The Ship Captain’s Medical Guide – Chapter 11 – Survivors

Survivors should be brought on board as quickly as possible since they may be exhausted, nearly drowned, and perhaps injured. They may be in the last stages of exhaustion and totally unable to help themselves. Even a short scramble up rope netting will be beyond their capability and could endanger their life. They will have to be assisted or carried. If possible they should be lifted in a horizontal posture as this reduces the chances of a sudden drop in blood pressure on removal from the water.