If the harness is anything like the harness I bought from Home Depot to do work on my roof, it would be nearly impossible to get out of quickly. The nylon is th

If the harness is anything like the harness I bought from Home Depot to do work on my roof, it would be nearly impossible to get out of quickly. The nylon is the super stiff abrasion resistant kind as well, which I cannot imagine cutting through quickly with a normal strap cutter, which is basically just a razor blade in a plastic handle. The fact that they were screwed to the floor sounds makes it sound egress would be nearly impossible in an emergency. The way those harnesses are designed there is almost no way to free yourself if they are under tension. You effectively need to call someone else to help you get out. On top of all that, the mammalian diving reflex means that unless you are experienced and well-prepared you are probably going to gasp as you go under water. Even a strong swimmer can drown due to the effects of the diving response, most commonly in a chaotic situation where they don't have the time or space they normally would to recover. Of course given the chaos I don't think you could say everyone would have survived with different belts on, but I think it would have been much more likely.