At Ruth Lee we know that our manikins are great for many projects – but we even we were surprised and excited to hear from our Brazilian Distributor that our Man Overboard manikins had been used in important research intended to speed up the search for victims in shark-infested waters!
Located in Pernambuco, there is one of the most dangerous beaches in the world where 30 kilometers of beaches show signs stating it is forbidden to swim.
Comparing the number of deaths by shark attack on the beaches here were quite shocking – twice as high as in the whole of the United States!
The Shark Incident Prevention Committee set up a study using three Ruth Lee manikins to find out where the sea currents carry the body of a person attacked by shark. The specially adapted manikins, nick-named John, James and Jim were fitted with GPS trackers and were pitched from the sea off the beach so that researchers could find out more about the direction bodies would travel in the water.
A little bit gruesome perhaps – but very interesting too, plus a great use of our manikins to carry out essential research.
You can view the TV video on the link below. Although the language is Portuguese, it is powerful even without the translation.
Our Man Overboard manikin is a fantastic addition to your rescue training equipment. This manikin has the correct balance between the weighting and the buoyancy meaning that once it has been allowed to rest in water for a few minutes, the legs drop below the surface and the manikin will rest at an angle of about 45 degrees – with just the head and shoulders visible above the surface.