The Personal Retriever Disk by Life Safer

The Life Safer Personal Retriever is a United States Coast Guard (USCG) approved, state-of-the-art, throw able Personal Flotation Device (PFD) developed to enable first responders ashore or afloat the ability to quickly retrieve people from the water or from frozen rivers, lakes and streams.

The Retriever was designed by Rescue Professionals around the American Red Cross philosophy of Reach, Throw Don't Go. The design team also used Life Guarding principles outlined in The American Lifesaving Association Manual of Open Water Lifesaving and data derived from a 1984 United States Coast Guard study on the buoyancy required for adequate breath control in rough water. This 1984 USCG data supersedes the 1950s data used for Type IV ring buoy buoyancy requirements that do not take into account the detrimental effects of the extra bulk and weight of the ring buoy.

The Retriever provides the optimum balance of buoyancy and size in an aerodynamic/hydrodynamic shape. The 100 feet of integrated floating line allows for a quick recovery. The attachment point of the line makes the Retriever skim on top of the water allowing it to station keep in swift water or be quickly retrieved with a minimum of effort. Extra line can easily be attached to the Retriever allowing it to be used from high profile vessels or bridges.

The Retrievers aerodynamic shape makes it very accurate and easy to use. Initial training time is usually less than an hour and recurrent training is only needed a few times a year to maintain optimum proficiency. The Retrievers soft, yet durable expanded polyethylene foam material reduces the chance of injury to the person receiving the Retriever to almost zero. This provides increased safety during training and reduced liability during actual use.

The Personal Retriever has a proven record of working when traditional equipment has failed.

However, due to ongoing manufacturing and regulatory issues, production of the Personal Retriever is currently on hold and is not available for purchase. Please contact Paul Driscoll BMCM USCG ret., pdriscoll@life-safer.com for the reasons and an estimate on when it will be available.

The Personal Retriever

...is the only U.S. Coast Guard approved, buoyant, rapid response, multi-use, water and ice rescue disk, with 100-foot reach. The Personal Retriever out performs all throw able water-rescue devices.