Introduction

Welcome, traveller! We at Nomadic Space Transportation would like to extend our gratitude to you for trusting us with your safe travels. This module will guide you through safety practices aboard the vessel you have chosen to take abode in. By the end of this module, you should be able to list, follow, and execute on the safety procedures that every traveller must follow in order to prevent injury, as well as catastrophic loss of life.

Preliminaries

Upstream and downstream

Every street, avenue, hallway, and room has a direction considered “upstream”. As part of crisis alarms, there are arrow markers on the floor and roof which should light up in bright, easily identifiable colors. These arrow markers point upstream. Signs also always point upstream.

Upstream refers to the direction inward, toward the ship’s extremely heavily armored core. During crises, further in is better. During depressurization, areas downstream of the leak can be sealed off as they are assumed to be heavily compromised. Compartments upstream of the leak cannot be. Therefore, with the exception of a core meltdown, you are to evacuate upstream. At any given time, ask yourself: Are you walking upstream, or downstream? Is the room I need to get in upstream or downstream from here? Read signs carefully and make sure that you are able to quickly figure out your orientation along this axis.¹

Hard and soft vacuums

A hard vacuum occurs when there is no radiative heat coming from the ship anymore. Beyond this boundary, survival becomes much more difficult. Within this boundary is known as the soft vacuum.

Will I be asked to die for the greater good?

No. Endangering yourself will only endanger others as well. No one can expect you to willingly give up your life for another. Although this act is heroic, it is uncommon and we cannot expect it. Do not attempt to deprioritize your own survival in favor of that of someone else’s. Be predictable, and remain calm. Evacuation is not a zero sum game. If you play your part, you are likely to survive, and far more likely than if you were to panic, even if it might seem so in the moment.

With that said, do not place your survival particularly above that of others in such a way that it causes others to panic. Remain calm, follow orders, and know that there are overlapping layers of safety.

Depressurization Events

Motivation and frequency

Most lifelong spacers experience many mild, few moderate, and very few to no severe depressurization events in their lifetimes. However, in the event that one occurs, every traveller, spacer, and staff member must act in a coordinated manner to prevent catastrophic loss of life.

What to remember

In the event of a depressurization event, both a visual and an audio alarm will be triggered.
Once the alarm has sounded, evacuate upstream.
If the situation has progressed and the portion of the ship you are in must be sealed off and depressurized, don protective gear immediately.
If you are in possession of an EVA tent, or extra protective gear, distribute it immediately and take in anyone you can.
In the event of an unintentional EVA, remain calm and wait to be rescued by an EVA operations team.
If you are disabled, make this known to those around you. Make sure to clearly state the nature of your disability in the form of what assistance you require. If you are able bodied and trained, prepare to assist those with disabilities near you.

Warnings, basic procedures

When a depressurization warning sounds, you have at most 3 minutes to secure shelter. If the warning stops sounding, do not assume the event is over until a confirmation “safe” tone plays. In moderate to severe depressurizations, the warning system can be damaged by exposure to fast moving massive particulates. If you hear the warning tone, immediately move upstream. To reduce distraction, please remain silent unless it is absolutely necessary to do otherwise, or you are told to do otherwise by crisis management personnel.

If you are disabled,² make this known to able-bodied people near you. If you need assistance, state clearly the kind of assistance you need (audiovisual assistance, mobility assist, lift and carry, etc) and ask if anyone is able to provide it. If possible, do this while moving upstream.

Continue moving upstream. Do not stop until authorized personnel tell you to stop. If, upstream, people are unaware of the event, inform them immediately by pointing downstream and saying clearly “depressurization”.

Zero gravity scenarios

In some cases, gravity generation equipment have been damaged. This may cause partial or total loss of gravity. In that event, grab onto the nearest upstream person and hold on. If you are the most upstream person, grab onto something secure. If possible, wait for someone identifying themselves as trained in zero-gravity mobility to assist you in moving.

Trained personnel

Many spacer personnel are trained in additional safety techniques. To obtain this kind of training, please refer to the designated career crisis management personnel for your living unit.

Depressurization Patchers: If you are trained to patch small holes in the hull, and have access to a patch, you may attempt to apply it. In this event, shout “Patcher!” and make your way downstream, while making sure not to impede anyone’s progress downstream. If you are downstream and can see the hole, shout “Patch!” if the hole is smaller than $~4m^2$, otherwise shout “Abort!”.
Medics: If you are trained as a volunteer medic, make this known by raising your right hand and extending all 5 fingers.
Capable: If you are trained to move people and large objects, make this known by raising your left hand in a fist.

Further provisions and unintentional EVA survival

Evacuation upstream may not be enough. In the event that the situation is unsalvageable, prepare to either stop the event (via a patch), or don protective gear.

The minimal safe protective gear is a pressure-hood, and it is significantly better than nothing. The absolute minimum is a breathing-mask. If you maintain oxygen supply, you will have up to several minutes of consciousness to increase your chances of survival. So far, thousands of people³ owe their lives to even minimal protection. The average unintentional EVA duration is 2 minutes and 38 seconds, which is well within the tolerance that most pressure-hoods provide. Your body can survive hard vacuum for several minutes as long as oxygen reaches the brain, and a full head pressure hood will ensure that your eardrums do not rupture.

If you are able to don an EVA jumpsuit, your time increases to up to 45 minutes on a small commercial air processing unit. With supplemental oxygen, it can be up to 48 hours. This also enables you to survive a hard vacuum indefinitely.

Small to mid-size EVA tents fit up to 3 and are often distributed as backpacks. These provide 45 person-minutes of pressurized, breathable air, and up to more than a week with supplemental oxygen. Personal air-processing units can be used to maintain pressurization and air supply for longer. This is not necessarily recommended as it is possible for the tents to fail, and in this event a personal air supply will become necessary. However, if it comes down to keeping the tent running or maintaining personal air supplies, keep the tent running as it protects you from sunburns and cosmic rays in a way that pressure-hoods and breathing masks do not. EVA tents are rated the same as an EVA jumpsuit and will protect from these environmental hazards indefinitely.

If you are forced out of the vessel in an EVA tent, do not panic. EVA tents, along with your implant, are equipped with very effective radio reflectors. An EVA operations team will find you. If your body dies, your cube can still be recovered and resleeved. If you are not trained for zero-g mobility, grab onto the handholds on the side of the tent and do not move. Once you are comfortable, it is safe to let go.

If you have access to an EVA mobility unit, use it to stop moving and stay still. If you are capable of making it easily and safely back within the vessel this way, do so. If you are uncomfortable with this, do not worry. It is easier for an EVA operations team to recover you if you are stationary relative to the vessel, so staying still is worth it.

Spacer children play a game called “Salmon”, which they take turns “swimming” upstream while others attempt to push them back downstream. This is in reference to a fish which was very common on pre-anthropic Earth and made a comeback after the Great Expansion. ↩︎
If you are in a zero gravity situation and disabled, and you are unable to properly secure those hanging onto you, make this known immediately. ↩︎
For instance, during the catastrophic 42-313 depressurization event in response to attack, more than 300 people were killed, with 5 cubes being lost (1 unrecoverable). Of these 300 killed, all but 15 were without pressure-hoods. More than 900 people were recovered wearing protective gear, and of those 900, almost 600 were wearing only pressure hoods. ↩︎

Nomadic Industries Intake: Safety