[PUP] Emergency survival in high latitudes - addendum

[George Morris]

North Sea standard practice Offshore is you wear your helicopter survival
suit destination to destination and I wouldn't expect that to change in
Canada. You simply don't have time to don a suit when a chopper is going
down. Last time I wore one you had a choice of about eight different sizes. 

Haven't used an Atlantic Canada standard suit, but one of the issues in the
North Sea has always been getting the right balance between adequate levels
of insulation while still being able to evacuate an inverted helicopter.
Helicopters almost always roll inverted in a rough sea because most of the
weight (engines, transmissions, rotors are high up on the hull. 

The better the insulation (Norwegian standard fully insulated suit), the
more flotation you have and the harder it is to exit a window when upside
down as the suit is too buoyant.

The lower the insulation (UK standard shell suit) the easier it is to get
out a window. 

It appears the Canadian suits are insulated, so are likely to be more
buoyant.

I've trained wearing both types in the environmental wave tank helicopter
escape trainer. I will take the lesser insulation every time, because if you
can't get out it doesn't matter how long you could survive otherwise.

We do know this helicopter rolled then sank, and it looks possible that 16
people didn't manage to get out.

A little more info from http://www.hibernia.ca/html/she/safety.html :

Immersion Suits
Also known as "survival suits", immersion suits are probably the single most
important piece of safety equipment for people working offshore. Hibernia
contracted Mustang Survival of British Columbia to custom-design two types
of safety immersion suits to meet the rigorous requirements of the east
coast offshore oil industry.

.. Helicopter Passenger Immersion Suits, which are worn by all individuals
flying to and from the platform. ...
 
 The immersion suits are without parallel in their thermal protection,
flotation and comfort. In fact, they exceed Canadian standards for thermal
protection. The suits also feature a "ratchet neck-seal" that effectively,
quickly and easily seals shut in an emergency. Suits must fit properly to
allow for freedom of movement. For this reason, Hibernia's helicopter
immersion suits are available in 16 different sizes (compared to six to
eight sizes typically available elsewhere) to better ensure a custom,
comfortable fit. Suits are equipped with a whistle and high-intensity light
to attract attention.

Lifejackets are standard equipment with both types of survival suits. The
marine abandonment lifejackets inflate automatically when saturated with
water, while the helicopter lifejackets inflate when the ripcord is pulled.

George

-----Original Message-----
From: passagemaking-under-power-bounces at lists.samurai.com
[mailto:passagemaking-under-power-bounces at lists.samurai.com] On Behalf Of
Ross Anderson
Sent: Saturday, March 14, 2009 7:40 AM
To: Truelove39 at aol.com
Cc: passagemaking-under-power at lists.samurai.com
Subject: Re: [PUP] Emergency survival in high latitudes - addendum

John, I had read and saw news reports but thanks for the Chinese news link!
On the issue of survival suits - As you know we carried them for years on
the 10 & 2 and still do. However having them aboard is not enough. I would
gamble that on most boats the suits have never left the bag they are stored
in. How many have tried to put them on for practice on a dock or quiet
anchorage? Further how many have tried to get into one in a rough sea or
rapidly descending copter? I had donned an old "Gumby" suit in the 70's
while stranded for a short while in AK and huffing and puffing finally
zipped up the suit and jumped in to go ashore for drinking water. Two years
ago I tried to get into Mustangs latest survival suit which is supposed to
fit up to 6'4" and 330 lbs if I remember the label right. Well at 5'10" and
280 lbs there was no way the Zipper would close - not even close. so it will
have to be a custom made one for me. Moral of the story - (Besides  loosing
weight) practice and make sure they really do fit you because waiting until
you are sinking in AK waters with 10' seas is a bit late.  God Bless - Ross
10&2