Preserving Lives Through Safety Education, Training Technologies and Applied R & D

Human Factors and Medicine Panel Excellence Award(Read More)

A lot of modern military operations are supported from the seas. Naval units deploy from the oceans and the littorals, aircraft are launched from sea-based units or operate above sea-areas or cross extended water surfaces. To optimize the safety of such operations mariners, aviators and search and rescue personnel have to be supported with the best life saving equipment and have to be drilled in the best life saving practices.

To disseminate the knowledge about this equipment and to practice these drills CAPT (N) ret. Dr. C.J. Brooks (CAN) and his team delivered in 2005 and 2007 the very successful HFM Technical Courses HFM-106/RTC and HFM-152/RTC on Survival at Sea for Mariners, Aviators and Search and Rescue Personnel. These technical courses had sessions in four different locations, Den Helder (NLD), Liepaja (LTV), Zeebrugge (BEL) and Lisbon (PRT). Together over two hundred military personnel participated in these technical courses. The courses addressed the thermal physiology of cold water immersion, the applied psychology and ergonomics of marine and aircraft abandonment and more specifically the design and development of survival suits, lifejackets, life rafts and how their inter relationship is so critical in survival.

From the 2005-2007 evaluations of ten HFM technical team activities it appeared that these technical courses had highest scores on quality of organization, quality of contents and relevance for NATO operations. A lot of the participants reported that their participation in this technical course had significantly enlarged their repertoire of life saving skills in the maritime domain.

For the sake of the entire NATO/RTO community the educational notes of these courses are published in HFM Agardographs, so that the full contents of this course are available to an even larger military community.

In all these aspects Captain (N) Brooks and his team exceeded by far the expectations of the HFM technical community and the HFM Panel. Therefore the 20th HFM Panel Business Meeting in Edinburgh, Scotland (GBR) decided to award him and his team the HFM Panel Excellence Award.

PRAC Welcomes New Member Survival Systems Training Ltd(Read More)

ST. JOHN’S, NL (December 12, 2007) - Petroleum Research Atlantic Canada (PRAC) is pleased to welcome Survival Systems Training Ltd. (SSTL) as its newest member.

PRAC President Dave Finn noted, "PRAC's activities are industry-driven, addressing the needs of Atlantic Canada's offshore oil and gas industry. Much of the innovation affecting the industry is taking place within supply and service sector companies active in the region."

He continued,”Survival Systems Training Ltd. is a local company that has gained a global reputation in safety training; they're actively involved in R&D related to safety and human factors. We are extremely pleased to have SSTL as the first major supply and service company to join PRAC and hope others will likewise see the benefits of membership in PRAC."

SSTL's Business Development Manager, Peter Konings, added, "We direct much of our R&D efforts towards studies that create underpinning knowledge in support of training practices and methodologies as used in our training programs. In emergency response situations, Survival Systems' proven training scenarios simulate real situations in order to better prepare individuals to develop and retain the skills required to survive."

Two of SSTL's notable achievements in R&D pertinent to the east coast offshore industry were a study to determine abandonment times for the totally enclosed lifeboat (TEMPSC) and another on the requirement for EBS (Emergency Breathing Systems) as an emergency escape device in Canadian Offshore Helicopter operations

Originally founded in 1982, SSTL has developed several industry- and board-approved online training courses such as BSTR and H2S Awareness. The company is well-known for its unique and realistic approach to a wide range of training programs, products, and services for personnel working in the offshore, marine, aviation and land-based industrial sectors.

PRAC is a member-based not-for-profit organization that funds and facilitates collaborative research and development (R&D) to support the safe and environmentally-sound development of Atlantic Canada's petroleum resources. A public-private partnership, PRAC funds and facilitates petroleum-related R&D on behalf of its members, which include industry, government and academia.

For more details visit www.pr-ac.ca and click "Members."

Survival Systems Limited achieves top marks for leading and presenting activities related to Human Factors and Medicine (HFM) by NATO’s Research and Technology Organization (RTO)(Read more)

Joint Venture an Industry First (Read More)

Crash. Burn. Survive. Learn.
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