Given a generally low year-round water temperature in the North Atlantic Ocean, individuals travelling to and from offshore petroleum installations in Canada must retain sufficient function of their hands to perform all the activities needed to exit a ditched helicopter and carry out subsequent survival tasks. The research objective was to test the amount of time subjects required to complete simulated ditched helicopter evacuation and survival tasks in cold water without hand protection. This research included two separate data collection phases. Phase one simulated tasks required to escape a helicopter after ditching in 4°C water, in two lighting conditions. Phase two simulated the tasks required to be completed after an individual had escaped the fuselage and is floating on the surface of the water, tested in 4°C and 20°C water temperatures. In both phases, most subjects completed the tasks in the time prescribed by the current Canadian Standards.

Helicopter ditching; survival tasks; hand dexterity; cold water; immersion