Inflatable Pfds Should Get Ok

Boating

Inflatable personal flotation devices should be approved for use by recreational boaters before the end of the 1995 boating season.

Surveys show that boaters are more likely to wear an inflatable PFD because it is more comfortable than traditional life jackets.

Besides comfort, inflatable PFDs offer the advantage of much greater buoyancy than conventional devices and more compact storage.

On the downside, most inflatable PFDs require an alert victim to inflate them either from a gas cylinder or by mouth.

The Coast Guard is working with Underwriters Laboratories to establish a testing program for PFDs submitted by manufacturers this spring. The Coast Guard has agreed to revise its regulations to allow inflatables meeting the UL standard to be approved. Printed regulations should be available in June.

Inflatable PFDs will likely be approved as Type I, II, or III devices with no requirements for wear in order to count them as one of the boat’s approved devices.

Hybrid inflatables, those combining some rigid flotation and inflatable chambers, were similarly approved without the use requirement in January.

The 500 volunteers who fieldtested eight inflatable PFD designs for the Coast Guard said they liked the wearability and comfort of the devices and preferred them in an emergency over conventional PFDs.

An average of 673 people die in U.S. boating accidents each year. A large percentage of the victims are not wearing life jackets.

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