How to physically and mentally prepare for intense sea survival safety training?

[keith9duffy]

TLDR: As an unalthletic, non-swimming woman, how to prepare for an intense sea survival safety training for my research internship? I have a lot of anxiety about this and because of the uniqueness of the activities suspect the answer could be more than just “get fit”.

I was so excited to accept an environmental research internship on offshore wind platforms this autumn term as part of a women in STEM programme! Until I got the letter describing our required 1 week orientation and safety training. We’re not wind techs going out fixing things, but okay I get it. It began by describing the date (2.5 months from now) and location where the interns (6F / 2M) will do it together. Great. Then I begin to read the next part where it says it’s essential we arrive wearing comfortable sport attire and trainers everyday and should bring a sports bag with extra clothes, toiletries, water… Why? My heart beat faster. Finally, I read the brief course programme and began frantically googling. A knot just sank in my stomach. It’s a dream field research opportunity, but to me the training might as well be for SAS commandos. I do some yoga sometimes, I’m not sporty and can’t swim. I’ve already rung the work experience coordinator and have contact info for the other interns.

Day 1 - Arrival and Health Eval (1 day) - On the day we arrive we pretty much do orientation stuff, social events, and a health eval.

• Step test- I will have to wear a HR monitor and climb on a gym stair machine between 15-35 steps / min slowly increasing within that range every 2 min for 15 mins max. The coordinator tried to reassure me average people can pass this test because our req aren’t the same as the maintenance techs and I probably needn’t worry. After I pressed her on what I can do to be more fit and prepared for the programme anyway, she said being able to jog 30-40 min without stopping might help make all the activities a bit more comfortable for me. So I guess I need to start jogging to this level somehow? It seems like the best and most generalizable suggestion after considering everything.

Day 2 - First Aid (1 day) – CPR and related course, probably the most class oriented and easiest for me.

Day 3 - Firefighting (0.5 day) – Putting fires out with fire extinguisher, lab safety kind of stuff. Okay.

Days 3-4 - Working Above Ground (1.5 day). Yeah, I’m biologist not a pilot and a little afraid of heights.

• Climbing – That’s what the step test was for then! After we get kitted up with a harness and helmet there’s lots of climbing ladders to a 16 m training platform as we learn clasps and securements as if we had to climb the wind turbine. That’s a lot of climbing stamina for me to suddenly gain. I’m guess the jogging suggestion would cover helping this part?
• Repel and Rescue – There’s no 999 here guys, and so we have to repel down the 16 m tower, winch someone else down, and practise getting winched up as if a helicopter was picking us up. I really, really don’t fancy dangling there, so any climbers out there how to get past that one besides don’t look down? Is it even possible not to? I know the winch has got gears in it, so how much of lowering someone is brute strength and how much is just cardio stamina in turning the crank?

Days 5-7 Sea Survival and Helicopter Underwater Escape (2.5 days) – This one just terrifies me guys and we’ll be doing it for most of the training! I’ve never been a fan of pools or even putting my head under the faucet. I avoid tight spaces like crowded cars in the tube when I happen to be in the city. Somehow it says directly that you don’t have to be able to swim to do this, but to notify the staff upon arrival.

“Then we turn the waves on. Then we turn the rain on and it’s pretty severe – you can’t really breathe properly with it hitting your face. Then we turn the wind on and all of a sudden it’s not quite like going to your local swimming pool anymore.”

“One by one we jump in. Very quickly though, it’s not ok – I’m searching for the features on my lifejacket, someone’s yelling something, but there’s too much noise. I’m struggling to fit the spray hood, struggling to stay safe, struggling to breathe.” CNN News Reporter during training

• Jumping in the pool – That just seems so impossible for a non-swimmer. I’m convinced I’ll freeze up because I’m still traumatized from a PE swim day when I was accidentally put with the swimmers as a non-swimmer and make to jump in and barely made it to the top. A little more ominous is that during the training we all have to wear what are called “survival suits” these huge thermal hooded bright coloured waterproof suits which are supposed to stop you from getting hypothermia in 10 C water an emergency. There’s an inflatable life jacket as a part of it. So you jump in and sink about 4m before the life jacket pulls you up. I can still see that 4m above me on PE swim day. Somehow I’ve got to get myself to jump off the platform, but don’t know how in the world I can safely get myself prepared for it?
• Being able to swim enough to get in a life raft when I feel like I’m drowning – Like the CNN example, we’re going to eventually work up to doing this in a simulated storm. The inflatable life jacket will keep your head above water but it’s so bad you need the “spray hood” she mentions to not feel like you’re drowning. On our suits it looks like that. In the water it’s just your little head bobbing centimeters above the surface with this clear plastic right over your face constantly being drenched. I know I have to manage to get my “spray hood” fitted, but in the chaos I’m almost sure today I’d freeze up as if putting it on would suffocate me with the water when it’s actually the reverse. I need it fitted to stop that sensation. If I can’t get it fitted and feel like I’m struggling, it will be almost impossible for me to clip myself to the others and get in the raft.
• Pulling overturned life raft on top of yourself underwater to right it - We’ll have to practise righting a small overturned inflatable life raft except in pairs, and when you do it you basically have to pull the raft on top of yourselves so you go underwater. There’s a small rope like ladder to get in the rafts, but I still have to get myself in and don’t want to be the person always last and struggling. The poor lass in the back who’d be me looks so uncomfortable and splashed on like she’s just waiting to get pulled in. What kind of strength would best help with that?
• Breathing underwater – We have to wear the “survival suit” not just for the training, but anytime we ride in a helicopter in case it crashes – so I’ll have trauma flashbacks to this training during the whole work experience when I have to kit up. I saw this for our suit with a scuba looking thing and just overlooked it. I later saw red helmets indicated non-swimmers, so I was relieved the mixup that happened in PE years ago wouldn’t happen here. As I continued my search I saw the next photo and my heart stopped instead. It wasn’t a mistake and I really would have to breathe underwater using a scuba mouthpiece wouldn’t I? Glancing at the docs, yes, my biggest fear - longer than I could hold my breath, 5 min, and down to 4 m with a noseclip and/or scuba mask. But the two women were non-swimmers with red helmets, like I’d be? Trying to envision myself as them all kitted up like that standing there in the pool with noseclip and mouthpiece is almost like a disassociative out of body experience. There’s no way. I can almost project my nervousness in their eyes as they’re maybe about to go under for the first time and taking the first couple breaths from their mouthpieces, I think so brave. Could I be that brave? How can I get over breathing underwater? Upside down? With a teammate holding my feet poolside, the next step would be to lower myself in upside down head first whist breathing on the device and not totally panic, because that’s what we would ultimately be doing next.
• Escaping a totally flooded upside down helicopter in simulated rough seas - This is what it was all leading up to. Mission impossible. We’d be harnessed into a mock helicopter cabin. It’d be lowered into the pool, rotated upside down and we’d have to escape via emergency exits to the surface and get into a raft. That’s right, I am going to be harnessed into an enclosed cabin which would be flooded, then inverted, and finally if that didn’t do me in, emerge on the surface in a spray filled pool to find my team and climb into a raft, all as a non-athletic, non-swimmer? This wasn’t a one time thing either, there’d be a build up without the storm, without the inversion, so the whole terrible sensation of escaping would be repeated more than once. From what I read it’s not really about swimming as a skill thank goodness because of the gear, but I’m so freaked out about this activity and don’t know where else to start prepping except swimming?

Day 7 Closing Session and Social (0.5 day) – After all this, I need to be confident in sports gear also appropriate for a corporate setting. I can’t imagine surviving all this to meet the CEO or something whilst in trackies and a running jacket with wet hair, but that’s the exact outfit I need to master being confident in, because that's precisely what will happen at this point. and it could also occur out on the work experience session too.

 

[georgeoi]

@keith9duffy I'm a former Marine with combat water training.

What will drive you is desire. You want to do this and so you will.

If you are good at thinking on your feet and aren't, for a lack of a better word, useless in an emergency you will be fine going into it or you will adapt.

Training in such a short amount of time might risk injury so keep doing yoga and keep being driven. Everything in your post is honestly mostly head games. You can do it.

Good luck!

 

[jrmikeg]

@keith9duffy I had to do this for work. The helicopter thing made me pretty nervous.

It looks like they're giving people diving masks to breath into now? If so doing a bit of diving before might help.

I did some training to hold my breath for longer and that helped me get past the helicopter.
For swimming I can use drown proofing method to float.

Watch a dunk on YouTube and hold your breath 10x longer past it.

These things can help.

 

[amerikrainian]

@keith9duffy I have no advice but I just want you to know I’m so proud of you!!! What a freakin cool opportunity and I’m so impressed by your drive to be prepared. You got this! Personally, I would love it if you updated us on how it goes afterward

 

[noogah]

@keith9duffy You’ve already gotten a lot of great advice. I just wanted to say that I have gone through a training very similar to yours, particularly the water survival bit. It’s crazy what they can do with a wave generator in a pool, lol. It seems insane, but I saw so many people pass the training who you probably wouldn’t have picked out of a crowd as a physical marvel.

The biggest thing I saw is the fact that you can’t swim. If you can get some swimming lessons in, that would be good. But a motivated, relatively fit person in a life jacket should be able to do what they ask of you.

Don’t discount the power of adrenaline. Also don’t forget this is a TRAINING. They will work with you and give you techniques to effectively work through these problems—both mentally and physically.

It sounds like a blast, good luck!

 

[chiefdgp]

@keith9duffy Former mariner here who’s now an operator at a power plant and a member of our fire brigade/confined space rescue team. Congrats on this opportunity, it sounds phenomenal! Long read ahead, apologies in advance.

General endurance training is important but what’s frequently overlooked is grip strength and endurance. Extinguishers are heavy and tools can be heavy, and you might need to carry either one over long distances. Weighted carries (I.e. farmer’s carries) at the end of your training sessions will help with this. You can aim for length of time walking with weights, aim for a specific distance, or work on being able to just stand there and hold something heavy. Practice with weights in both hands as well as weight in only one hand while you walk to get used to the awkwardness of feeling lopsided. Suitcase deadlifts are another good exercise for this. You don’t need anything special to practice this - a shopping bag filled with bottles of water or cans of food works just fine! This will help with ladder climbing, too.

Grip is also important for the life raft flip. Take a breath, hold the rope as firmly as you can, and lean back into it. I’m 5’ 4” and was about 145 lbs when we did this, I was surprised at how easy it turned out to be. My roommate who was 5’ 1” and 115 lbs soaking wet was able to do it without an issue once she figured out the body mechanics. We never practiced in pairs but communication would be key to making it work.

Core strength is super important. It protects you from hurting your back while carrying those heavy things and will help with balance if you’re on an unstable platform. Rappelling also uses more core strength than you’d expect. Pilates is a great option. Planks are good if you’re using good form. Fitnessblender.com has some good Pilates videos and there are a ton of other good YouTube channels as well. Pro tip: once your harness is on, give it a tug from wherever your weight will be carried from (different harnesses will have different attachment points). Make sure when your weight is supported by the harness you don’t have any pinch points and it’s not digging into your groin. Poorly adjusted harnesses can hurt us, too.

Someone else mentioned Couch to 5k which would be great. Kettlebells are king for the sort of conditioning you need but form is important to make sure you don’t injure yourself. Working with a coach is ideal. The video Enter the Kettlebell by Pavel Tsatsouline is excellent. r/kettlebell is a great resource and the folks there can point you in the right direction for programming/scheduling if you’re interested in trying them.

The survival suits we had available for training were one-size-fits-all. It’s annoying that everything is size Man but there’s no way around it. I found it’s actually a sort of comfortable feeling the way it scrunches itself around you while you’re in the water, almost like a weighted blanket. It just sucks if you have a suit that leaks.

Some non-fitness suggestions but still potentially helpful:
If you’re going on air in scuba gear make sure you’re drinking extra water. It’s surprising how dehydrating perfectly dry air from a tank can be. If you’re prone to allergies or sinus issues have some nasal saline available at the end of the day to help moisten things up or flush as needed. Eye drops as well if you’re prone to dry eyes and extra contacts and solution if you wear them (I’m not sure if you’d even be allowed to wear them for this but just trying to think of anything that might help).

Learn some basic knots. Figure 8, figure 8 on a bight, clove hitch, bowline, square knot. You may or may not need to know them but it doesn’t hurt and it’s one less thing to think about if it turns out you do. The Cornell Manual is inexpensive and has a boat-load of useful knowledge (sorry for the bad pun…) on knots, lifeboats, etc. Reading up on that sort of stuff might help calm your nerves. Check out animatedknots.com for good visuals.

r/bluecollarwomen is awesome. There are some ladies there who work on wind turbines who would be happy to talk to and can help answer any questions you may have, whether it’s the fitness aspect or dealing with coworkers. It honestly sounds like you’re mostly nervous and would benefit from some camaraderie going in.

Good luck and feel free to send me a DM if you want.

ETA: You’ve got this!!!

 

[perojoe]

@keith9duffy First, I’m gonna second everyone else who suggests a round of swimming lessons, that will help you feel a lot more confident.

But secondly, my dad was in the Coast Guard and I grew up around boats, had to learn survival swimming in a Navy base day camp as a kid etc…. Everything they’re asking you to do is stuff you can do and they’re giving you all the tools to survive it in much worse conditions that you might encounter on the job. They want you to succeed and they want you to be able to succeed (and survive) if it happens when you’re in the field.

The one thing that I haven’t seen any suggestions of is to see if you can practice capsizing a boat. Just a little rubber raft or canoe/kayak or something. You can do it in a pool or a pond. Someplace where you can start out touching the ground, and take a break if you’re struggling. (If you’re near any sort of sailing or rowing club, they can probably help.). Put on a life jacket, get in the boat, capsize it and then right it and get back in. Repeat it. Then try it when you can’t touch the bottom. This is going to help you build a lot of confidence, which you need more than physical conditioning. This is all stuff you can do if you’re less terrified of it. Looking at it from afar as a whole block, they’re having you do some pretty intimidating things, but step-by-step each task is completely doable.

 

[kebertx]

@keith9duffy Whatever else you do, I would recommend learning how to swim and be comfortable in the water ASAP. Scuba diving course would help as well. I don't want to scare you, but I couldn't finish my Scuba course because I panicked and freaked out in the test, trying to put my gear on under water. And I've been a water baby, very comfortable in the water and a strong swimmer, since I could walk basically.

 

[classycassiopeia]

@keith9duffy I highly recommend you take swimming lessons, if only to at least build your confidence in water.

 

[miketexas]

@classycassiopeia Yeah I’m sure the pool portion is safe but it’ll feel terrifying in the moment if she can’t swim.

 

[ptf2013]

@keith9duffy So my friend did this training for going to platforms in the North Atlantic. She did not prepare before, and luckily she was given no indication of what was coming. She only had to do Days 5-7. She knows how to swim and said it's very much a mental game not a physical test of strength.

You go to the platforms in a helicopter. There have been many helicopter incidents resulting in loss of life. So the finding was training about helicopter incidents is required. That's what this is. You will be fine. Just remember it's not a physical fitness test. It's a test of focusing and remembering and executing instructions during an emergency.

I have done trainings similar to days 1-4 while on field programs. It was rough as an out of shape 100lb 21yr old but I survived. I was tired, but it was fine. I went home and slept fitfully every night.

 

[urukagina]

@keith9duffy Sounds like you are in Europe and will be going to platforms in North Sea? I completely understand how overwhelming the training sounds, especially the simulated upside down helicopter. Please watch HUET training videos to get a better idea of what is expected. I have to complete this training every four years for my job and I assure if overweight 50+ year old men can do it, you can to. I was extremely nervous my first time, but they have divers and lifeguards watching to make sure you don't drown. Tell them up front you cannot swim well and they will always have someone watching over you. The breathing underwater via apparatus is only tricky if you need to plug your nose underwater (I have to!). I took me a couple tries, but you focus and breathe and you can do it. As another commenter stated, the survival suit is buoyant and will help keep you afloat. Remember to breathe and know you are not the only one probably nervous in the training.

 

[janealex]

@keith9duffy I would practice doing things as close as possible to what you will do in the course, so step machine and practicing in a pool. If you can take swimming lessons in the next two months that would be ideal. You can also stand where you can still touch the bottom and practice jumping and putting your face under and moving around safely. If you can get a snorkel and mask it won’t be the same as a respirator, but it’s a good way to practice breathing through your mouth underwater without panic. Go with a friend who can be understanding and talk you through your fears.

Tell other people in the course as well as your instructors about your worries. Since a lot of it mentions doing things in pairs try to pair up with someone who understands and can help you through it.

My friend in college was terrified of water, couldn’t swim well and couldn’t put her face under water. She decided to get over her fear she would join me in my scuba certification course. She was so scared at first, it took us a few trips to the pool before the course started to get her to let go the side even in the shallow end and to get her face underwater, but we got through the whole thing. After 6 months she even did the actual certification 50 foot deep in a quarry and passed!

 

[everlastinggift]

@keith9duffy For what it is worth, looking at this as an outsider: this seems like a very solid, comprehensive safety/emergency preparation course. It seems to slowly amp up, getting you used to each individual aspect of it - the suits, being in the water with the suits, how they operate, the raft, the scuba gear, etc. Even the woman in the helicopter, about to be submerged, has a full breathing apparatus already strapped to her. I think an important thing to remember here is that these people putting on the training want you to succeed, and they want to give you these skills in case there is an emergency (or just bad weather: the ocean is notorious for churning up storms, and having controlled exposure like this will definitely be helpful if you end up having to deal with one, even if no emergency comes of it!): they're not going to let anything bad happen to you, and they likely wouldn't let you do the training if they felt you were truly at risk or in danger.

As to what you can do to prepare, my biggest piece of advice: get swimming lessons. Get them as soon as possible, to maximize your exposure to water and to build your confidence in it. As others have stated, getting used to the feeling of water on your face will help, and getting used to holding your breath, and realizing that you'll be okay, will also go a long way in assuaging your fears.

Also, about maybe meeting the CEO or other people in trackies: if this is how the social normally goes, I am sure the CEO is aware of and has already met people in them after these trainings. Don't think of it as being inappropriately dressed, think of it as a badge of honor for what you've accomplished! And honestly, if the CEO comes to a social that has happened after this kind of training, frankly, they're the one that is not appropriately dressed!

 

[advise]

@keith9duffy My friend, you can do this. I promise you can do all of this. Even if you have never before jogged or done any water or climber training.

This is a mind problem. Your mind is trying to protect you, by making you avoid what it fears. It will make you panic so you will freeze, etc. You need to be calm enough to learn while stressed, so that you can follow instructions.

Do you have any mental health professional available to you? They can help you! I think anti-anxiety medication would be the perfect tool for this training, if prescribed by a good psychiatrist. Your mental health professional should be able to refer you.

I also wanted to say, you do not have to do this internship now. You can have an amazing career in biology without it. But if you can get your head around it, it may even be fun!

ETA replaced the word “drugs” with “medication.” It doesn’t need to be multiple different medications at the same time either, I just used the word drugs because there are probably various different drugs that could help, and I didn’t know which one in particular.

 

[inchrist145]

@keith9duffy Firstly, I’m sorry this is stressing you out so much! It does sound like a lot of stuff that a normal person would never have to do, which as some other people have said could be one way to psych yourself up for this. Very James Bond, mission impossible, etc.

Secondly, as someone who has anxiety and also isn’t the best swimmer, I can truly, truly relate to your fear of water, right down to being forced to jump into the pool during PE. One time I went with some mates to a water park (yes I know, very smart move for someone who can’t swim) and they dragged me into the wave pool with them. When the waves started my friends were cheering and bobbing along and meanwhile I genuinely thought I was going to die. I didn’t have the instinct or experience to go along with the waves and keep myself above the waterline, so I kept getting dunked… as the waves got bigger and bigger I got more and more scared, and honestly I don’t know what would have happened if one of my friends hadn’t noticed I was panicking and dragged me out of the pool.

All that being said, here’s my advice: learn how to swim. At the time of the aforementioned water park incident I couldn’t swim, but after that I booked myself some adult swimming lessons. I’m still not a great swimmer but at least I CAN swim, which helps a lot. And if you get used to swimming in a pool, it will probably help you not to panic so much doing the other stuff. It’s also a full body workout and good cardio. If I were you I’d prioritise swimming above everything else, given the context.

The other thing I would recommend is going to your local climbing gym and asking about beginner’s lessons. You’ll want to ask specifically about top-rope climbing I think, and not bouldering (although bouldering is good fun). Climbing is also an excellent workout, and taking classes will help with stuff like how to rappel (not repel haha) and how to belay someone else. It’ll also help you to get used to the feeling of wearing a harness, and probably help with the fear of heights.

Lastly, again as someone with anxiety: look into breathing techniques. I know it sounds like complete nonsense but it really does help. I recommend either the wim hof breathing method or box breathing, and you can find follow along videos on YouTube for either.

Good luck!! I’m rooting for you

 

[emilyxrose]

@keith9duffy I spent several years teaching swim lessons to kids and adults. If there’s one piece of advice I can offer, it’s to make sure you feel comfortable with your face all the way in the water. This will make things so much easier!

Start small. Do you have a bathtub? Fill it up and practice in there. You can go body part by body part (chin all the way up to eyebrows) or just dunk your face in and hold it there. It might help to think of blowing bubbles out of your nose and mouth while your face is in the water to control the urge to breathe in and inhale water.

Once you’re good with that, go to a pool and practice full submersion. Hold onto the side someone you can stand up and then squat down or push yourself under, count to three or five, then come up. Keep doing that until it feels fine.

From there, if you feel up to it, I would practice jumping in the pool. Stay on the shallow end where you can stand and just… jump in! That will better simulate falling and being totally submerged. If you feel good after that, go a little deeper and keep doing it. The deeper you are and the more difficult it is to stand up, the more it will simulate the falling experience.

The last thing: it is totally, absolutely normal to be afraid of the water and of swimming. This is a completely rational fear, and please don’t feel bad about yourself of guilty over having it. I think we can all overcome (or at least mitigate) our fears to a certain extent, and I think you can do that too. And I hope that you are proud of yourself for trying something that scares you. Good luck!

 

[hnseijin]

@keith9duffy I would also be panicked in your situation, but I also think you can do this! I echo what the others say - start training. I would start swim lessons now, start going to a rock climbing gym, and start running. Even just standing in shallow water is going to help you get comfortable. Most water aerobics classes you can do without being able to swim/in the shallow end and they could help you adjust to the water and water on your face without going under. I started doing kettlebell swing ladders to help with my VO2 max, it’s been a TikTok trend, and it’s helped me feel more fit and is an easy exercise to do at home with one kettlebell. I also echo the person talking about saying you can do this every day in the mirror - it’s so cheesy and weird but it really helps. I have a post it taped inside of my medicine cabinet with affirmations. I hope you go on this internship and kill it!

 

[echo78]

@keith9duffy For running, I would download a couch to 5k app. I really enjoyed the Zombies, run! one, but their are free C25k apps available, too.

You can do this! What an adventure.

 

[junea9]

@keith9duffy I know you are very anxious and dreading this, but to me it sounds like an incredible experience as well as a challenge. I hope you can flip your mindset to “Wow, I am going to learn some badass skills that the average person doesn’t have”, as you will. I’m sure they don’t expect you to have Die-Hard level strength and agility, and that you will be supported by expert trainers and your fellow participants.

You’ve got plenty of time to work up to a suitable level of fitness, and get some practice in water too. I always feel so sad to learn how horrible childhood trauma has put people off swimming etc for life, and I can understand it completely. I hope that you will be able to overcome this anxiety and develop ways to deal with it. All I can say is that relaxing your body and making slow, controlled movements is the best way to handle water. The more you move and create resistance, the harder it is. Just spread your arms out on the surface, try to bring your hips up slowly and float on your back (make a star shape) etc, without moving very much, and you will find that you can just lie there happily without any effort.