Mr. Vincent Farr:

The Rescue 400 life jacket was introduced for volunteers in 2015. A technical advisory group of local volunteers, merchant seamen and professional people in the fire service tested this jacket to see if it was fit for purpose. Many complaints were made about the jacket as we tested it. As one individual said, when the jacket activated, it was like being kicked in the face by a horse. It ended up with that person having a black eye. It knocked off helmets and failed to open on numerous occasions in tests. That was in 2015.