been an accident. A team had gotten crossways in a big wake and had been ejected from their boat. One member was shaken up, but otherwise OK. The other had been run over by the boat and was being taken by air ambulance to the hospital in Peoria. He ultimately ended up losing his right foot to the damage caused by the propeller.
As bad as the situation was, it could have been much worse. The accident happened right in front of the fire station and boat ramp of the Village of Port Byron. A rescue crew and ambulance was 25 yards from the boat ramp and on the scene almost immediately. Other club members happened to witness the accident and responded without any hesitation. The two anglers who were ejected from the boat were both police officers and reverted immediately to their training and emergency experience. By the time everything was said and done we could only reach one conclusion: The anglers and the club were incredibly lucky — this time.
One of the big lessons (and there were several) that the club members learned in the aftermath was that our club needed to have a discussion and some training for how we respond to emergency situations during tournaments. This wasn't the first water emergency in the club's history and it would be naive to think it would be the last. Everything that could have gone right during this disaster did. The odds of that happening again are not good. We needed a plan.
As the club president, I accepted the responsibility for looking at developing something we could use as a club to help protect the members — as well as others — from harm in the event of an emergency. My background, training and experience provided me with the basics. What was developed looks like this.
First, we had to accept these basic facts. 1. In an emergency situation you will react the way you have been trained to react. The whole purpose of training is to get people to respond in a proper way when under stress. Fire drills may seem like a pain at the time, but they do actually work when there is a real fire. Absent proper training, the average person may misdirect the adrenalin that is flooded into his system and freeze up. Panic is how an overloaded system responds to sudden stress, unless the person is trained differently.
2. Emergencies on the water have the added element of distance and the obstruction of the water itself. We have to get the rescue people to the boats in other boats and then transport the injured back to the ambulance and ultimately to the hospital. The problem is, bass tournament participants don't like crowds. As a matter of fact, they would prefer to be hidden if they could. Additionally, with aquatic emergencies it is entirely possible to be able to see a situation unfolding on the water from a position on the shore and not be able to do anything about it. The distance created by the water is exponential and slows everything way down when it comes to responding.
3. Help, when and if it is available, may not be able to get to the incident as quickly as we would like or expect. So, the pressure is on the people who get there first to do what they can until the rescue squad arrives. But, if the water is a factor in setting the distance, it is also true that bass fishermen spend lots of time on the water. We know the quickest ways in and out of everywhere on water we fish. We can make a difference if we have a plan.
The rules of planning Planning is not hard. It's just time consuming. The reason it is avoided by many people is the belief that it ultimately doesn't do any good. Time changes everything and a well-thought-out and meticulous plan can be changed by something as simple as a rainstorm or darkness. So what's the point? Well, to get the point you have to understand the rules.
Rule # 1. Plans are nothing. Planning is everything. The plan you develop may change very quickly due to an infinite number of circumstances that are beyond your control. However, in order to change a plan you must have a plan in place. Consider the professional football team. Game plans take on all the effort and logistics of military operations. The opposing team's offense, defense, special teams, talent, injuries, and seasonal record are all factored into a game plan. Come game time, everyone is on the same page with a plan. But, when the defense changes a scheme or a formation, the quarterback looks at what they are doing and changes the plan! He calls an audible. You have to have a plan to change one. Rule # 2. We will play the way we practice. Practice at anything causes us to reuse and refire receptors in our central nervous systems that make us respond to some type of cue in a certain way. It becomes automatic if the practice is taken to heart. Practice does NOT make perfect. Perfect practice makes perfect. Remember when you first started using a baitcaster? What kind of magic can you work now because time and practice have honed your casting skills? It works the same way with everything else. Luck may play a role at some point, but the more you practice the luckier you will get. Besides, I believe luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity. Rule # 3. It doesn't have to be pretty. It just has to work. Americans have an international reputation for doing what works. It's called pragmatism. A solid plan is more important than a complicated one. Think back to the last time you had to slam on the brakes while driving. You caught some movement in your field of vision, assessed a threat, classified its seriousness, and responded in less time than it took you to read these last three words. It wasn't very pretty, but it did work. So, when it comes to a plan we need to remember this: First, be effective, then be efficient.
A plan's purpose The biggest benefit of a plan is that it helps you to think things through in a logical sequence. It also helps to speed up the thinking process at the same time. The sequence that we use does not have to be perfect, nor does it have to be followed exactly. You can change it to meet the needs of the situation as quickly as those needs are identified. Using bits and pieces of a plan can be as effective as using all of the plan in some cases. Remember, that not having a plan, not knowing what to do, not be able to assess what has happened, are the things that cause people to panic or despair and do the wrong thing, or nothing at all.
Mentally, one of the best things that you can do for yourself is to stop using the word "if" when it comes time to think about or discuss emergency planning. Start thinking "when." An emergency on the water is just a matter of time. You are the only person who can make sure that you are ready when it does. Being ready instills confidence, and confidence brings peace of mind.
The CAST system The CAST System is very simple, easy to learn, and easy to use. You can see and understand how it works in less than an hour. By writing the CAST list on a card and putting it in your wallet you can minimize the number of things that you forget or overlook during an emergency. (Get a handy card that you can print out at www.bassmaster.com/bt.) When "it" happens, get to the scene as quickly and safely as you can, get out your CAST card, take a deep breath, and follow the list.
The "C" means....
The "A" means....
The "S" means.....
The "T" means.....
Implementing the plan This plan can be used in any situation on the water that poses a threat to the life, health or safety of an angler or other boater. Remember that the terms "emergency" and "disaster" are relative. Because we spend so much time in a boat, we tend to assume that everyone we pass has the same skill set we posses. You are much better off assuming they don't. The "First Responder" concept is also a good idea. If you are the first responder to the scene or the incident, you have more information than anyone else and should take charge of the follow up response until relieved by the professionals. If you are a follow-up boat, be ready to assist the first responder in whatever way you can. If you get there and it is obvious that no one has stepped up to take control, do what has to be done. A reasonable plan executed in a reasonable manner will help protect you from any claims or allegations that the incident was mishandled. What would you want someone to do for a member of your family who is in peril on the water? Telling the professionals that you utilized a club-adopted plan is a good idea, too.
When the dust has settled Make sure some time is set aside at the next club meeting to discuss the emergency and the way it was handled. A "debriefing" especially for those who took care of the situation, can be very good therapy. You will find out that someone covered the stuff you thought you missed and that you were not alone in your response. Everyone will appreciate later how much it really helps to talk about it.
A planned response is an effective response
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