FAQ - kysymyksiä ja vastauksia Vessel TRIAGE -menetelmästä

Question	Answer
How can the use of the Vessel Triage method ensure uniform quality in risk assessments made by different on-call officials?	It cannot. However, the method helps to harmonise assessments significantly compared with the current situation, where there is no consistent categorisation or assessment method.
Why is the black category required, even though it is unlikely it will be used on vessels?	When the vessel status is black, no one should be on board any more. Thus the black category would hardly ever be used on a vessel. On the other hand, the black category may be very significant to other actors, such as SAR, place of refuge authorities, VTS, accident investigators, shipping companies, etc., which will continue their operations after the distress vessel has capsized or even sunk.
How can we train crews to use Vessel Triage?	The Vessel Triage method can be introduced in many different ways. Training should already be started during basic training as part of safety thinking (that is, not just as a separate new topic). Shipping companies could integrate it into their safety systems and on ships it could be linked to operating instructions for exceptional situations. The Vessel TRIAGE method can also be studied independently from the manual and video. Another easy way of learning about the method is to use the Vessel Triage app that will be released in spring 2016 on the Apple Store.
There is no time to use the method during an incident.	The method is not just an additional job to complete. It also helps the master to gain an overview of the incident and assess the safety of the vessel rationally using a consistent model. It should be kept in mind that when an incident occurs, officers might never have dealt with such a situation before, particularly in the case of serious accidents. To ensure that the method will function well, it would be useful to incorporate it into the shipping company’s normal risk assessment method.
Where can I find more information about Vessel Triage?	www.raja.fi/vesseltriage email: vesseltriage(a)raja.fi
Is the Vessel Triage manual available in an electronic form?	The Vessel Triage manual can be downloaded from www.raja.fi/vesseltriage. In addition, a “Vessel Triage App” for the Apple iPad is due to be published in spring 2016 on the Apple Store. The App is currently being tested.
Why does the Vessel Triage method use four colours?	Different categorisation methods were investigated during the development of the Vessel Triage method. There are many reasons for choosing four colours (green – yellow – red – black). 1) It is easy for people to rank these colours in order of critical importance. 2) These colours are well known to the rescue authorities, both in SAR and especially in land-based emergency services, as they are used worldwide for the initial assessment of wounded patients in the “Medical Triage” method. 3) The colours can be easily used in (maritime) situational pictures in which the symbol of the distress vessel can be ringed with the colour representing its safety category, for instance (e.g. a drifting ship on which machine repairs are being performed can be marked with a green ring on an electronic map so that everyone consulting it can understand that something out of the ordinary is occurring on this vessel, even if no rescue measures are being undertaken as yet).
If an incident has not occurred on the vessel, what should its colour be?	No colour is assigned to a vessel in situations where the safety level of the vessel is entirely normal and no accident/situation that would limit the operations of the vessel or weaken its safety has occurred
When can the method be included in the IMASAR manual?	No decision has been made on that yet. IMO NCSR 3 (3/2016) stated that IMO member states must test the method and submit feedback to Finland (vesseltriage@raja.fi). Finland has promised to compile a feedback summary and present it at NCSR 4 (2017). On the basis of the feedback and experiences gained, NCSR will decide on how to proceed with this issue at a later date.
Is there a danger that the Vessel Triage method will increase the workload of the officers of the vessel and slow down decision-making during incidents?	The Vessel Triage method has been developed above all to help the officers of the vessel obtain situational awareness and support their decision-making in high-pressure situations using a simple threat factor matrix that takes into account all the significant threat factors affecting the vessel.
Is there a danger that the master of the vessel will start thinking too much about the quality of external help and, for instance, the necessary additional resources when considering which colour code would be most appropriate, instead of focusing on attending to the incident and any injured persons on board?	When an incident occurs, the primary duty of the master of the vessel is to care for the vessel, its cargo, crew and passengers, as always. The purpose of the Vessel Triage method is not to change the functional emergency operating procedures and instructions of the vessel, but to facilitate an appropriate situation assessment of the incident, so that the master of the vessel can choose the correct operating model for the situation at hand. The master of the vessel does not primarily need to consider the potential consequences of the use of the Vessel Triage method with respect to other actors, nor should he; he should be free to focus only on dealing with the situation on his/her vessel and drafting the necessary situation assessment.
Does the Vessel Triage method mechanise/automate decision-making too much in a dynamically changing incident?	The Vessel Triage method provides a jointly known, clear framework that can be used to assess the changing situation objectively from different perspectives. That said, it does not make decisions on behalf of the master of the vessel, who continues to rely on his/her own experience and the expertise of the ship crew when preparing a situation assessment. The crew of the vessel is certainly the best informed about their situation, but the method provides confirmation for their views and reduces hesitation in borderline cases.
Most shipping companies have already included different risk management systems in their own safety management systems and bridge instructions – why supplement them with a new system?	The Vessel Triage method provides all parties with a shared means of assessing the status of the distress vessel. Vessel-/company-specific risk management systems do not comply with any generally known and jointly agreed format and thus do not provide the SAR authorities or other actors involved in the incident with enough information on the status of the distress vessel.
How do the Vessel Triage categories compare with the urgency phases used in the IAMSAR manual (uncertainty phase, alert phase, emergency); is there a danger that the Vessel Triage categories will somehow confuse these existing good practices?	Ordinarily, SAR authorities use a three-phase classification based on task urgency and response time. The Vessel TRIAGE project still considers this classification important but proposes that it be expanded with a new categorisation system as it has been observed that the current system does not in practice provide a sufficient picture of the safety status of the vessel to all actors involved in an incident. For example, it is possible to be assigned a task that is an emergency, even though the vessel itself is intact. The urgency classifications and the Vessel Triage method are not in any respects mutually exclusive.
How should the Vessel Triage method be mobilised and should it be included in some way in, for instance, the IAMSAR manual or other equivalent documents?	To ensure the real-world usefulness of the Vessel Triage method, it should be incorporated to a suitable extent into the IAMSAR manual so that it is available to its end users. In addition, its key operating principles and threat factor matrix should be included in vessel safety management systems and emergency instructions so that the use of the method becomes a seamless and natural part of routines in emergency situations.
Isn’t the Vessel Triage method primarily a tool for OSC, SMC and other land-based actors, such as place of refuge authorities, which they can use to assess the status of the distress vessel and support decision-making, such as with respect to urgency and prioritisation?	The benefits of the Vessel Triage method are that all actors share the same situational awareness based on the distress vessel’s own situational assessment, communications with the SAR authority in charge, the owner of the vessel and possibly also parties such as a rescue company. The more accurate real-time information the distress vessel can provide, the better this situational awareness. Standardised and unambiguous communications enable rapid and efficient exchange of information that serves all parties, not just the authorities.
Can the Vessel Triage method be used on all distress vessels to assess their safety status?	The descriptions of situations representing different severity levels are intended as examples of possible situations. They do not perfectly cover all actual situations that might be encountered. The user of the method should thus be able to use the descriptions creatively and decide which severity description most closely matches the situation in hand and finally which Vessel Triage category and its general description is best suited for the situation.