This week local and federal agencies did joint search-and-rescue training off Honolulu.
A two-day training exercise on Wednesday and Thursday brought together the Coast Guard, Honolulu Fire Department, Ocean Safety and Lifeguard Serv ices, and the state Department of Land and Natural Resources as members of each organization talked about their respective approaches and the tools they bring to search and rescue.
Coast Guard Lt. Tyler Peterson, a search-and-rescue coordinator, said that while these agencies have often worked together to look for missing people, “we don’t get a ton of time to come together and talk about the cases that we run and kind of learn from them. So search-and-rescue exercises allow us just an excellent opportunity to work together, figure out communications plans as well as different resources, what we’re capable of and how we’re doing our missions, and how it all ties together to help find people that are out in distress.”
The exercise took place as Tropical Storm Kiko passed by the islands and weeks after a tsunami warning that prompted evacuations near coasts. Though both caused only minor impacts, Hawaii has in the past suffered much more destructive tsunamis and hurricanes.
Peterson said that “with those events typically, search and rescue comes afterwards or during the event. So it’s very important for us to be on the same page, not only like I said, with communications, but also with knowledge of different assets and resources that we provide, ensuring that we’re able to work together.”
In Hawaii, the ocean presents unique challenges to first responders as they attempt to make rescues.
Zachary Potter, a helicopter pilot with five years on the job at HFD and previous experience as an Army pilot, has trained for rescues both in Oahu’s rugged mountains and on the churning seas. He said both have unique challenges of their own, explaining that “spatial disorientation over the water is a huge thing.”
“When we’re flying, say it’s like a mountain rescue, nothing around us is moving. So I can key out on a spot and hold a stable hover, ” said Potter. “But when you’re out over the open ocean, everything’s moving around you.”
He said the challenges are “tough enough ” during the day, and get even tougher at night when crews rely on night vision goggles to navigate and to search for people they’re trying to rescue.
“Obviously, the ocean’s a huge area, and we might hear the last seen (location ) was right off here, Diamond Head, one mile, (but ) with the currents and winds and everything, they might drift another two miles before we get there, ” Potter said. “So obviously, just the sheer size of the ocean is challenging for us to know where to start, what the conditions are doing, and where the patient might go to.”
Peterson said that Hawaii has “very challenging ocean conditions. We have trade winds very often that kick up some rough seas. We have challenging channel conditions between the islands, and it’s very challenging, typically, to find people in those conditions.”
Lt. Cmdr Jason Halsabeck is the commanding officer of the Coast Guard Fast Response Cutter, the CGC William Hart. He said that “one of the unique things about Hawaii too is it gets deep super fast, and it gets so the sea gets bad super fast.”
The FRCs are operated by relatively small crews that both conduct operations across Pacific Islands like fishery patrols as well as respond rapidly to requests for help in rescues. He and his crew have extensive experience working with other agencies across the state and region. Halsabeck said that “there’s always the issues of, how do we talk to each other ?”
Searches, especially at sea, often draw more than one organization working together. Peterson said that knowing how different agencies operate—and what they would bring—during a search is critical. And so is knowing how to communicate.
“It’s very important because (if ) we have a lot of assets, a lot of resources that go in the same area, and looking for someone, it can be very dangerous not only for our own resources, but also the people we’re looking for, ” he said. “So to work together and understand where we’ll be, how we’re going to talk to each other and how we’re operating is invaluable.”
He added that lately they have responded to a lot of “challenging ” cases in Hawaii, and said that he advises people going out on the water to make sure they’re prepared. He explained that “we probably would have located the people if they had different safety equipment or more safety equipment.”
In particular, he said having radios and locator beacons on boats is a major help to both boaters and authorities.
“It takes the ‘search’ out of search for us, ” Peterson said. “Our biggest goal is to get information out to the public that, yeah, we’re working with our partners, and we’re trying to get better at what we’re doing, better at our jobs. But it’s also important for the boating public to kind of have some self-responsibility with how they conduct themselves out there.”