Survivor+ is a completely new class of PFD (personal flotation device) which has been developed to significantly improve the chances of survival when time spent in the water is directly linked to probability of survival. Drowning, hypothermia, exposure to sea spray and frigid winds are key safety issues that Survivor+ can help to overcome.
As the only system of its kind available in the commercial market, Survivor+ is a strong candidate to improve safety on offshore transport helicopters. It can be used in conjunction with immersion suits and Emergency Breathing Systems (EBS) and is ideally suited for use on crew transport vessels and aircraft for workers engaged in cold water region operations on rigs and offshore support vessels.
Enabling the MOB to remove themselves from the water and the elements in as little as 60 seconds, Survivor+ is designed to reduce the number of deaths at sea which occur after a survivable ditching. When a ditched helicopter is inverted in the water, it may become impossible to inflate the on-board life rafts, but with Survivor+, crew and passengers could exit the aircraft and activate their own personal raft.
John Swain, CEO of Survival Systems Training, a world leading Nova Scotia-based offshore cold water survival training facility, has tested Survivor+ and believes its unique approach to personal safety could fill a “glaring void” present in helicopter safety.
He said: “A large percentage of people who escape after a ditching drown once they are out of the aircraft. They aren’t injured, but they drown because there is no survival equipment. There is no reason why this should happen. External life rafts will only activate if the aircraft is upright. If the helicopter tips, then they will have no raft and they will be in the ocean without protection. It’s a dire situation. What they have is not satisfying the requirement to protect people. That is a glaring void in the whole sequencing of the disaster. I personally believe that Survivor+ can reduce fatalities under a number of different incident profiles.”
The lightweight Survivor+ can be donned quickly, even when wearing an immersion suit, and is designed for comfort and agility, so does not hinder working and ensures maximum readiness in the event of an emergency. Intuitive and easy to use, Survivor+ is manually inflated by pulling on one of the red pull tabs for the life jacket or on the yellow lanyard to inflate the system.
