General Information

Serial #

N/A

Part Number

1

Total Parts

1

AKA

life jacket

Patents

N/A

General Description

synthetics (probably foam and nylon); fibre (probably cotton); metal

Dimensions

Note: These reflect the general size for storage and are not necessarily representative of the object's true dimensions.

Length

31.0 cm

Width

50.0 cm

Height

6.0 cm

Thickness

N/A

Weight

N/A

Diameter

N/A

Volume

N/A

Lexicon

Group

Medical Technology

Category

Miscellaneous

Sub-Category

N/A

Manufacturer

AKA

Plastimo

Country

France

State/Province

Unknown

City

Lorient

Context

Country

Libya

State/Province

Unknown

Period

September 19, 2015

Canada

Taken from curatorial worksheet (reference 1): One of 7 items obtained by Canadian Dr. Simon Bryant while on tour for Medecins Sans Frontier (MSF) on the M.Y. Phoenix (http://blogs.msf.org/en/staff/blogs/moving-stories/bringing-home-the-rescue-zone). In 2015 MSF Canada has been active in the migrant crisis on the Mediterranean. Dr. Simon Bryant was one of the doctors who did a tour in August 2015. I asked for Dr. Bryant to collect items that reflected the MSF experience and mission. It was fairly uncommon to find anybody wearing lifejackets in the inflatable rafts and boats, although on occasion children would have some form of flotation device. This could be for example an inflated vehicle inner-tube, or an inflatable vest intended only for supervised swimming-pool use. In the transfer of people between rescuing vessels over the months, large numbers of lifejackets were exchanged and passed back and forth. Several certified children’s lifejackets found their way onto the Phoenix in this manner and were put to good use.

Function

To prevent wearer from sinking in water.

Technical

Unknown

Area Notes

Unknown

Details

Markings

Print on front of vest " P [logo]/ PLASTIMO" [the "O" is torn]. Print on inside of vest "P [logo]/ PLASTIMO/ TYPHOON/ 100 Newtons". Print at the bottom of label "dist. par PLASTIMO, BP 435, 56325 Lorient FRANCE". There are warnings on usage in 8 different languages. Small print on reflective badges "SOLAS/0062[/]13/ REFLEXITE [logo of a ship's wheel]".

Missing

Appears complete.

Finish

Bright orange synthetic (nylon?) outer shell with dark blue zipper and straps. Black buckles, dark blue print and two silver reflective badges sewn to front of vest. Large white label with blue print sown to the inside of vest. Orange synthetic whistle is attached to vest by a rope.

Decoration

There are 5 pictograms; 1. depicts child size vest; .2 depicts 100 newtons rating; .3 logo for EN ISO compliant; .4 drawing of child and buckles; .4 washing instructions.