Coast Guard Thread

[LioKai]

I'll throw my hat in to this one.

As a local Captain in Kona I have noticed two things:

First:
Locally,the Coast Guard does not have an emergency response team so they will not be responding immediately, so we (local boat captains) have come to depend on each other for the "small stuff". Small stuff example number one - running out of fuel. If I run out of fuel on land I call my friends to bring me a gas can, I DON"T call the PD or the FD. Same thing on the water. Example number two - if someone gets injured on the boat I run the boat in to the nearest boat launch to meet with the FD, PD, and or Ambulance. Then I would file it with the local CG office. Exactly as was instructed in Captain school.

Second:
When a U.S. flag cruise ship comes to town the Coast Guard takes over BIG TIME. They are everywhere. AS I WOULD EXPECT!!!

I DO NOT EXPECT the Coast Guard to bring me fuel because I forgot to check the guage, I do however EXPECT the Coast Guard to respond imediately with force if I contact them concerning illegal activity on a level of national security (terrorist stuff) or serious health related (oil spills and such) if it occurs on the water.

As for some of the rantings from earlier:
Wildcard, you made some good points and you definitely are not afraid to speak your mind, I applaude you. But try to rein it in a little so you get better support. Not for the sake of PC, (you know I don't care, nor am I ever PC), just so you get better support from your peers.

Fyrefyter, your defending of the fire dept started out good, but your personal attacks were the actions of a feable mind and you lost all credability with it.

As for funding to the fire dept here in Kona Hawaii, I think they might be funded quite well as should the other branches of local and national health and safety which are not funded as well as the FD. Here in Kona, the fire truck is on the scene before the cops or the ambulance EVERY TIME! They are also the only (to the best of my knowledge) safety helocopter for both land and sea, as well as a rescue boat. They respond first, then the Coast Guard. Makes sense to me, local then national.

Food for thought:
The Coast Guard is not the be-all end-all on the ocean. We have a lot of options for health, safety, and the law while on the water. In no particular order - Harbor Master, PD, FD, CG, CG aux, DEA, DAR (Dept of Aquatic Resources), DLNR (Dept of Land and Natural Resources), last but not least your MOMMY. In fact call her first. That is at least nine phone numbers that should be posted on your boat. Call direct, it is faster than calling 911.

IF you are not going to call the FBI because your neighbor is driving his car while intoxicated, then don't call the CG because someone ran over your dive flag. Try calling the Harbor Master or DLNR. They have responsibilty within 200' of shore.

 

[Firefyter]

Fyrefyter, your defending of the fire dept started out good, but your personal attacks were the actions of a feable mind and you lost all credability with it.

For the record, I made no personal attacks, I simply questioned the motivation for uninformed rants. Now calling my response "the actions of a feeble mind" sounds more like a personal attack, but hey, I'm a big boy and your uninformed opinion of me doesn't carry a lot of weight anyway...

I am glad that you weighed in, however, with your extensive knowledge as a Captain. It's always nice to hear how it works from the guys who actually do the job.

 

[shark.byte.usa]

Personally, I am glad the fire department is "overfunded". They show up and have the right equipment and are enthusiastic about the the job of rescue. With all the government "waste", I say overfund them....they rock in Hawaii Kai. Whats more, they are friends with the boat captains and work well as a team with others in the community. The fact that they are local people and act invested in our community may play a role...I don't really know. Many of them paddle and surf. I think thay really seem to understand the ocean in our area.

Sounds to me like they are the right people for the near shore/local rescue calls.

My intent would not be to knock the Coast Guard who have many important responsibilities that perhaps takes time and focus off local emergencies here on Oahu. I just would like to know how it actually works where the rubber meets the road.

Like I said I don't think you'll get a [correct] answer on this board, best to contact the small boat station and invite to a meeting or go down in person and have a chat.

And the captains are saying to call the fire department, and from what I have seen..if your life is in eminent danger, that appears to be your best bet.

If MY life was in eminent danger, I'd get on CH16 or call 911 and whoever answered the call I'd be grateful. I have a hard time fathoming that in an eminent danger situation the CG wouldn't get underway and respond, that hasn't been my experience in AK, PNW & CA, in SoCal there are other services [Baywatch, Lifeguards, FD, etc] who can respond quicker to a near shore emergency due to location etc, which is probably closest to the situation you have in Oahu.

Garrett

 

[Cacia]

I think all these posts are helpful.

Lio Kia, thanks for your suggestions, I am sure you are dialed in.

I wonder if our Rescue Class protoccols, (and Divemaster emergency plans should reflect some of this...)

 

[shark.byte.usa]

I'll throw my hat in to this one.

As a local Captain in Kona I have noticed two things:

First:
Locally,the Coast Guard does not have an emergency response team so they will not be responding immediately, so we (local boat captains) have come to depend on each other for the "small stuff". Small stuff example number one - running out of fuel. If I run out of fuel on land I call my friends to bring me a gas can, I DON"T call the PD or the FD. Same thing on the water. Example number two - if someone gets injured on the boat I run the boat in to the nearest boat launch to meet with the FD, PD, and or Ambulance. Then I would file it with the local CG office. Exactly as was instructed in Captain school.

Second:
When a U.S. flag cruise ship comes to town the Coast Guard takes over BIG TIME. They are everywhere. AS I WOULD EXPECT!!!

I DO NOT EXPECT the Coast Guard to bring me fuel because I forgot to check the guage, I do however EXPECT the Coast Guard to respond imediately with force if I contact them concerning illegal activity on a level of national security (terrorist stuff) or serious health related (oil spills and such) if it occurs on the water.

...

Food for thought:
The Coast Guard is not the be-all end-all on the ocean. We have a lot of options for health, safety, and the law while on the water. In no particular order - Harbor Master, PD, FD, CG, CG aux, DEA, DAR (Dept of Aquatic Resources), DLNR (Dept of Land and Natural Resources), last but not least your MOMMY. In fact call her first. That is at least nine phone numbers that should be posted on your boat. Call direct, it is faster than calling 911.

IF you are not going to call the FBI because your neighbor is driving his car while intoxicated, then don't call the CG because someone ran over your dive flag. Try calling the Harbor Master or DLNR. They have responsibilty within 200' of shore.

Well said... Nice Post.

 

[sea nmf]

Lio Kai - great post. Clears up a lot of questions!

 

[USCG flyer]

I'm probably in the position to answer some of your questions, at least aviation questions, I won't speak for the boat guys. There has been some good and bad information in the thread. I had a post going and then SB locked me out and I lost it, but here are some of my thoughts.
Anyhow, I'm an Aviation Standardization Instructor, my team goes from Airstation to Airstation and we evaluate them. So I can speak to what actaully happens when we get in and go. What isn't seen so much is the Command and Control aspect. We, like everyone else, take ORDERS...we don't pick where to search or really how...this is made by someone not on scene. Like it or not, we are military, and take ORDERS. Sometimes, there are exceptions, most notably, Hurricane Katrina, for the most part, when we got in to New Orleans, we reported in and went about doing what we thought we needed due to the fact that it was the kind of situation that calls for that. We would find people on a roof, and set about hoisting. My unit in particular, flew more sorties into New Orleans in two weeks than the entire Coast Guard does in a year worth of "normal" SAR missions. These are exceptions to the standard. Another one I was personally involved in was 9/11, we didn't have the choice of what we wanted to do then, we followed orders. The fact is, sometimes there are better assets to make a rescue than the Coast Guard. Sometimes, local Fire and Police Depts can do it better and faster. We have sets of rules we follow...in my case, the planning of flying a SAR mission does not change, regardless of the fact it is one mile off shore, or 150. Flying is flying, there are things that must be done, flight plans, checking weather, pre-flighting the Aircraft all come into play. Will the local PD or FD make it out faster one mile off shore? Of course! However, will the same local department fly 150 miles off shore, at night, with 60 Ft seas and hurricane force winds to hoist a crew from a sinking vessel? Will the local Sheriff's marine unit do a forced boarding on a possible terrorist vessel? Does the local police helicopter provide precision fire to stop a vessel? Does the local Fire dept have the capabilites do a close to shore rescue of a vehicle that drove off a bridge? Sure they do, and that's why they are better. That is why a multiple agency response works!
There was a comment about wartime not concerning the stateside activities, don't kid yourself...we DO go to war like everyone else. There are 38,000 active duty in the Coast Guard, the NYC Police Dept is bigger than we are. This says something...are things perfect...no one is fool enough to think that. Units will vary, we know this...but give us some credit. There are ALOT of things we do that the public will NEVER see. It is still a military service. Everyone sees a small boat pulling over a drunken boater, or an orange helicopter fly by when they are at the beach. They don't see the Polar Ships deployment crews, or the High Endurance Cutter (size of Navy Destroyer) escorting a Navy Carrier into the Persian Gulf... or a boarding team taking an oil rig in a war zone, it doesn't mean we don't do it. If you run out of gas on memorial day weekend, we are NOT coming, SEATOW is. I will answer anything I am qualified to tell you about, other than that, I will refer you to someone in your area that can help with your concerns. In fact, I'll be in Barber's Point in a few weeks, we talk about it over a beer after we dive.

 

[MilitantMedic]

.....I heard Beer and Diving....

 

[Cacia]

UCSGflyer,

thanks...

does the Coast Guard have any program in place to do "community based" interface with local agencies, commercial boat captains, etc?

what is the best process for input on the local level?

 

[shark.byte.usa]

does the Coast Guard have any program in place to do "community based" interface with local agencies, commercial boat captains, etc?

The Coast Guard Auxiliary