Safety At Sea - Ditching a Tied-On PFD
|
Open Letter provided by Mr. Glenn W. Schmidt, 8/24/01 491 Deer Park Avenue OMEGA Corporation Attention: Rosemarie Subject: Product Safety Reference: OMEGA Grand Prix USCG Approval # 160.064/1572/0 Marine UL Listed To Whom It May Concern: We have just experienced a serious, life-threatening incident. All parties that are aware of the incident concur --- you must be informed !!!. My wife and her crew, ages 64 and 50 respectively, each with over 30 years sailing experience in dinghies. In addition to sailing experience, her crew is a certified and experienced scuba diver. At issue here however, is not their qualifications, which I state merely to indicate that they are not children and therefore, probably less prone to "panic" under duress. My wife, crew and I are all active members of US SAILING, very safety conscious and wear a PFD at all times when racing. My wife is also chairman of our Club sailing instruction program with over 70 children of all ages, 15 adults and 4, US SAILING certified instructors. I am our Club RC Chairman as well as its delegate to our local sailing association, and its delegate to US SAILING. We take safety --- our personal safety as well as that of our students, VERY seriously. On August 11th, 2001 my wife and crew were participating in a one-design dinghy race in her 20' Narrasketuck. Weather conditions were 12-15kts with 6-10" waves. The boat capsized in approximately 10 feet of water. Again, the cause is irrelevant, but merely set the stage for a potential drowning. My wife capsized. Then, immediately after righting, the boat, full of water and unstable rolled the other direction. Now on the "leeward" side her crew who was wearing the PFD described above became entangled in the rigging and was dragged and trapped underwater. Realizing what had happened and that she could not free herself from the rigging, she attempted to shed the PFD so she could surface. SHE COULD NOT get the PFD off because out of habit she had tied the sewn-in drawstring at the waist, which became knotted in the attempt --- keeping her underwater. Tragedy was averted only because of her crews' physical ability and my wife' fast thinking. My wife located her crew's head underwater, grabbed her hair and pulled, (removing large quantities in the process) thus providing sufficient additional buoyancy to free the PFD and enable her to surface. This also guided her up so she did not surface under the sail. Please, I urge you to discontinue installing drawstrings in your products before someone less experienced and capable becomes similarly entangled and drowns. The drawstring can be replaced by inserting an elastic waistband in its place. She, and I have since located all PFD's in our families with similar drawstrings and removed them from use to prevent a recurrence of this near tragedy. We intend to save them for evaluation by the proper agencies. We are also passing news of this near fatal incident to all the members of our club, as well as the over 2000 members of our Area. I realize your product underwent extensive testing prior to certification, however this particular requirement might not have been considered in writing the test specification. And, if not, perhaps the test specification should be reviewed and revised as necessary. Also, copies of this letter are being forwarded to Mr. Ralph Naranjo, US SAILING Safety at Sea Committee, as well as the US Coast Guard urging a re-evaluation of certain testing standards, i.e., the ability to intentionally free oneself of the PFD under these or similar circumstances. If this could happen to an experienced and physically capable adult, what tragic end might come to a young and inexperienced child engaged in should what should be a happy period in their lives --- learning to sail. I KNOW you and all safety minded manufacturers, testing, and certifying agencies would cringe to read a headline such as: "CHILD IN SAILING LESSONS DROWNS WHILE WEARING LIFEVEST MANUFACTURED BY .................." This incident had a happy ending. Persons experiencing similar occurrences in the future might not be so fortunate. We will certainly make all parties to this incident available for discussion and or clarification. Thank you for the prompt attention I know you will give this matter. Sincerely, cc: Commanding Officer, US Coast Guard, Fire Island Commanding Officer US SAILING Mr. Ralph Naranjo Mrs. Lenny Pearson |