There are several ways to rescue someone in the water, and the best and easiest way is to throw that life jacket at that person. This may be an obvious tactic, but as the person trying to afloat in the water, you must know how to use a life jacket in the water. It’s undeniable that life jackets have been the saving tool for sea survival. Still, without knowing how to use it, the downfall may slowly occur in that certain emergency.
You may notice that every ship you sail with has their own lifejackets attached to every corner or under the bed. The details and specifications will be actually based on the OLAS chapter II under the LSA code, which was amended in July 2010.
But before knowing how to use it in the sea, we have to take a closer look at the said survival equipment:
A life jacket is a sleeveless jacket made up of buoyant or inflatable material used to keep the human body afloat in water. There are two popular types of life jackets used onboard are:
- Inflatable life jacket: This jacket needs inflation for buoyancy and is automatically inflated when immersed in water.
- Non-inflatable life jacket: These jackets are fitted with buoyant materials, and they don’t need to inflate.
And if you are wearing the jacket incorrectly, it may lead it to loosen and chrome off because of the forceful current. By this, you must know how to wear a life jacket and necessary that he or she understands how to put it on quickly and properly.
How to wear a life jacket in the water?
Also, sometimes it so happens that because of a dearth of time during emergencies or because of unfavorable circumstances, the swimmer might have to wear the life jacket just right after jumping in the water. All you have to do is to grab it then pulling on the lanyard attached to them. It fits both types of the jacket with mouth tubes to enable you to inflate them orally. It is also better to note that there’s a safety light in a life jacket. This safety light is a sealed, water-activated battery unit that operates the light bulb when a ripcord is pulled to remove the seals.
What is the SOLAS LSA Code?
We’ve heard a lot of restrictions when it comes to lifejackets. However, we should also know the people behind these precautionary methods. The SOLAS LSA Code actually specifies the rules for these survival tools. They are the ones who set all the minimum lifting capabilities to protect conscious and unconscious people from swallowing water accidentally.
