Submarine Escape Trials 1999-2001 -Provision of Medical Support

Since the early 1960s all Royal Navy submarines have been fitted with an escape system comprising a single escape tower (SET) and submarine escape immersion suit (SEIS). This system enables escape from a submarine at a depth of 180 metres (1.9 MPa) provided that the submarine compartment is at a pressure of no greater than 1 bar (0.1 MPa). Due to a variety of causes which may include flooding and leakage of high pressure air systems it is highly probable that the submarine compartment will be at a pressure in excess of 1 bar (0.1 MPa) at the time of the escape. To investigate and determine what constitutes a ‘safe’ maximum escape depth from any given compartment pressure (the safe to escape curve), a purpose built chamber complex, the Submarine Escape Simulator (SES) has been constructed at the QinetiQ, formerly the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency (DERA), Alverstoke site.Unlike escapes from a submarine where once released from the submarine the escapee’s ascent can not be halted, within the SES it is possible to halt the ascent phase. This article describes the systems and procedures developed to enable medical support to be provided rapidly to a subject at any stage of the compression decompression profile. The article also provides details of the results to date that have been obtained from this work.