Figure 4-2.—Pocket WQS bill.
notebook contains the “working copy” of the
WQS bill, modified to suit the needs of the
division officer. Also, it serves as a guide and
checkoff during drills. Each section leader should
have a notebook containing the names of the
personnel in the section and their assignments.
Assignment to a duty in a ship’s bill is
normally indicated in the WQS bill. Stations
assigned and duties to be performed are noted
opposite the person’s name in the appropriate
columns. However, certain other assignments to
watches and duties are not noted in the WQS
bill—these assignments are published in the plan
of the day.
EMERGENCY BILLS
Emergency bills are probably the most
important of all shipboard bills because they spell
out responses to emergency situations that affect
all hands. All crew members must know their
assignments and responsibilities for each
emergency bill.
Emergency bills serve as check lists and as
guides in assigning people to emergency stations.
Emergency bills also serve as guides in training
personnel to combat emergencies when the danger
of loss of life or of the ship exists. All ships have
the following emergency bills:
General emergency
Man overboard
Chemical, biological, and radiological
d e f e n s e
Emergency destruction
Fire
Additionally, ships with nuclear reactors or
weapons have emergency bills to cover the
possibility of a nuclear accident within the ship.
Let’s look at four common emergency bills.
General Emergency Bill
The general emergency bill organizes the crew
to handle the effects of a major emergency or
disaster aboard ship. Situations like collisions;
grounding; explosions; chemical, biological, and
radiological (CBR) contamination; earthquakes;
tidal waves; storms; or battle damage are
included. The bill also provides for the orderly
abandoning of ship, if necessary, and for salvage
of the ship, if possible.
A general emergency bill cannot give detailed
duties for every possible emergency that could
occur. However, the training program to prepare
for emergencies is a long-range one, and instruc-
tion for all types of emergencies is given both in
schools and aboard ship. All personnel are trained
in fire fighting, basic damage control, and CBR
defense in shore-based schools. All officers and
LPOs must train their personnel in procedures to
control the effects of any emergency.
Man Overboard Bill
This bill is used to organize all hands for recovery
of personnel who are lost overboard. All
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