Patent ID: 7918701

Claim:
An apparatus for providing buoyancy and/or facilitating rescue of a person or object, the apparatus comprising: a tubular sleeve for securing the apparatus around at least a portion of a person or an object, wherein the tubular sleeve is biased to a longitudinally extended position such that releasing the tubular sleeve from a longitudinally compressed position to the longitudinally extended position causes the diameter of the tubular sleeve to contract radially to exert a compressive gripping force comprising an even radial pressure on the person or object or a portion thereof and longitudinal compression of the tubular sleeve from the longitudinally extended position to the compressed position causes the diameter of the tubular sleeve to expand radially to enable the person or object or a portion thereof to move relative to the sleeve, the tubular sleeve further comprising an aperture at each end of the tubular sleeve and an end portion at each end of the tubular sleeve for maintaining the aperture open at each end of the tubular sleeve.