First Aid
This is the very first thing an instructor should do before approaching an injured student on the water.
What is ensuring scene safety?
Before launching any class, an instructor is required to assess this, and must cancel or delay if it falls outside WBSS's safe operating thresholds.
What is wind speed and weather conditions (including lightning risk)?
This is the preferred knot for securing a tow line to a cleat.
What is a cleat hitch?
Find the item used to signal for help if your radio fails. What is it?
A whistle
The compression-to-breath ratio used in adult CPR.
What is 30:2?
WBSS's protocol dictates all boats return to shore when lightning is detected within this many miles.
When towing multiple disabled boats, they should always be arranged in this configuration.
What is a single file line with their rudders in the centerboard slot or towing backwards?
This first aid kit is the one designated for on-water use, and it lives here.
In the office
A student sailing in 90°F heat presents with heavy sweating, pale and clammy skin, weakness, and nausea — but is still sweating and conscious.
What is heat exhaustion?
This unintended maneuver — caused by wind crossing the stern — is one of the most common causes of boom-strike injuries for beginners.
What is an accidental jibe?
When approaching a disabled sailboat to begin a tow, you should always approach from this direction relative to the wind
What is from downwind (approaching into the wind)?
Find the WBSS Emergency Action Plan. Name two pieces of information it contains that an instructor must be able to recite without reading it.
What is the nearest hospital address and the primary emergency contact number?
A frayed or improperly sized Optimist bridle poses this specific physical danger to a junior sailor during a capsize.
What is entanglement — a loose or broken bridle can wrap around a sailor's arm, neck, or ankle, potentially trapping them against or beneath the hull?
A student's face is flushed, skin hot and dry, and they stop sweating on a 90°F day. This condition is more dangerous than heat exhaustion.
What is heat stroke?
Before attaching a tow line to a capsized boat, an instructor must do this first
What is right the boat (and ensure it's bailed/de-watered)?
What do I have to do every morning before I can take a radio, health box, and boat key?
A student's lips are swelling and they report difficulty breathing after a bee sting on the dock. Name the condition and the immediate action required
What is anaphylaxis — administer epinephrine (EpiPen) and call 911?
A student's boat is pitchpoled in a sudden gust and they are floating face-up, unresponsive to your calls. Name your priority order of response.
What is — radio for help immediately, approach from downwind, check responsiveness, begin rescue breathing if trained and accessible, and signal for EMS?
You're towing a swamped Opti in 15-knot winds with the student still aboard. Describe the two key modifications to your standard tow procedure.
What is — shorten the tow line for control and have the student sit low and centered amidships to reduce windage and prevent a secondary capsize?
You have five minutes: find a tow line, a spare bailer, a working VHF radio, a PFD in size medium, and the incident report forms. Return all five to the dock.
What is the white braided rope in the storage room, storage room floor, office, lifejacket rack in the storage room, and office in the filing cabinet?