LAFAYETTE, La. (KLFY) – Workers can face many dangers offshore. From fires on board an oil rig to having to escape from a helicopter that goes down in the water.

Safety Management Systems, an Acadian company, trains oil and gas workers on things they may encounter offshore.

In one scenario, trainees put on full turnout gear for a two-day coast guard approved firefighting class.

“Y’all gonna have four guys going in there. One guys gonna stay at the door so when that one guy stays at the door he’s gonna be that back up man,” training instructor Shane Perron explained to workers before they go inside a fire training structure. The exercise simulates a fire in an engine room on a vessel or drilling rig.

“At any point in time you have a problem in there tap the instructor, or get your hands up there and start tapping on your helmet, we’ll come get you out of there we’ll get you out of there and find out what’s going on with your equipment, we’re gonna do this safe guys,” said training instructor Doug Heaton. “The goal is nobody gets hurt.”

“Out there you can’t call 911 and expect the firefighters to show up,” said Chris Broussard, the training center supervisor.

There’s also a mock oil platform. Workers learn how to abandon the platform and operate a lifeboat like they’d find on an actual rig.

“The whole thing to try to get them prepared for the worst-case scenario before it actually happens,” Broussard said.

Safety Management Systems, or SMS, opened its training facility on North University Avenue in 2008. There are classrooms, living quarters and a full-service restaurant so workers don’t have to leave the campus.

In one intense training class, workers learn how to free themselves from the METS unit. It stands for Modular Egress Training Simulator. It simulates a helicopter going down in the water. The unit also flips over. Trainees need to unbuckle their seat belts, push out a window, and swim to safety. Rescue divers are in the water in case anything goes wrong.

Kevin McGrath of Boston, Mass., has worked offshore for 26 years. He’s worked in the Gulf and in Ghana, Africa. He said you can be on a helicopter for hours before you get to the rig so he knows how important this training is.

“I’ve done it before but it’s never fun to go into ten feet of water and go 180 degrees upside down with an airbag really isn’t my idea of having a good day,” McGrath said.

Jeff Willis of Lafayette is planning to work offshore in India. He hasn’t worked offshore for years and said they didn’t have this type of training back then.

“I think it’s great,” said Willis. “It really prepares you. Makes you think about what could happen and you actually prepare before the flight.”

Now I’m not heading offshore. But I wanted to see if I could handle it. Instructors say they’ve seen grown men cry going through this.

“I just saw those other guys go through it,” I said after putting on coveralls and a safety helmet. “I talked to them. I’m a little bit nervous, but I’m gonna give it a go so let’s see how it plays out.”

So what could I expect?

“Well water up your nose of course,” Willis told me. “A little disorientation as you flip over trying to find your exit and get out but if you remain calm everything will be fine.”

Remain calm. Getting briefed by training instructor Mike Niland certainly helped. He told me how the center of the window has 100 pounds of pressure but the corner has only 40 pounds.

“So you want to find one of the corners… about 40 pounds of pressure… all you have to do is direct constant pressure, lean into it and it will pop out pretty easily,” he explained.

Niland gave me another quick lesson inside the simulator and then it was time. I managed to unbuckle my seat belt, push out the window and swim to shore. I’m underwater for about eight seconds.

“Good job,” one of the instructors called to me.

“Not too bad, not too bad,” I said as I swam to the side of the pool.

“Perfect. That was perfect,” the instructors called out.

But there wasn’t much time to celebrate my success. The machine wasn’t done with me yet.

The helicopter simulator training gets even harder. In part two it will drop me into the water and do a 180 degree turn. Find out how long it takes for me to escape.