EVALUATION OF SURVIVAL SUITS FOR THE USE OF THE CREWS OF THE GREAT LAKES CARRIERS

Survival in cold water is very short, making abandon-ship processes often fatal due to immersion hypothermia. Report covers development of an evaluation and ranking scheme for survival suits to be used under winter conditions. Four commercially available suits (Imperial Survival Suit, Imperial Type H Deck Suit, QD-1 Anti-Exposure Garment, and Empress Suit) were evaluated. Suits ranked as stated, in decreasing order of excellence for abandon-ship use. Suits were issued to crews of Great Lakes carriers, and opinions of crew members were obtained. Criteria were developed for an optimum survival suit, and a scenario of the abondon-ship process was developed for assessing probability of survival suits was performed. (Author)

• Supplemental Notes:
  • See also AD-768 678.
• Corporate Authors:

  Battelle Columbus Laboratories

  505 King Avenue
  Columbus, OH  United States  43201

  United States Coast Guard

  2100 Second Street, SW
  Washington, DC  United States  20593
• Authors:
  • Riegel, P S
  • Caudy, D W
  • Tierney, J M
  • Trainer, T M
• Publication Date: 1973-10

Media Info

• Pagination: 98 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Cold weather; Hypothermia; Search and rescue operations; Survival
• Subject Areas: Marine Transportation; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00072884
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: National Technical Information Service
• Report/Paper Numbers: Final Rpt.
• Contract Numbers: DOT-CG-23,223-A
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Jan 9 1975 12:00AM