FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MEDIA ALERT
Resolve Maritime Academy, the maritime training subsidiary of RESOLVE Marine Group, will host the 10th annual Damage Control Olympics at Port Everglades on April 26, 2011 from 9:00am to 4:00pm.  
 
WHO:    RESOLVE Maritime Academy instructors and personnel  will host  officers, sailors and damage control men and women of the Navy and Coast Guard vessels visiting Port Everglades during Fleet Week 2011.  
 
WHAT:   The full-day Damage Control Olympics program of maritime safety training exercises and competitive activities will be attended by teams of service men and women from each of the participating ships. The teams will compete against each other in a series of practical, hands-on training exercises and shipboard emergency response scenarios, including interaction with live fire, and smoke- filled environments. The exercises were developed by RESOLVE Maritime Academy to enact real life emergencies that a sailor may face onboard a vessel at sea.  As in real shipboard life, teams may be penalized for safety violations!
 
Sailors will enjoy the challenging, competitive activities as well as fun and relaxation with  other service men and women. The live band “Riverdown” will entertain, and breakfast and lunch buffets, refreshments, massage stations, and a visit from the Red Bull Girls are also planned .  
 
The complete program of events is attached. This is not a public event. Invited military service personnel, and members of the media may attend.
 
WHEN:   Tuesday, April 26, 2011
9:00 am – 4:00 pm 
Competitions  9:00 – 12:00pm
Lunch/break
Competitions  1:00pm – 4:00pm
Interviews with participants 11:30 – 1:30  or  3:00 – 4:00
 
WHERE:  RESOLVE Maritime Academy’s Gray Manatee Shipboard Firefighting Simulator
3305 SE 19th Avenue
Port Everglades
Fort Lauderdale, Florida   
 
WHY:     The DC Olympics is produced by RESOLVE Maritime Academy in appreciation for military men and women who serve at sea. The program provides them an opportunity to hone skills during drills or training sessions, and  in live fire situations that are not available in drills at sea.
 
Contact:   Martha Lord, RESOLVE Marine Group, o: 954-764-8700 / c:  954-257-2868
                 mlord@resolvemarine.com.  Members of the media are invited to attend and will
     be able to interview and photograph  DC Olympics activities.   
Damage Control Olympics Program
 
EVENT 1:  P-100 Fire Fighting Drill
Each team will consist of 1 pump operator (with hearing protection) and 5 hose personnel (2 on each hose and one team leader). The team will be required to rig a P-100 pump, don complete fire fighting ensemble and discharge water via two (2) 1 ½ fire hoses to attack a live fire. This will be a timed event.  Time will stop when team is effectively applying fire fighting water to the fire. 
 
Once the pump is running and water has been “test discharged” from the nozzle, there will be a safety pause (Stop watch will stop) for Staff to ensure all team members are prepared to approach the fire. The safety pause will be no longer than 10 seconds.  Teams requiring more than 10 seconds to be ready will be penalized the extra time. 
 
The team will approach the fire and sweep it out.  Fire will go out when Lead Instructor has determined fire-fighting effort is successful, and time will stop. 
 
EVENT 2:  Dress-Out Drill / SCBA Relay Race 
 
Each team will consist of 4 personnel; two (2) personnel will dress out in complete fire fighting gear.  The other two will assist in the dress out.  The two teams will be approximately 50 feet apart. They then will be required to assemble 1 SCBA, don the SCBA and face piece, run / jog to next team member who will be approximately 50 feet away, and remove SCBA. Next member will don the SCBA, run back to starting point and remove SCBA. On their second run, the team member will be required to change out SCBA cylinder, don SCBA and run to next team member, then remove SCBA. Last team member will then don SCBA and run back to start / finish point. This will be a timed event.  Staff will not allow team members to advance to next point if SCBA is not donned properly. 
              
Time will be added for incomplete or improper dress out at 10 seconds per violation. Time will stop when the final team member crosses the line for the second time.
 
EVENT 3: Pipe Patch Drill
This event will be a combination timed and leakage rate evolution. Teams will consist of 2 personnel and
will be required to isolate water flow through a piping system. They then will have 30 minutes to complete a soft patch on the pipe rupture (1). At the 30 minute mark, the isolation valves will be opened and Staff will determine the winner by the leakage rate. NO EWARP Kits 
 
Bonus points will be awarded for completing this drill in less than 30 minutes:  ½ point for each 5 minutes early.
 
EVENT 4:  Timed Port-side Interior Fire Attack
 
This event will require all team members (no more than 10) to participate. Team members will assemble on main deck, the event will start, and all team members will dress out in fire fighting ensembles, S.C.B.A., etc. Hose will be rigged and entry made into the structure, then hose will be advanced to the top of the post office ladder. Hoses will be  lowered down and the fire team will proceed down the ladder. A second hose will be laid out and charged, but does not have to be used. The team then makes entry into the engine room, then to the crew lounge and attacks the fire.  Staff will observe hose movement and fire attack. Once fire is determined to be extinguished by Staff, the fire team backs out of crew lounge, exits via the Post Office ladder, and backs hoses out to the main deck. This event will be a timed evolution, with Staff observing for safe practices
 
EVENT 5: Search & Rescue Drill
 
This event will require 4 team members (2 teams of 2).  Team members will dress out in full gear and S.C.B.A., enter the Officers Quarters area and perform a search for a victim. Once found, the first team evacuates and the second team enters and performs a rescue and removal of victim/s to a safe area.  Staff will observe teams for safe practices, proper search patterns, and safe movement in a zero visibility compartment. Teams will be judged on proper search patterns, proper team movement, and proper movement of victims. This will be a timed event and speed is of vital importance.
 
Tie Breaker
 
In the event of a tie between two vessels, the winner will be declared by the following timed event:
 
A 4-member team will close the OS&Y valve to the fire main system, rig a wye gate, 50 feet of 1-1/2 hose, inline educator, another 50 feet of 1-1/2 hose and then a nozzle.  Water supply will then be opened and team will establish foam flow.  Time will stop when a blanket of foam is established over the fire area. 
 
 

Firefighting competition onboard the T/V Gray Manatee at DC Olympics 2010.