Teamwork Between Coast Guard and Local Agencies

NEW HAVEN, Conn. - - The Coast Guard relies on our local partners who have an in depth knowledge of the area, strong ties within the community, and can provide expeditious help in locating a person in distress. Local agencies provide on-scene oversight, bring additional resources, and influence overall success of each case.

The recent case that showed the importance of teamwork and communication between federal and local authorities was a flare sighting about 2 miles off Madison on Aug, 8, 2017. That evening beachgoers observed two red flares just south of Garvan Point Beach. The Coast Guard Command Center in New Haven dispatched a response vessel to conduct a search. Luckily, a local police officer quickly responded and interviewed one of the reporting sources, providing critical information that narrowed the search from the size of Boston to roughly the size of the University of Connecticut’s campus. In addition, Madison, Guilford, and Westbrook Fire Departments and the Clinton Police Department all provided vessels that augmented the search. During the final stages of the search efforts, Coast Guard aircraft located the three kayaks. The Coast Guard determined the kayaks drifted from the shore during the midnight high tide. All the searches were suspended that morning and all the assets safely returned home.

This case is a perfect example how collaboration between agencies leads to success. The outcomes, however, could have been different. The search could have been 16 times bigger, without a critical interview conducted by an officer on-scene. Saturation of the area provided confidence and ability to dissociate drifting kayaks and a flare sighting, saving thousands of dollars, and numerous crew hours.

False alerts as such pull vital resources from other cases and place Coast Guard crews in undue risk. We encourage people to mark their kayaks, canoes, paddleboards, pedal boats, rafts, and other small vessels paddle driven vessels with contact information. In addition people who launched a flare are encouraged to contact Coast Guard immediately in order to avoid confusion and unnecessary search efforts.