Air Pocket Plus - Helicopter Emergency Underwater Breathing Systems

Shark Group has a wealth of experience in the design and support of survival systems and emergency breathing systems and has been consistently innovative over many years, developing market leading solutions to the challenging problems of surviving a helicopter ditching at sea.

The first problem in such a scenario is 'Cold Shock' - and Shark Group's award winning Air Pocket, a simple but highly innovative re-breather, was developed to address this involuntary response to immersion and support the user during the underwater escape. Air Pocket was the end result of a £500,000 research project, funded by Shell UK Expro and Esso, which involved Shark Group's expertise in the design and manufacture of breathing systems with leading physiologists from the Robens Institute of Health and Safety and the Institute of Naval Medicine. It broke new ground, and the specification and design were extensively tested and proven in independent trials. Air Pocket came into service in 1996, and is well proven, with 6000 used daily in the challenging environment of the North Sea.

Air Pocket Plus, a second generation development, builds on the experience and strengths of the original Air Pocket and provides further benefits to the user. Airpocket Plus has been tested by Cranfield University and is a C.A.A. Spec 19 non hazardous accessory. It is in service with oil majors worldwide.

Air Pocket and Air Pocket Plus are Millennium Products, which have been recognized by the Design Council as two of the most innovative products for the 21st Century. They are covered by international Patents.

Air Pocket Plus has been designed to minimize the risk of cerebral arterial gas embolism which results from any system which introduces supplementary gas - the breathing bag is generously sized to contain the air charge plus any breath from breath-hold, without producing over-pressure.

Shark Group's Design Team has had the benefit of the in service experience and customer feedback from Air Pocket and the extensive naïve subject trials for Air Pocket Plus, conducted by Cranfield University, which has been incorporated into the design and operation of Air Pocket Plus.

Also now available - the new LAP Lifejacket Air Pocket Plus combination.