Coast Guard Search Criteria - increase your chances of being found!

[Navy OnStar]

WARNING: This post is long! But informative!

I made a post a while back about best signaling equipment from the searchers point of view and placed it here and on Scubaboard. If you haven’t seen it, here’s the link: Best Emergency Attention Getting Equipment
I received a lot of replies and the subject came up as to the USCG (U.S. Coast Guard) policies regarding lost divers. I took this question to work and here is what I found:

Most USCG stations have approximately 4 helicopters, 2 of which are ready to fly at any time. They have 2 crews ready and 1 on standby to fly those helicopters. Crew day (time allowed to be at work) is 12 hours but may be extended with permission from Commanding Officer (rare) They get on average 5+ calls a night (just during the night) do the math and that means they have to prioritize the order in which they go. These calls may be anything from an overdue boat, to a fisherman with heart troubles, to lost divers etc.

If there is a Navy Base/Ship in the area they will pass excess to them if able. Most Navy Bases (with aircraft) have at least one helicopter on standby for this purpose. Anything close to land/inland waters can be passed to the sheriffs department and USCG patrol boats.

Now here’s the real info. How do they prioritize? Here’s the info I got:
They prioritize by chances of survival so they look at:

Location: is the position known? in the water - or on a boat?

Environment: Water Temps. Time in Water.

Equipment: Does the USCG know if they have any Signaling equipment? Environmental protection Equipment?

From my conversations with several USCG Pilots. Single or double persons in the water without KNOWN signaling equipment usually get the lowest priority due to low chances of being found.

What does this mean? If you are left by a boat with all the signaling equipment in the world but the USCG doesn’t know you have it, and a passenger on a cruise liner has chest pains, if there are not enough assets to do both…..the chest pain guy gets priority.

SO what can you do to make yourself a higher priority?
1. Carry equipment that the USCG feels increases your chances of being spotted: I have listed Pros and Cons of each of these in the post listed above.
- Daytime in order: Signal Mirror, Large SMB or Signal Square (i.e. Space blanket or RescueStreamer® - Water Safety Emergency Distress Signaling Device ) Smoke, Flares, Sea Dye, electronic personal locator. (listed last due to high number of false alarms)
- Nighttime in order: Strobe light, high power flashlight, flares,(Night time smoke – produces bright flame with the smoke)regular flashlight, glowstick, any other light source, Electronic personal locator. (listed last due to high number of false alarms)
2. Make a list of what signaling equipment you have, and what environmental protection equipment you are using, and how you plan to use it in an emergency/lost situation.
3. Leave that list with several people along with your dive plan. Including instructions on what to do if you are overdue. Include police and USCG phone numbers so they don’t have to look them up.
4. Have another copy of that list laminated and attached to the bag you take on any charters and point it out to the Dive Master should you be missing.

Time is your biggest enemy next to cold temperatures. The longer you are in the water un-located, the less likely the USCG or Navy are going to be able to find you. So, make sure te person you leave your dive plan with is responsible and will follow the directions you give them at the appropriate time.

I think I have hit all the major points. Questions? Comments? Concerns?

OnStar

[RoadRacer1978]

Another post with great info. Thank you for sharing. I see it is not only important to have signalling equipment for an emergency, but it is just as, if not more important to let people know that I have that equipment and plan to use it if an emergency arises. Thanks again for the info. You are doing a great deal to help all of us here should bad things happen.

[fireflock]

Fantastic Info! - Thanks.

Rich

[Mycroft]

One of the reasons I like having my SB-105 Nikonos Strobes. Since I have dual strobes, I have two, count them two safety strobes. And after the dive, I usually have a lot of battery power left, and can spread that between the strobes by only using one at a time.

And I have a dive alert+ on order.

[No Misses]

That is the nice thing about diving in south Florida. The shore is just a few miles west of most recreational dive depths. When in doubt - point your head west and start kicking.

[fisheater]

Great info and an excellent suggestion. I'm planning on having much of the signaling gear that you mention on my future boat trip, but it never would have occurred to me that it was important that the USCG (& others) know what I had.

My wife will have all this info handy and ready to go if needed.

Also, the more divers that routinely carry this stuff, the higher up the priority list us divers will go.

Thanks!

[ReefHound]

I carry an RPG to shoot down the first chopper if he doesn't spot me, then the second chopper will easily find the wreckage.

Seems to me if the boat DM can remember your laminated list on what signaling equipment you have, he could just remember to not leave you behind in the first place.

This info tells us one more thing. If you're on a boat and someone goes missing, tell the CG he has every piece of signaling equipment known to man and is in such great shape he could survive for weeks in the water.

[fireflock]

Originally Posted by ReefHound

Seems to me if the boat DM can remember your laminated list on what signaling equipment you have, he could just remember to not leave you behind in the first place.

Each dive season in North Carolina, at least a handful of divers end up drifting. I can't think of a case where a charter boat left a diver. It's always been the diver leaving the boat (or more properly, not getting all the way back to the boat).

Anyway - stuff does happen - even to very experienced divers.

[Goober]

Great post!

[fisheater]

Originally Posted by fireflock

Each dive season in North Carolina, at least a handful of divers end up drifting. I can't think of a case where a charter boat left a diver. It's always been the diver leaving the boat (or more properly, not getting all the way back to the boat).

Anyway - stuff does happen - even to very experienced divers.

It happened a couple of years ago off Long Beach. Dive boat left without a diver and went to second dive location. Didn't do a head count until the end of the second dive and then reported the missing diver to the USCG, some ten miles away from where they'd actually left him.

Diver would have died unless an 11 year Boy Scout, standing stern lookout on a Sea Scout sailing ship returning from Catalina hadn't noticed him (without any signaling device, IIRC) on a foggy morning and initiated a man overboard drill.

Idiots on the dive boat may not understand the buddy system too well. But the Boy Scouts do!