I agree that waterproof comms would be of a great advantage as regards the prolonged life of the equipment in SAR ops however here are some thoughtson the subject:-
1. If on a small vessel it should have Marine CH 16 comms.
2. If the winchman is on the wire he should be to busy watching what he is doing and giving handsignals to the Winchop to press a PTT.
3. An open comms system to the winchman would maybe lead to interuptions in the Winch Op to Pilot patter. ie Is it really necessary to hear the winchop when he is on the wire.
4. Anything less then a helmet integrated system is useless if the helicopter is within an asses roar of the area as the Winchop cannot hear it.
5. At present that I am aware of most SAR operators use a hand portable Marine set to talk to the aircraft. This I suppose is useful to advise when ready for a pickup or to request further assistance or equipment.
I dont think there is a waterproof system (integrated to a helmet) but there are many waterproof handhelds.
Hope this is of help and prompts some discussion.
FOTH
