| ..It is almost
impossible to retrieve either a conscious or unconscious victim into
a vessel or survival craft without some type of retrieval device. This
is due to high freeboards and the increased weight of a water saturated
victim.
Fortunately there are now several devices
available for quickly retrieving persons from the water into survival
craft or rescue vessels.
Let's take a look at a few of these newer devices. This particular
system called the "Jason's Cradle" can be quickly deployed
on lifeboats and vessels. Once the victim is in place, he or she can
be rolled in while maintaining the crucial horizontal position necessary
for hypothermic victims.
This Jason's Cradle can also be utilized as a standard boarding ladder,
or as a litter to lift injured personnel.
The Crewsaver Rescue Ramp is an inflatable ramp similar to those used
on airplanes, which can be quickly attached to life boats and rescue
vessels to form a sturdy platform from the deck to the water level.
It allows rescuers to retrieve unconscious victims without getting
into the water themselves, creates a platform to perform immediate
first aid, and can act as a staging ramp for helicopter retrieval
efforts.
The Rescue Ramp can also be used to transfer personnel from one rescue
craft to another.
This next "man overboard" retrieval device, called the Life
Sling, consists of a buoyant harness with 150 feet of floating line
and is designed to be thrown to a man who has fallen overboard from
a moving vessel.
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