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Yesterday afternoon, the ingoing Mawson Station Leader gathered his team and announced the Mawson Emergency Response Team (ERT) Leaders. Heidi (FTO) and Garry (CTO) are the Mawson ERT Leaders with Matt (BOM Observer) and Andy (SCTO) their trusted deputies.
The announcement took place in the F deck lounge and involved a swearing in ceremony before both ERT Leaders were presented with a swag of gifts including a Fireman Sam kit containing a badge, a radio, a fire extinguisher, a jemmy bar and a fireman's axe. Garry immediately went to work on trying to 'jemmy' open the door to the chocolate housed in the nearby AA shop!
Having allowed their brains to lay in limbo for the first part of the voyage, Team Mawson then kicked in to action and participated in a number of team building puzzles. These took the best part of 3 hours to complete and involved holding hands, passing through, under and over a rope and stumbling through traffic lights. To make up numbers they called upon a few old boaties in Chris, Mike and Dave. It was hoped they would bring something to the table but that hope was short lived when Mike got off task talking about potatoes! The team both enjoyed engaging their brains and having a few laughs at the same time.
The Mawson team will continue training each day now for the rest of the voyage.
Today we awoke to clear skies and calm seas... a perfect day to hold an emergency muster drill. AT 1030 the ship's alarm signals sounded and we all proceeded to our Muster Station, the heli deck, in our full Antarctic survival clothing. After the Muster, the crew conducted a fire fighting drill and we also conducted a drill in moving a stretcher bound patient to the ships medical facility. These drills are important to ensure that if a real emergency occurred, personnel are familiar with the procedures involved and their potential roles in such a situation.
The calm seas we experienced this morning are unfortunately going to be short lived, as conditions are expected to worsen through the day and overnight. Both wind and seas are just starting to pick up as I type this.
Cheers,
Deepy and Brett
Map
A map showing Australia and Antarctica. The map shows the journey of one voyage that has occured in the season, with each route highlighted in a distinct colour.