OPITO Product 5996
Tropical HUET with Emergency Breathing System (EBS)
Focused offshore helicopter safety, underwater escape and sea-survival training for personnel travelling in tropical operations where a rebreather Emergency Breathing System is provided.
Develop practical competence in EBS use, helicopter emergency response, HUET, underwater orientation, push-out-window escape, aviation survival and post-egress sea survival.
10.40
2
EBS
4 Year
Guided learning hours
Mandatory units
Rebreather EBS Pathways
Validity
Validity
4 years
Product Type
OPITO Approved Course
Trainers
OPITO Certified and years of experience
Operating Environment
Tropical Offshore
Emergency Preparation
Know the escape sequence before the aircraft reaches the water.
Learners develop an understanding of: aircraft flotation characteristics, emergency landing and ditching, escape routes, aviation lifejackets, brace positions, seat and harness configurations, independent action and survival following ditching.
Core response:
LOCATE
Identify the nominated exit.
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Release
Release the restraint at the appropriate stage.
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Evacuate
Move through the nominated exit or push-out window during on-water, underwater or capsized conditions.
Recognise when the crew needs to know.
Learners develop awareness of abnormal conditions that should be reported to the helicopter crew, including: fire, smoke, fuel leakage, and other unusual conditions the crew may not have identified.
Training also reinforces maintaining a secure seatbelt, correctly positioned lifejacket and following crew instructions.
IS 5996 Right For you?
Helicopter emergency training for personnel travelling offshore with EBS.
Product 5996 is designed for personnel new to, or returning to, the offshore energy industry who will be supplied with a rebreather EBS during offshore helicopter travel.
The Product is particularly relevant where the training requirement centres on: offshore helicopter travel, EBS operation, helicopter ditching, HUET and underwater escape, emergency exit operation, and sea survival.
An offshore helicopter ditching may require a passenger to remain restrained, maintain a physical reference point, recognise changes in orientation, operate an emergency exit and escape from a partially submerged or inverted cabin.
Training requirements can vary by operator, region and aviation arrangement.
Before booking, confirm your requirement with your employer, operator or mobilisation team.
Prepare for the flight
Control the escape
Survive the water
Two Mandatory Units
01 — OIS-443
Helicopter Safety and Escape — Tropical EBS
6 hours 40 minutes
Develop the knowledge and practical competence required for offshore helicopter travel, emergency preparation, rebreather EBS use and underwater escape following ditching.
Learners cover pre-flight and in-flight procedures, emergency recognition, aviation lifejacket use, ditching preparation, brace positions, escape routes and push-out windows before progressing into practical EBS and HUET exercises. The unit includes EBS integrity checks, dry deployment and breathing, pool familiarisation with orientation-related pressure effects, dry helicopter evacuation, partial-submersion escape, capsized escape and combinations involving EBS and push-out-window operation.
02 — OIS-83
Sea Survival – THUET
4 hours
Develop the survival knowledge and practical actions required after offshore evacuation or helicopter ditching, from water entry through survival craft and rescue.
Learners cover offshore evacuation procedures, alarms and muster arrangements, search and rescue, helicopter recovery, TEMPSC, tertiary escape and marine liferafts. Practical activities include mustering and strapping into a TEMPSC, boarding a marine liferaft from the water, controlled water entry, helicopter rescue-device use and individual and group sea-survival techniques such as swimming, HELP, wave-slap protection, towing, chain, huddle and circle formations.
Why Tropical HUET with EBS?
A helicopter emergency can move from flight to underwater escape in seconds.
An offshore helicopter ditching may require a passenger to remain restrained, maintain a physical reference point, recognise changes in orientation, operate an emergency exit and escape from a partially submerged or inverted cabin.
Once outside the aircraft, the response must transition immediately into flotation, survival-craft use and sea-survival actions.
Product 5996 is specifically designed to develop these helicopter-emergency and survival skills for tropical offshore travel.
Helicopter emergency response and survival in one focused pathway.
Learners are required to demonstrate that they can:
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Use Safety Equipment
Apply the required helicopter emergency and aviation survival equipment correctly.
Prepare for Helicopter Emergencies
Follow the appropriate procedures before and during emergency landing or ditching.
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Escape Following Ditching
Perform practical underwater helicopter escape in a simulated environment.
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Use EBS
Understand and operate the rebreather Emergency Breathing System during the specified practical exercises.
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Demonstrate Sea Survival
Apply recognised survival techniques after entering or escaping into the water.
System
Understanding
Operating
Duration
Flotation
Dynamics
Integrated
Egress
EBS Technical Focus
Understand the system before you depend on it.
Learners refresh four core EBS knowledge areas:
EBS Principles
How the Emergency Breathing System operates.
Duration
Understanding the available breathing duration and the limitations of the system.
Flotation Dynamics
Understanding how EBS interacts with flotation and body position.
Donning & Operation
Correctly fitting and operating the emergency breathing equipment.
EBS Pool Familiarisation
Experience the effect of changing body orientation.
Learners deploy, operate and breathe from the EBS in a pool using personal air.The exercise specifically requires the learner to experience the positive and negative pressure created by body orientation in the water.
Breathing-system familiarity must continue even when orientation changes
01
Know the system and how it works.
Understand
02
Wear it correctly and Securely.
Don
03
Complete allpre-use checks.
Check
04
Deploy in the exercise.
Deploy
05
Breathe correctly and stay calm.
Breathe
06
Escape safely and follow instructions.
Escape
Suraksha Marine HUET Simulator
Train the escape in a controlled helicopter environment.
At Suraksha Marine, HUET practical training is delivered using a purpose-built helicopter underwater escape simulator designed to support controlled submersion, inversion and emergency egress exercises.
Product 5996 requires HUET systems to include representative helicopter seating and restraints, push-out windows, controlled lowering, at least 180° rotation, emergency stopping capability and rapid retrieval.
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6 Training Positions
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4 Passengers +
2 Cockpit Positions
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Multiple Push-Out Emergency Windows
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Representative Restraint Systems
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Controlled 180° Inversion
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Dedicated Lowering
& Recovery System
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Controlled Environment
Safe, repeateble conditions for effective learning.
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Progressive Escape Training
Build skills and confidence through structure scenarios
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Operational Realism
Realistic systems and motions that mirror field conditions
What HUET is Really Training
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Reference
Maintain a physical point of orientation
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Orientation
Recognise body and cabin position after movement
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Release
Release restraint at the appropriate stage
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Egress
Locate and pass through the nominated exit
01
Partial
Submersion
Escape without EBS.
03
Partial Submersion + EBS + Push-Out Window
Integrate breathing-system operation with exit removal.
05
Capsize + EBS
Breathe correctly and stay calm.
02
Partial
Submersion + EBS
Deploy, operate and breathe from EBS during escape.
04
Capsize
Escape from the inverted helicopter.
06
Capsize + EBS + Push-Out Window
Escape safely and follow instructions.
These variations form part of the practical Product 5996 HUET sequence.
HUET Escape Progression
Increase the challenge one element at a time.
HUET training increases in complexity as learners develop confidence and competence.
The minimum HUET team includes:
Lead Instructor
Crane/Hoist Operator or Dive Supervisor
OPITO HUET Divers
Pool Safety Person
Push-Out Window Competence
Establish the exit skill before the final capsize exercise.
An important assessment detail within the Product Standard is that although push-out windows are fitted for the final capsize exercise, the learner's ability to push out the window is assessed during the partial-submersion exercise.
Demonstrate the exit action before adding the full inversion sequence.
Aviation Liferaft
The emergency continues after leaving the cabin.
Product 5996 includes both dry evacuation into an aviation liferaft and liferaft boarding from the water.
Learners understand the location, operation and use of aviation liferafts.
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Secure mooring lines
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Deploying the sea anchor
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Raising the canopy
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Raft maintenance
Swimming Ability
You do not need to hide your swimming ability.
These groups must be clearly
identified during pool exercises.
The standard recognises: swimmers, weak swimmers and designated non-swimmers.
A maximum of two designated non-swimmer learners may participate in any one HUET pool exercise.
Inform Suraksha Marine of your swimming ability before practical training.
Shoulder Breadth Measurement
Where required locally, learners should hold a valid Shoulder Breadth Measurement before offshore helicopter travel.
Shoulder Breadth Measurement may be required depending on the applicable offshore aviation regime. Confirm your mobilisation requirement before booking.
Medical Requirements
Be fit for the practical demands of training.
The programme contains physically demanding and potentially stressful activities.
Learners must satisfy an acceptable
medical-entry route, which may include:
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valid offshore medical;
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employer-approved equivalent;
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fitness-to-work-at-sea certificate;
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medical fitness for diving at work;
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or appropriate screening through the OPITO-approved centre.
Medical eligibility should be confirmed before booking.
Why Suraksha Marine
Train the complete helicopter emergency response—not simply the inversion.
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EBS-Specific Training: Develop familiarity with EBS principles, donning, integrity checks, deployment, breathing and underwater orientation effects.
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Controlled HUET Simulation: Practise partial submersion, inversion, emergency-exit operation and underwater egress.
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Progressive Escape Training: Build from dry evacuation into increasingly complex underwater scenarios.
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Integrated Sea Survival: Continue from cabin egress into liferafts, TEMPSC, in-water survival and offshore rescue.
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Structured Safety Supervision: HUET activities are supported by defined instructor, diver, operator and pool-safety resources.
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Pathway Support: Suraksha Marine can help learners distinguish between the 5996 EBS and 5194 CA-EBS pathways.
Train for the Point Where Orientation Changes
Product 5996 connects offshore helicopter procedures, rebreather EBS, underwater escape and sea survival into one focused emergency-response pathway.
The objective is not simply to experience a capsized simulator.
It is to maintain reference, use the breathing system correctly, locate the exit, complete the egress and transition into survival.
Breathe. Orient. Escape. Survive.
Corporate workforce mobilisation?
Check related Courses:
01
Tropical BOSIET with CA-EBS
Initial tropical offshore safety training integrating CA-EBS use, HUET, sea survival, first aid, firefighting and self-rescue.
04
Tropical FOET with EBS
Further offshore emergency training to refresh and demonstrate rebreather EBS use, helicopter escape, firefighting, self-rescue and first aid.
02
Tropical BOSIET with EBS
Initial tropical offshore safety training built around the rebreather EBS pathway, helicopter escape and integrated emergency response.
05
Tropical HUET with CA-EBS
Focused tropical helicopter emergency training combining CA-EBS competence, underwater escape, capsize response and post-egress survival.
