An insight into SAR

[Marvell]

Should you find yourself up the proverbial creek, how long do you think that the SAR teams will keep looking for you? It's longer than you might expect. Yes, it does depend on terrain, light and a number of other factors, but ultimately, they don't take a casual look for you and think "bugger it", even if it's just the one person.

On a recent shout, between the lifeboats, the fishing boats, the choppers, the coast guard and the public, the search for a chap who was thought to have slipped on the rocks did not stop for 21 hours (with only 4-5am not covered) until he was found though everyone was prepared to keep going.

So how long do you think it would have carried on had he not been found?

[happybonzo]

Do you still get lots of hoax shouts? The scrotes used to break into a holiday home and make their calls to the emergency services from there; that way, there was a number for the operator to phone back to to see if it was a genuine call.
Cheapy inflatable boats: My pals up at Weston Super Mud rescued the same bloke and his kids 3 times in one day. One the third occasion that boat developed a leak in 107 different places...

[Bernie]

3 times in one day

Seriously!? They should have told him after the second time that he's credit was up. What an idiot.

[Marvell]

My pals up at Weston Super Mud rescued the same bloke and his kids 3 times in one day.

Seriously!? They should have told him after the second time that he's credit was up. What an idiot.

Unfortunately, boating, even ocean going, is not a regulated activity. So any wally can get out there. I remember a case of a chap who kept getting rescued after trying to get to Ireland with a road atlas.

I remember bringing a boat back from Hartland Point once. It was a river/canal boat really and in shocking condition too. We got it back to harbour and the Harbour Master, who was also the Chief Helm at the time, tore the skipper a new one, on the quay, in front of the crew, the hotel staff and about 200 tourists. Brilliant!

[swkieran]

we get that sort of thing all the time round the corner here in tobay bernie,we locals have coined the phrase (birmingham navy) lol.i would never take to sea in an inflatable,youre dealing with a greater power than us,also for a couple more quid than there dinghy they can hire small vessels with life jackets,vhf,gps,first aid kit,flares etc etc lol.

[comanighttrain]

is there not some 72 hour rule wherafter the search is scaled down and the person is generally assumed to be dead?

I used to work in a hotel in the highlands where a lot of searches were sort of based from (the hele used to land and people would head out from nearby), I think they found everyone in the years i worked there....

[Silverback]

I can only comment on Land based SAR.

Each search has its own particular merits, and each search will be co-ordinated according to missing person stats (medical issues, vulnerability etc.) and behavoir and adjusted as information is received. In UK Land Based SAR the Police have primacy and as such it is they that make the final decisions. I have attended searches lasting a number of hours to a number of weeks - of course it would be improper of me to comment on individual jobs particularly on the internet.

[Marvell]

is there not some 72 hour rule wherafter the search is scaled down and the person is generally assumed to be dead?

It certainly scales down. Essentially, as the days go on, someone in the sea is a) drifting and b) exposed. This both widens the search area and reduces the probability of survival. These two factors combined give us a probability of detection. The basic inequality is that if the probability of finding them is less than the probability that we have a problem ourselves, then we keep going at one level or another.

Three days is realistically all you'd search the shore for for a body that's not in a life jacket. The reality is that they will sink pretty quickly and not start floating for four or five days, assuming they are not caught in anything. The major problem is that after three days, the currents could take the body miles and chances of finding them, even if they do float is slim at best.

The previous body we took off the beach here in North Devon had been in the water over a month and had gone into the sea in Wales. The last fisherman we lost off locally washed up over two months later in Wales. Even though the Coast Guard has an excellent computer system for predicting position, the confidence levels get really small after a while.

[Edwin]

Do you really believe that boating should be regulated, tests and restrictions on permitted distances from harbour and all the rest of it? If it is too much trouble to look for someone in a rubber toy dinghy then give up, I gather it is voluntary, and the other services will do their duty by fellow citizens.

Freedom is being eroded all over with the sea nearly its last refuge and I would accept even some casualties and extra expense to keep that freedom.

[Marvell]

Do you really believe that boating should be regulated, tests and restrictions on permitted distances from harbour and all the rest of it? If it is too much trouble to look for someone in a rubber toy dinghy then give up, I gather it is voluntary, and the other services will do their duty by fellow citizens.

Yes, I think beyond a certain distance, civilian boatmen should be regulated, just like any professional boatman is.

I think anyone going beyond a certain distance (10 miles, say) should have a boat which has been checked out, like an MOT. I think that boat should have a radio, even if a hand held. I think everyone should be wearing a life jacket.

I think anyone going a great distance should have a boat with navigational equipment and a least one person should have had a basic half day course on navigation. I think that boat should also have a first aid kit.

I think anyone travelling in offshore or international waters should submit a passage plan.

I think anyone operating a boat above a certain size or power should have have passed a certain test to enter a harbour of a certain size.

Freedom is being eroded all over with the sea nearly its last refuge and I would accept even some casualties and extra expense to keep that freedom.

Do you think we should be free to drive uninsured cars, to fly planes without licenses or to go on a diving trip with any old gear?

Do you accept the death of lifeboatmen trying to save someone in a rowing boat trying to row to Ireland in a force 6 with a road atlas?

Do you accept the death of a yachtsman who is rammed by a Sunseeker who does not understand the rules of channels or how to keep watch?

Do you accept the death of a family who take a river boat around a rocky headland in a storm?

Just out of interest, who is paying for this extra expense you mention?

PS The opinions expressed is this post and subsequent posts are my own and do not reflect or represent those of the RNLI, HM Coast Guard or any SAR agency.