US Coast Guard SAR

8/13/2019 US Coast Guard SAR

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U.S. Coast Guard Addendum to the United States National SAR SupplementChapter 3 - Search Planning

Section 3.1SAR Planning and Operations Overvie

3.1.1 SAR Incidents Profile

+ore than 7 percent o" all Coast Guard SAR cases occur ithin #8 nautical miles o" shore. Coast Guard

helicopters and 0oats our primar, ?uic) response assets handle the ma@orit, o" incidents to hich the CoastGuard dispatches its on resources. Appro:imatel, 78 percent o" all cases involve assist or rescue onl, -- nosearching. O" all cases 6 percent involve minor searches


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3.1.3.2 &he B!nitial SAR !ncident Chec)sheet should 0e completed "or all incidents. &he BSupplemental SARChec)sheet contains other in"ormation that should 0e collected as circumstances arrant. Standardchec)sheets are also provided "or speci"ic incident t,pes.

3.1.3.3 SAR Controllers shall not hesitate to launch resources prior to completing the chec)sheets. !" the situationdictates launch "irst then ma)e all attempts to complete the chec)sheets hen time permits.

3.1.3.# At speci"ic points indicated on the chec)sheets hile completing the sheets SAR Controllers should ascertainthe earing o" personnel "lotation devices 0, persons on 0oard and advise the reporting source o" the intendedaction o" the Coast Guard.

CO+$&!NS& +1138.#C 3 - Page num0ers


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Section 3.!Searc" Planning #et"ods and Tools

Nationall, and internationall, there are a num0er o" recogniFed search planning methods. &he Coast Guard hashistoricall, used the B+inima: method "or manual search planning and CASP "or high-end computer planning. &he

!A+SAR +anual has an alternate manual method ith enhancements that can result in smaller search areas. Currentl,there is no automated computer implementation o" the !A+SAR method. &his Addendum provides the current methodused 0, the Coast Guard


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3.2.1.1 &he methodologies are used as "ollosE

*irst search>su0se?uent searches

- !" planning a "irst search consider the search location. *or su0se?uent searches determine last)non position


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&he +anual solution is time consuming and error prone due to the volume o" calculations involved. &heAutomated +anual Solution is an application that has computeriFed the or)sheets and computations.

3.2.3 $erational Search Plannin% Co"$'ter S4ste"s

&he SAR communit, has computer assistance "or SAR planning availa0le through the Coast GuardOperations S,stems Center. Polic, "or the operation and administration o" the Amver S,stem is provided in

re"erence


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position% a record o" the most recent Amver reports received% and Amver and ;lo,dDs vessel data.

3.2.3.2 Co"$'ter Assisted Search Plannin% *CASP-is a computeriFed s,stem used 0, search planners to identi",pro0a0le search areas and plan resource allocation. 'hen supplied ith appropriate in"ormation


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must maintain communications ith on scene units or the OSC to determine i" the planned CSPs are in theirproper places or i" positions need to 0e modi"ied.

3.2.9 Search Area Desi%nation

Search areas shall 0e designated using a letter


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Section 3.3Searc" Planning $aria%les

Search planning is 0ased on a m,riad o" varia0les including environmental "actors the nature o" the distress incident andthe availa0le search plat"orms and their capa0ilities. Search planners can improve the li)elihood o" locating the search

o0@ects 0, doing the "olloingE

Accuratel, estimate the dri"t or total ater current ithin the general search area.

Appro:imate the time at hich a distress incident occurred and su0se?uentl, the times at hich the search o0@ectchanged states i.e. "rom a disa0led vessel to a ra"t to a person in the ater.

$etermine the availa0ilit, and capa0ilities o" search and rescue units $+2.


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ta)es on ater and 0egins to sin)% the cre a0andons ship into a li"e ra"t. On the si:th da, the li"e ra"tcapsiFes and the cre 0egins to dri"t in their survival suits.


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Section 3.&Initial Response' Searc" Planning' and Searc" Operations

4""ective e""icient prosecution o" a SAR incident re?uires ell thought out procedures. Not ever, incident ill developinto a "ull-0lon SAR case 0ut ever, case has the potential to greatl, e:pand. Guidance ithin this section ill aid the

SAR Controller in developing the thought process "or a rapid and thorough reaction upon receiving noti"ication o" apotential or actual distress.

3.#.1 ffshore Incidents

As de"ined in re"erence


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elapsed or other conditions indicate area target is un)non= the methods "or determiningsearch area as descri0ed in re"erence


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!i%'re 30# S&'are Pattern: Sin%le 5nit

&o determine the time re?uired to transit each leg use &a0le 3-# S?uare Pattern Computations. 4nter the

&a0le ith the trac) spacing and SRU speed. +ultipl, the num0er "rom the &a0le 0, the length o" the searchleg shon in *igure 3- to get the time re?uired to complete that leg at the given search speed.

4A+P;4E &rac) spacing Q 3 N+ speed Q 18 )tsE

*ind the length o" the second southerl, leg. SolutionE +ultipl, the length o" the second southerl,leg o" *igure 3-


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and 3-. &he search radius is also the length o" the crossleg. &he trac) spacing ranges "rom Fero atdatum to a ma:imum e?ual to the search radius at the end o" each search leg. &his search pattern can 0eused in 0oth single and multi- unit searches. Sector searches have high Pro0a0ilit, o" Success


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search area into smaller areas and conducting single unit searches. Sector search distance and timecalculations are as "ollosE

&o determine the distance traveled 0, each SRU completing a sector search multipl, the radius


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No that *ederal la re?uires "lares on all vessels assistance cases are routinel, a""ected as a result o"response to "lare sightings. &he nature o" "lare distress signaling ma)es planning and e:ecution o" searchesdi""icult due toE the ide variation o" "lare t,pes% possi0le altitudes% the s)ill level and position o" the reportingsource>o0server% the eather% and several other "actors. *or that reason the accurac, o" the initial in"ormationreceived "rom a reporting source and>or o0server is most critical. As ith all SAR cases a prompt thoroughand proper response ,ields the greatest chance o" e""ecting a rescue. Otherise the search planner ma, have

no choice 0ut to dispatch SRUs to search a large area to account "or long range sighting possi0ilities. *ore:ample a hand-held "lare in a recreational 0oat seen on the horiFon 0, a 0each o0server ill 0eappro:imatel, N+ aa, hile a parachute "lare rising to 1#88 "eet and seen on the horiFon 0, the same0each o0server could 0e more than 38 N+ aa,. Speci"ic policies regarding response to "lare incidents"ollo. Guidance on evaluating and planning "or distress "lare incidents is provided in Appendi: !.

3.#.3.1 Red and oran%e flaresand $4rotechnicsare recogniFed as marine and aviation emergenc, signals and shall0e treated as a distress and responded to unless availa0le in"ormation indicates otherise. Unresolvedsport 0oats>cudd, ca0in >modi"ied v-hull. A similar o0@ect "or

seep idth should 0e chosen


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Ta/le 30# eacon Alert and Corres$ondin% "er%enc4 Phase

,idden te+t

24ACON A;4R& 4+4RG4NC P9AS4

1#1.>#3 +9F Second Composite alert

8.8# +9F G4O registered alert

8.8# +9F ;4O BA solution alert

8.8# +9F ;4O registered unlocated alert

!nitiall, evaluate as $istress

1#1.>#3 +9F *irst report o" audi0le alert

1#1.>#3 +9F *irst Composite alert

8.8# +9F ;4O B2 solution alert ithpro0a0ilities M#8

!nitiall, evaluate as Alert. !nvestigate reevaluate andrespond as "acts and circumstances arrant.

1#1.>#3 +9F "irst alert

8.8# +9F ;4O B2 solution alert ithpro0a0ilities L#8

!nitiall, evaluate as Uncertaint,. !nvestigatereevaluate and respond as "acts and circumstancesarrant.

All B2 solutions should 0e coordinated ith the BA solution cogniFant RCC in evaluating and>orresponding to alert>distress candidate B2 solutions. Ala,s chec) vessel t,pe>description andhomeport>registration POC data against alert position. &his practice can help "lag correct B2 solutions.


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0rac)et design or to improve national and international standards.



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Ta/le 309 #; ,B and 121.9 ,B eacons Co"$arison Ta/le#; ,B eacons 121.9 ,B eacons

Co)era%e:

Glo0al

Co)era%e:

Ground station dependent% ground stations have an e""ectiveradius o" a0out 1688N+. Current coverageE a0out one-third o"the orld.

Relia/ilit4 00 !alse

Alerts!alse Alar"s:

All alerts come "rom 0eacons. Satellite 0eacon transmissionsare digital coded signals. Satellites process onl, coded dataother signals are re@ected.

A0out 1 in 18 alerts are actual distresses.

!ndividual 0eacon-uni?ue coding and registration allo rapidincident corro0oration. A0out 58 o" 8 +9F 0eacons areregistered. +ore than 68 o" 8 +9F "alse alarms areresolved 0, a phone call.

Relia/ilit4 00 !alse

Alerts!alse Alar"s:

Onl, a0out 1 in alerts come "rom 0eacons. Satellites cannotdiscern 0eacon sources "rom man, non-0eacon 1#1. +9Fsources.

*eer than 1 in 188 alerts are actual distress.

1#1. +9F 0eacons transmit anon,mousl,. &he onl, a, toascertain the situation is to dispatch resources to investigate -- acostl, disadvantage.

Alertin%:

*irst alert con"idence is su""icient to arrant launch o" SARassets. 4arlier launches put assets on scene earlieraverage #

hrs saved in maritime hrs in inland. &hese savings aresurvival signi"icant. 4stimates put 8 +9F 4;& lives savedpotential at more than 188 per ,ear in the U.S. alone.

Average initial detection>alerting 0, or0iting satellites is a0out minutes -- orst case a0out 8 minutes.

Average time 0eteen su0se?uent satellite passes is a0out 8minutes.

/essel>aircra"t !$ point o" contact in"ormation provided ithalerts allos rapid corro0oration or stand-don.

Allos "alse alarm "ollo-up to continuousl, improve s,stemintegrit,>relia0ilit,.

Near instantaneous detection 0, geostationar, satellites.

Alertin%:

9igh "alse alarm rate ma)es "irst-alert launch in"easi0le. A0sentindependent distress corro0oration RCCs must ait "or

additional alert in"ormation. 1#1. +9F 0eacon launchdecisions ta)e si: hours longer than "or 8 +9F 0eacons onaverage


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3.#.#.# Re%istration!ollo=0'$ Polic4.All Coast Guard and Coast Guard Au:iliar, units should have spare 8+9F 4P!R2 registration cards "or users to "ill out and mail to the US+CC. A sample registration card is inAppendi: . It is "andator4 for the o=ner to re%ister the #; ,B /eacon. Coast Guard personnel shallprovide registration cards and encouragement "or oners to complete their 0eacon registrations. !n additionunits should rela, registration in"ormation to the US+CC. Other 0eacon t,pes are registered in various a,s.

Units should strongl, encourage 0eacon oners to register as soon as possi0le.

3.#.#.9 I"$ro$er 5se of PIRS as Ds. 4P!R2s are distress /eacons. As such search planners shall notnormall, use them as $+2s. 'hile it ma, seem convenient at times to leave an 4P!R2 dri"ting to mar)datum during a SAR case that 0eacon(s signal ma, prevent another distress 0eacon "rom 0eing properl,trac)ed or heard.


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3.#.;.1 S'rface 7essel Radar. Appendi: 9 contains recommended seep idth ta0les "or sur"ace vessel radar. !naddition the "olloing in"ormation should 0e considered hen planning searches utiliFing sur"ace vesselradarsE

APS-135 AN>APN-#1AN>APS-1#5 and R$R-1388.

APS-135 radar installed on the Coast Guard(s 9C-138 "leet as evaluated "or SAR targetdetection during three "ield tests conducted 0, the Coast Guard RJ$ Center and ere reported on inCoast Guard RJ$ Reports CG-$-1-73 CG-$-85-7 and CG-$-16-7. &he AN>APS-135 *;AR is an-0and air-to-sur"ace !nverse S,nthetic Aperture Radar APS-135 s,stem hasspecial selecta0le "eatures that enhance s,stem per"ormance against ea) targets. Seep idth

recommendations "or conducting and planning AN>APS-135 APS-13 model is currentl, installed on to C-138s at CGAS 4liFa0eth Cit, and theAN>APS-131 model is "ound on the 9U-#2s at CGAS Cape Cod. &he main di""erence 0eteen the modelsis the length o" the antenna.

APS-131 model S;AR on the 9U-#2 aircra"t is part o" the A!R44 s,stem. &he A!R44s,stem as developed primaril, as an oil pollution surveillance resource. &he s,stem includes

in"rared>ultraviolet U/= line scanning device and a HS-652 Aerial +apping camera. &he !R>U/ andcamera have ver, limited applica0ilit, to SAR. 'hen doing electronic searches the 9U-#2 aircra"tshould rel, on the AN>APS-131 in com0ination ith its *;AR the AN>APS-1#5 and not the !R>U/ ormapping camera.


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ill ta)e 0lac) and hite pictures onl,.

e:ecutionin"ormation. &he Area is to 0e )ept in"ormed o" the status o" the mission.


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S&RA&R4CONC4N O**U&& A*2 N4>>$ORS>>

3.#.< Searches for odies

Coast Guard units are o"ten re?uested to search "or 0odies. 9oever Coast Guard units are not provided thespeci"ic gear .1 4mergenc, ;ocator &ransmitters .2 Aviation trac)ing radar s,stems are present throughout the United States and along the coast "or de"ense andtrac)ing o" civil aviation. Several radar-trac)ing s,stems are covered in Chapter # o" re"erence


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narroing the pro0a0le location o" the distressed caller.


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or contradictor, in"ormation.

3.#.1.1 &he "olloing de"initions appl,E


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3.#.1.3 Closin% or S's$endin% a !alse Alar",oa+ Case. 'hen the source o" a hoa: or "alse alarm has 0eencon"irmed S+C or the SC should close the case. 9oever hen the source o" a suspected "alse alarm orhoa: remains un)non the case cannot 0e closed 0ut onl, suspended. 4ither the SC or S+C


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readil, availa0le and "reel, e:changed among emergenc, service providers shipping airline or other primar,companies involved. Since opportunities to handle actual incidents involving mass rescues are rare andchallenging e:ercising +RO plans is particularl, important.

Scenarios that could lead to an +RO includeE

hurricanes

heav, "looding

tornados

earth?ua)es

avalanches

eapons o" mass destruction incident

haFardous material incidents

passenger ship or large airliner disasters.

3.#.11.1 An R foc'ses on the lifesa)in% as$ects *resc'e $hase- of an incident res$onse.


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incident site rather than at the RCC.

3.#.11.2 SAR Plan on/oard Passen%er 7essels


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SARC, AD RSC5 I!RATI !RShipDs NameECompan,Ds Name>AddressEShip !n"ormationE

2asic $etails o" ShipE

++S!ECall SignECountr, o" Registr,E&,pe o" ShipEClassi"ication Societ,EGross &onnageE;ength Overall


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Section 3.(Resc)e Planning and Operations

3.9.1 )er)ie=

&he ma@orit, o" Search and Rescue incidents reported to the Coast Guard do not involve a search. +ost o"ten

the location o" the vessel or person involved in the incident is )non and the action re?uired is a rescue orassistance.

3.9.2 Resc'e Plannin%

Chapter o" re"erence or the signal securedhenever possi0le at the time o" a rescue.


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on scene circumstances% its condition or it poses a particular haFard i" le"t a"loat.



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Section 3.*#eas)res o+ Searc" E++ectiveness

POS is used in Re"erence


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3.;.3 Deter"inin% PS

!n Appendi: 9 a "ull comparison o" determining POS ithin the +anual Solution ith the CASP Solution isprovided as ell as a discussion and associated graphics to ma)e the Bmath involved easier to understand.

3.;.3.1 +anual Solution. &he manual solution can incorporate POC and POS hoever% it does so in a a, that is

hidden "rom the search planner. Search planners prior to the advent o" CASP did not use POC and POS0ecause there as no practical a, to compute them manuall, i" ,ou do not search the e:act Optimum SearchArea generated 0, the &otal Pro0a0le 4rror solution and sa"et, "actors. Since the e:act area is rarel,searched the POC as not computa0le and hence as ignored. Un"ortunatel, this le"t an incorrectimpression that PO$ is &94 statistic in terms o" measuring search e""ectiveness. !t is not. As previousl,stated POS is the measure o" overall search ?ualit,>e""ectiveness.

3.;.3.2 CASP Solution. CASP is designed to provide a search plan that optimiFes POS. 9oever caution must 0eused hen using CASP to develop a search plan. !t ma, optimiFe POS ithout regard to sa"et, 0,overlapping search areas to get redundant coverage over high pro0a0ilit, cells. &his is e?uivalent to puttingto search units in the same area at the same time. &his not onl, is an ine""icient use o" SRUs and it ma,contri0ute to an accident. !n these cases the controller must esta0lish separate areas and assign searchresources to ensure sa"et,.



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Section 3.,Aspects o+ S)rvival

3.


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Section 3.-Concl)sion O+ SAR Operations

&here are three terms used to indicate the status o" search and rescue cases% Case Closed Case Pends andActive SearchSuspended Pendin Further !evelopments. 4ach status has particular criterion associated ith its use. &he de"initions

and criterion "or each status are descri0ed in the "olloing sections.

3.>.1 Case Closed.

'hen the search o0@ect


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'hen another agenc, is the S+C "or a search and Coast Guard units are participating in the e""ort the CoastGuard ill normall, cease all e""orts hen the S+C suspends the case.

3.>.#.1 Actions in res$onse to &'estiona/le s's$ension /4 other SAR a'thorities. &here ma, arise cases o"hich the Coast Guard is involved hen the other SAR authorit, according to Coast Guard standards ma)esa ?uestiona0le suspension decision. Under these circumstances the "olloing actions should 0e ta)enE


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Section 3.Case /oc)0entation

Case documentation occurs 0oth during and a"ter an incident. $uring an incident it serves to )eep other involved partiesin"ormed and also to assist planning o" su0se?uent operational e""ort. &he SAR case "ile provides invalua0le

documentation "or record purposes determination o" potential lessons learned and data "or SAR+!S hich is animportant management tool.

3.?.1 SAR Case Clai"in%

Coast Guard units shall claim credit "or actions ta)en in response to an activation o" the SAR s,stem.Generall, this ill 0e those situations in hich their resources coordinate or render assistance regardless o"position or location o" the incident. &he intent is to ensure Coast Guard resource activit, is properl,documented to support anal,sis o" SAR operating needs management and 0udgetar, decisions. Accordingl,this polic, should 0e interpreted using common sense and reasona0leness. Case claiming is documented 0,means o" the SAR +anagement !n"ormation S,stem


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3.?.2.# SITRPs for DD o$erations. &he US+&* "ormat shall 0e used "or S!&R4Ps hen the SAR operation is$O$ directed or i" otherise instructed.

3.?.3 edical )ac'ation *D7AC- Re$ort

As directed 0, re"erence


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SAR and communications atchstanders. Case studies consider actions that could or should have 0een ta)enas ell as those actions not t,picall, e:pected 0ut sho a 0ene"it to the SAR s,stem. Our goal is "orard-"ocused and straight"orardE to "oster the continuous improvement hich is the hallmar) o" Coast GuardSearch and Rescue.

3.?.9.# A SAR case stud, deals onl, ith signi"icant "actors and should include the "olloingE

rapid means o" an, pro0lems encountered hen using or attempting to useAmver or CASP. &he +CC shall 0e noti"ied 0, most direct>rapid means o" an, pro0lems encountered henusing or attempting to use the COSPAS>SARSA& s,stem. Pro0lems shall 0e documented via S!&R4P.

3.?.9.< S'r)i)or de/riefin% and e&'i$"ent data. SAR case studies provide opportunities to anal,Fe survivor

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e:perience and also li"esaving e?uipment per"ormance. Survival in hostile environments is a""ected 0, man,varia0les including the ph,sical condition o" the survivors action o" the survivors rein"orcement given 0,rescue resources prior to rescue and sa"et, or survival e?uipment.

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US Coast Guard SAR