Offshore Life by Dianne Wolfenden
I work as a radio operator offshore and have been asked many times what’s it like to work on a drilling rig. Firstly, the helicopter survival course is scary, well one bit of it is: You’re strapped in to a seat by a four-point harness in a helicopter simulator, and then the contraption is dunked in to an environmental pool – meaning it’s cold to mimic sea conditions – and then turned upside down in the water. Almost immediately the water starts flooding the cabin and once the simulator stops turning, you hold your breath for seven second then undo your harness and drag yourself through a window and swim to the surface. There are divers on hand in case anyone starts to panic.
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Grant Leishman - Author 