Handbook of Offshore Helicopter Transport Safety: Essentials of Underwater Egress and Survival

Handbook of Offshore Helicopter Transport Safety: Essentials of Underwater Egress and Survival provides a  comprehensive look at the issues and concerns facing offshore helicopter transport. The book offers guidance for offshore helicopter operators, survival instructors, and the global offshore workforce, including discussions of safety management systems, safety briefings, survival equipment, underwater egress training, water impact/ditching statistics, and search and rescue.

Each area of interest details pertinent information spanning approximately 30 years of offshore operations. Early sections discuss helicopter transport safety, safety regulations, and standards, while subsequent chapters cover Helicopter Underwater Escape Training (HUET) programs and their development and training, followed by final chapters on the effects of HUET, Emergency Breathing Systems (EBS), and Helicopter Transportation Suit (HTS).

• Presents Helicopter Underwater Escape Training (HUET), requirements for physical fidelity, contextual interference, and retention of skills
• Details the current understanding of breath-holding and cardiac response in cold environments
• Discusses stress, executive functioning, and performance in extreme situations
• Covers current standards of emergency breathing systems and next to skin clothing following egress from a ditched helicopter in cold water
• Includes the most up-to-date water impact/ditching statistics with a focus on human tolerances and survivability

Michael Taber is the Senior Research Scientist at Falck Safety Services Canada. He has been involved in numerous research studies carried out for organizations including Dalhousie University, Defense Research and Development, Canada, Exxon Mobil and the National Research Council of Canada. Michael is currently working on research that will examine optimal wave patterns for training sea survival skill development and retention.