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Children, Women and Men Last - Not sure this is the best order of abandoning ship

Bonnielass

By Bonnielass,
in Costa Cruises

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Bonnielass

Bonnielass

Posted
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Well after considering all your comments i have come to the conclusion that it should be whoever is there ready to get in the lifeboat. I agree arguing with different genders would slow the process, it is an antiquated process. Sor for me i would advocate an orderly fashion and allow families to remain together. Also i do not think this is a silly thread, i posted it with trying to reconcile in my mind a fair system and i asked for comments. I pray i will never be in a situation where i will need to evacuate but i have alot of experience in working with crowds and managing crowds it is because of this experience that i have concern, i know how a crowd can become unruly and out of control if the crowd is not managed correctly.

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uktwister

uktwister

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Hello everyone, first post on here.

 

Having worked as a crew member on ships and participated in many passenger muster drills I must agree with the Original Poster.

 

A real emergency situation is very different to a drill, there would be a lot of panic and passengers would want to stay with their families. I would, where possible, try and get the most vulnerable on the lifeboat first - but not just strictly women and children. My first priority is to get everyone on the lifeboat as quickly as possible and launch it.

 

The time saved not trying to strategically maneovre around hundreds of paniced passengers could be crucial. It could be the difference between being able to launch the lifeboat or not.

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ducklite

ducklite

Posted
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night club? or the chunk of cali land?

 

The nightclub fire. 18 people died just feet from a large bank of windows because there was nothing available to break the thick glass.

 

31 people died in the bottleneck at the door.

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mn311601

mn311601

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I'm sorry, call me what you want, but just because I was born a male doesn't make me worth less than a child or a woman. The thinking of women and children first is 19th century thinking. What happened to women's lib and equality for all? When the ship is flooding and sinking, I have to wait and possibly die/jump into the ocean just so I can be chivalrous? F that, I'm getting on a lifeboat with my family/friends.

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Dave0311

Dave0311

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As an adult male, if put in a situation where there was only one seat left on a life boat and it was available to either me or an elderly or disabled person, I believe it would only be right to let the elderly or disabled person take the seat. Of course, that's my belief but I can't predict how I would actually react in that situation.

 

Given that cruise ships have more than enough space on the lifeboats for everyone aboard nowadays, I don't see why saying women and children is necessary. All it does is add extra distress to families who must separate from their fathers/husbands. If a family shows up together, they should all get on the lifeboat together, father included. If a couple show up together, husband and wife should be allowed to board the lifeboat together.

 

I'm all for chivalry, but forcing men to stay behind simply because they're men is wrong in my opinion. As others have said, what about the men who can't swim or are afraid of water? Or on the other hand, why should the women who are more capable of swimming than some men get priority? As bad as it sounds, I believe it should be first-come first-serve, especially when it comes to keeping families together.

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canmark

canmark

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I think the important thing is to get people into the lifeboats and off the ship as quickly as possible. Trying to separate men and women, young and old, just as they are boarding is going to slow things down.

 

I think it's fair to make announcements saying, There are enough lifeboats for all, but for those who are strong and are willing to wait and allow others to board ahead of them--Thank you!--and please step aside so we can board people as quickly as possible.

 

Personally I don't have children, so I would like to think I would be willing to allow others to go ahead of me. But if I had a family, then I would want us to stay together and leave the ship as soon as possible.

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Red Mini Stapler

Red Mini Stapler

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as you mentioned now days they have enough life boat and capacity so no need for separating the family and what not, but as we've seen this concordia incident, there are times when they don't have enough life boat available due to ship tilting or listing or whatever it's called, then what? every man for himself?

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tntornadox

tntornadox

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Precisely, this is a moot point. I think what you saw on Concordia was a bit of difficulty lowering lifeboats, understandably due to the list and the passengers began to panic...

 

I would gladly give my seat for a woman or child, then again, I strive to be a gentleman. I also know modern cruise ships have double capacity of the ship in life saving equipment, there are tons of inflatable life rafts... thus, no reason to panic and begin doing stupid things such as shoving and making the situation worse.

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debshomespun

debshomespun

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In a perfect world, (or perfect cruise), there are enough life boats for passengers and crew, in fact there are extra. However, when a tragedy takes place, it is definitely not going to be a perfect world (cruise) anymore. If anyone took notice of the Costa tragedy, they would see the ship listed to the one side, then began to sink. Do you honestly believe the crew were able to use any of the lifeboats on that side of the ship? I have seen several of the videos, and read many of the articles. Not sure if the lifeboats on the one side of the ship were able to be used, but if not, then there is a great possibility, there would only be enough lifeboats for a little over half of the passengers and crew. To many people, it will come down to self-preservation, and that is when the panic mode will set in. As seen by some of the replies on this thread, we are not even in this situation, and the comments have escalated to "me first, and the heck with everyone else". Not a good situation to be in, but when tragedy strikes, this is what happens to some people, and hence, the people running and screaming, and many people getting trampled on and hurt. It is a shame this is how people act in a tragedy. Maybe if more people worked together, it would help avert the worst in a tragedy, and make for a better outcome.

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rian90

rian90

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4000+ people and only a small fraction jumped overboard and swam. A small number are dead or missing. Most of the people on the ship made it off in the life boats, the rest lifted off by helicopters.

 

That means, even though some of the lifeboats were unusable due to the listing of the ship that there was plenty of room for most of the passengers and crew.

 

There is no need to fight over who goes first. Line up in an orderly fashion, keep parents and children together, and get into the lifeboat when it is your turn. Help elderly people who are alone and young children who can't find their parents. Help those who are upset and frozen in place from fear. Be human. It might be difficult when you are in danger but at least try.

 

As a female, I absolutely agree that my life is not any more important than my husband's life and while he does swim better than me, I would not want him to jump overboard. I would rather he wait with us and get on the lifeboat!

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unixgeek

unixgeek

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God I hope in a tragic situation such as this one you are joking. I think it is in poor taste no matter what! This is such a sad thing to happen to anyone, sadly there were people who thought like that and pushed there way through.:rolleyes:

 

I'm sorry, but "women before men" is sexist.

 

Children first? Sure, I can get behind that.

 

But after that? Absolutely, first come, first served.

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uktwister

uktwister

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That means, even though some of the lifeboats were unusable due to the listing of the ship that there was plenty of room for most of the passengers and crew.

 

This is why ships are equipped with lots of inflatable liferafts too, in the event some of the lifeboats cannot be launched.

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