Donning times of marine abandonment immersion suits under simulated evacuation conditions

Mallam, S. C. (2012) Donning times of marine abandonment immersion suits under simulated evacuation conditions. Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

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Abstract

Maritime emergencies often occur rapidly in unpredictable circumstances. In a scenario where a vessel or offshore installation evacuation is necessary, personal flotation and thermal protection greatly increases the chances of survival for individuals immersed in water. Marine abandonment immersion suits, intended to be donned quickly, can provide effective protection against these dangers and prolong life. The ability to locate and correctly don an immersion suit before vessel or installation abandonment is critical to survival. The Canadian immersion suit standard (CAN/CGSB-65.16-2005) dictates that a suit must be unpacked and properly donned without assistance within 2-minutes. -- Thirty-two participants, with similar knowledge and training performed donning exercises using two differing manufactures marine abandonment immersion suits under simulated maritime conditions, involving varying combinations of environmental motion and lighting states. Participant donning times, donning task errors and peak heart rates were observed for each trial. Across all conditions the mean donning time was 102.7 seconds (SD=39.6 sec), with a significant difference between donning time and suit manufacturer (p<.0001). Although overall mean donning time was below the 2-minute requirement, in total there was a 26.1% failure rate in the completion of full donning tasks within 2-minutes, with donning task error rates observed as high as 56.3%. These data suggest that the current standard should be revisited with the implementation of a more performance based, real-world applicable approach to immersion suit donning.

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