The influence of familiarity on life jacket donning performance: implications for participant selection.

Laboratories and test houses keep a "pool" of test subjects that volunteer to be participants in life jacket approval testing, which is believed to be an incorrect procedure. Fifty-six participants donned 8 child/infant life jackets onto 4 infant manikins in random order with time and accuracy of donning recorded. Average donning time for all 8 life jackets decreased significantly after the first donning experience.

Civilian helicopter accidents into water: analysis of 46 cases, 1979-2006.

Background: When a helicopter crashes or ditches into water the crew and passengers must often make an escape from underwater and a number of the occupants do not survive. This paper examined fatality rates, human factors problems with escape, and causes of death in Canadian civilian registered helicopter accidents in water (1979-2006).

Method: Data obtained from the Transportation Safety Board of Canada was reviewed.