21st Century U.S. Military Manuals: Marine Combat Water Survival, Water Rescues, Drowning Marine Corps Field Manual - FMFRP 0-13 (Value-Added Professional Format Series)
U.S. Marine Corps, U.S. Military, Department of Defense
Smashwords Edition
Copyright 2011 Progressive Management
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Marine Combat Water Survival
U.S. Marine Corps * FMFRP 0-13
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FMFRP 0-13, Marine Combat Water Survival, is dedicated to the Marines who have perished at sea defending their country. It is especially dedicated to the Marines and Sailors of Kilo Company, Third Battalion, Eighth Marines, who perished at sea in the spring of 1979.
FOREWORD
1. PURPOSE
The Fleet Marine Force Reference Publication (FMFRP) 0-13, Marine Combat Water Survival, provides techniques, procedures, and training standards for Marine water survival. This publication addresses a Marine's ability to cross water obstacles and perform water rescues.
2. SCOPE
This publication guides individual Marines and small-unit leaders in the proper techniques and training requirements of combat water survival. Small-unit leaders should use this publication to prepare Marines for the Marine combat water survival program (MCWSP). Once a unit has completed the MCWSP, small-unit leaders should use this publication as a refresher course before water operations. The techniques and procedures contained in this publication reflect current Marine Corps methodology.
HISTORICAL PRECEDENTS
Throughout history, water has posed special challenges to soldiers and sailors in both peace and war. Combat units, confident of their ability to work in and on the water, use water obstacles to affect the outcome of a campaign. The peril presented by water demands all personnel receive proper water survival training. History abounds with disasters at sea. Many of these tragedies could have been prevented or at least reduced in scale if water survival techniques had been properly emphasized. The following example illustrates water's destructive power.
On Sunday, July 29,1945, the heavy cruiser USS Indianapolis was en route to the Philippine Sea, carrying vital materials for the first atomic bomb. Shortly before midnight (about 39 hours out of port), the Indy, running blacked out and unescorted, was rocked by two explosions on her starboard side. With communications smashed, the ship was unable to signal its distress and sank within 15 minutes.
Three life rafts and a floater net supported a few survivors, but the rest drifted about, held up by rubber life belts or Mae Wests. About 60 seamen died the first night.
Survivors assumed the ship would be reported overdue in Leyte, and they would be rescued within 2 days. Throughout the next several days, in-transit aircraft flew nearby without spotting the desperate seamen. As best they could, the men kept together, some tying long ropes to each other, floating like corks on a net.
By Monday evening, panic began to set in as some life jackets lost their buoyancy from the long immersion. Some men even fought over life jackets resulting in at least 25 deaths. No one dared sleep, for fear of losing his jacket.
Not until late Thursday morning, 3 1/2 days after the ship sank, were the men discovered. A plane on a routine flight over the area luckily spotted the survivors. When surface ships picked them up that night, the survivors learned they had never been reported overdue. Of the 1,196-man crew, everyone was a casualty. Eight hundred and eighty were listed dead or missing. In this instance, the innovative and expedient use of flotation devices and float techniques saved hundreds of lives.
Drowning is a form of suffocation. A drowning victim inhales water into the lungs, or his throat closes by reflex so that little or no water enters the windpipe. In either case, a victim can no longer breathe.
Freshwater Drowning
Freshwater drowning is difficult to treat. As a victim loses consciousness and slips beneath the water, the heart is still beating but the airway is blocked. After the victim loses consciousness, throat muscles relax and the airway opens. Water rushes into the lungs and enters the bloodstream. Within seconds, the volume of liquid in the bloodstream increases by as much as 50 percent. Meanwhile, the heart races at a very high rate because of the lack of oxygen. The heartbeat continues to increase as the blood thins. The increased strain on the heart, combined with thinning of the blood, makes cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) less effective. Begin CPR immediately and continue CPR until medical help arrives.
Saltwater Drowning
Saltwater drowning is similar to freshwater drowning. The major difference is the water's saline content and its effect on the lungs. Salt water draws blood into the lung tissue and makes it difficult for the lungs to transfer oxygen to the blood. Begin CPR immediately and continue CPR until medical help arrives.
Drowning Symptoms
A drowning victim often calls for help and has an expression of dread or panic. Another symptom includes thrashing at the water's surface. If thrashing stops or grows calmer, the victim is overcome by fatigue, hypothermia, or a lack of air. At this stage, the victim has 1 or 2 minutes before going under the surface.
Treatment
If the victim is not breathing, begin rescue breathing. Place the victim on his back, pinch the nose, and give two full breaths. Check for a pulse. If a pulse is present, but the victim is not breathing, continue rescue breathing. If a pulse is not present, begin CPR. See FMFRP 4-52, First Aid, for rescue breathing and CPR details.
Hypothermia is the abnormal lowering of the body's internal temperature. Hypothermia occurs when the body loses heat faster than the body produces it. The chilling effects of cold air, wind, and water produce hypothermia. Water poses the greatest threat. Water steals a victim's body heat 25 times faster than air.
In water less than 70 degrees Fahrenheit, a victim's skin and outer tissues cool quickly and the heart and brain begin to cool. A hypothermia victim loses the ability to move quickly, slips into semiconsciousness, lapses into a coma, and dies when internal temperatures drop too low. Depending on the water temperature, this process can take only a few minutes.
Sudden contact with cold water can set off a body reaction known as the mammalian diving reflex. This reflex can greatly increase survival time (especially for women and children) in or under cold water. The mammalian diving reflex shuts off blood circulation except the flow between the heart, lungs, and brain. The small amount of oxygen left in the blood and lungs is saved for the body's vital organs. The mammalian diving reflex has allowed people to survive over half an hour under cold water with no brain damage. Therefore, treat a cold water drowning victim as though he is still alive.
WARNING
If the victim has no pulse or is not breathing, GIVE CPR OR RESCUE BREATHING IMMEDIATELY. Continue first aid until medical help arrives.
If the victim has a pulse or is breathing, DO NOT GIVE CPR. CPR could prove fatal.
Hypothermia Symptoms
Once the body's core temperature drops, the victim shows one or more of the following symptoms: