§ 28. Mr. Langford-Holtasked the Minister of Transport what tests were carried out by his Department to prove that their standard life jacket would ensure that an unconscious person over 15 stone in weight would have his face held above water by the jacket.
§ Mr. MarplesTests were carried out on three men, one weighing just over 17 stone and the others about 18 stone each. It was found that when their bodies were inert the standard lifejacket supported them with their heads well clear of the water. The tests made use of information about the position taken up by an unconscious body in the water which was derived from a film of a test made during the last war.
§ Mr. Langford-HoltWhen my right hon. Friend last answered a Question by me about this matter, he made the point that in other tests which had been made a live, conscious body had been used 959 to imitate an unconscious body. Can my right hon. Friend say exactly how he managed to overcome that difficulty?
§ Mr. MarplesI normally find supplementary questions from my hon. Friend very lucid, but I was rather confused by this one. If he thinks that there is any test that anybody else would like my Ministry to make on their own apparatus, we would be willing to do so.