The world's first 'Advanced Water Rescue' manikin, worth £25,000, even has a set of 'lungs' on it

Ruth Lee ltd, based on London Road, is Europe's leading manufacturer of rescue training manikins.

The business recently teamed up with Lifecast Body Simulation to design a revolutionary lifelike manikin as part of an intensive training to save lives at sea.

An elite British Special Forces unit, which is part of the Royal Navy and traces its origins back to the Second World War, has been training with the Advanced Water Rescue manikin (below).

The life-like manikin being used as part of a drill.

The RNLI, Bristow Search and Rescue, the UK’s search and rescue helicopter service, several Ambulance Hazardous Area Response Paramedic teams and also the Maritime Skills Academy, have all supported the development of the manikin with rigorous testing and trials.

Highly accurate and lifelike, the £25,000 manikin is a step change in realism for the rescue training industry. Designed to mimic a drowned person in water, it delivers realistic medical simulation training which prepares rescuers for the real world.

No other rescue manikin provides this level of realism with opportunities to practise rescue skills, coupled with continuation of care to the hospital and intensive care.

The Advanced Water Rescue manikin floats like an unconscious person but can also be weighted to partially or fully sink to increase the realism of rescue.

The life-like manikin.

When in water, the hydrostatic squeeze (pressure of the water) closes a valve within the lung mechanics. Once rescued from water, the mechanism releases, creating movement of the lungs and chest.

Submerging the manikin creates an amount of water in the oropharynx, the middle part of the throat behind the mouth, which can be removed using manual or suction methods.

When people drown they can inhale 30mls of water into the lungs, and the manikin is able to replicate this phenomenon, as well as allowing for dry lung drownings.

The manikin, which is patent pending, has taken two years of research and development to perfect.

Paul McDonnell, Managing Director of Ruth Lee, which is based in Corwen, North Wales, said: “Special Forces teams asked us to create a world first drowning manikin for them to allow both rescue and critical care training.

“Our innovative product, made in collaboration with Lifecast Body Simulation, is the first to allow teams to provide true continuation of care.

“It has been specially designed to be rescued from water and allows for lifesaving intervention with the realism of noises and respiratory issues encountered in the real world. It means rescue teams can be trained for the skills they will need in the real world.”

Liz Baugh, who worked for the Royal Navy and is now lead medical consultant at Red Square Medical, which provides medical services for the maritime sector, said: “I’ve never seen anything like this before.

“Usually we simulate resuscitation on normal manikins in a classroom environment and simulate man-over-board rescues with a manikin in the water, and there’s no link up between the two.

“This manikin enhances our training dramatically not just from the perspective of how it feels to lift a real weight out of the water, but what’s it’s like to resuscitate a realistically feeling body. Because he is so realistic, it adds an additional layer of emotional reaction on top.

“Bringing this level of realism to my crew is going to enhance their reactions and their responses.”

Dave Haliwell, Head of Clinical Design at Lifecast Body Simulation, said: “Working in paramedic care for the last 30 years, I’ve been lucky to have been involved with projects that are at the forefront of clinical care.

“We have utilised the science of drowning, the physiology of the human body, and our joint knowledge of water rescue to design a new type of manikin.

“We had the support of some of the greatest medics in the world in our testing and we are excited to see how this product will help to transform drowning training around the world.

In the UK, drowning is one of the leading causes of accidental death in children and every year in the UK and Ireland more than 700 people drown. Hundreds more have near-drowning experiences, sometimes suffering life-changing injuries.