Barquito,
I have a number of written emergency procedures that are kept in a crew briefing book I ask everyone who's coming for more than a daysail to read cover to cover. In addition to things like "how to operate the head", the book has tabbed sections dealing with things like:
"Emergency
Radio Communications" -- basically a MayDay checklist like the one Soulesailor mentioned above as well as simple instructions of how to operate the
radios.
"Fire in the Boat" -- a brief discussion of where we're likely to have fire, where the fire extinguishers are located (w/ a diagram of the boat's interior showing locations), how to use the fire extinguisher, use of the forward
hatch as the secondary escape route, etc.
"Water in the Boat" -- a discussion of likely sources of flooding, a diagram of where all thru-hulls and how they're operated and other possible sources of flooding, a note to "taste it before you panic", where the
pumps are and how they're operated, etc.
"MoB" -- a section written from two perpectives -- what to do if you're aboard and what to do if you're the MoB.
"Storm Preparations" (Harbor / At Sea) -- which is basically a list of things to do before everything breakes loose
"Abandon Ship" -- which is a brief "how to" of preparing and launching the
life raft, location of ditch bag, a list of what else to grab, if there's time, etc.
When I get to it, I plan to add a section on "Emergency Signals" (flare operation, light signals, etc.)
In addition to the above, there are other sections on "Watch Standing", "Log Keeping" and something we called in the Navy "Night Orders", which are the standing rules on the watch's operational discretion, when to wake the skipper at night, etc.
I have a series of checklists for crew briefings (topics to cover in an oral briefing) for day sails, overnight coastal passages, and offshore passages, and a set of checklists titled "Pre-Departure Checklists for Coastal and Offshore Passages", which covers all the maintenance and inventory checks that are needed before getting underway.
I also have a few laminated diagrams of the boat's interior plan showing the location of all the safety gear, first aid supplies, fire extinguishers,
pumps, thru-hulls, etc.
All of this info and well as some practical stuff (like how to use the head, operating the
stove, etc.) is kept in one book, "The Red Book", that's always in the same place.
Some of the above info is written in the form of a simple "checklist", while other sections are more expansive and I try to inform the crew of the logic behind the actions to be taken to deal with an emergency. For example, how you deal with a flooding situation depends on a number of things (source, volume, etc). What you do first depends on the specifics of the situation, so I try to explain that logic so that, if I wasn't there or was incapacitated, the crew would stand a good chance of doing the right things first.
Lastly, there is a checklist and information in a book entitled "TO DO if BR is OVERDUE" which I leave at home with my daughter. This has info on when and how to contact the USCG, what to tell them, a copy of the IPIRB registration, info on our safety and communications gear (that the CG will want to know), info on contacting HAM nets who might be able to help and info for contacting and filing a report with BoatWatch.
Where do you get all the info? Read a lot, surf the web, talk to other sailors, and then think through what you'd do and try to write it down as if you were looking over the crew's shoulder helping them think through what to do. It's a great winter project.
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