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NACON 2004
Representatives from South Africa, The Philippines, Canada, the Caribbean and various U.S. maritime organizations gathered to discuss their respective initiatives during the International Panel Discussion held at NACON 2004. "The purpose of this meeting is to build our organization through international relations," said LCDR Robert Warren, USCG International Affairs (G-CI) as introductions were completed. The Canadian Auxiliary began the discussions, describing their three-party memorandum of understanding - a shared delivery of national safe boating programs - followed by a description of other programs including their Search Training Simulator, a scaled-down version of larger commercial and government simulators which is targeted to small vessels, available for use by Auxiliarists. The Canadians are close to completion of the Lifeboat Replacement Program established in 1995 and slated to finish in 2005. Thirty-one existing lifeboats will be replaced and eight new lifeboats and stations will be added as well as one air cushion vehicle (hovercraft) which will be replaced with a unit from England. A new state-of-the-art Joint Rescue Coordination Center was also built in Vancouver, and one SAR helicopter was replaced as well. Their presentation finished with a description of the implementation of Self-Locating Datum Marker Buoys (SLDMBs) and Automatic External Defibrillators on all primary SAR vessels. The Canadian Power Squadron is working with Bombardier and Yamaha to offer training to personal watercraft users. They noted that usually an older person purchases the PWC for younger user, such as a son or daughter, so the course material is going to the purchaser and not the actual operator. Education and SAR were the major topics of concern in the Caribbean. "We all share the same problems, one being money," noted Curd Evertsz, Vice-President of the Citizens Rescue Organization of the Netherlands Antilles. "It's time to do something where we can globally raise funds." With that, he suggested developing a line of swimwear, the purchase of which would contribute to volunteer SAR operations worldwide. Talks have already taken place with two interested manufacturers, Speedo and Puma. The merchandise will be limited to swimwear only, and other expenses must be investigated such as branding, point-of-purchase and advertising materials to promote and draw attention to the line. South Africa's delegates mentioned that they have such a project in place and they have veto rights on all products designed. He also proposed a sea SAR manual so other international agencies can get started on developing their SAR resources, and the translation of training and boating course materials into multiple languages so that courses are in the common language of the people. Vice-Admiral Joselito Aseniero of the Philippine Coast Guard Auxiliary gave an overview of their activities including SAR, youth development, education, communication, blood drives, scuba diver and boating training, air and sea asset upgrading, and the "Adopt A Lighthouse" project. Of particular interest was their canine SAR program, where trained dogs are used to sense a body in up to 40 feet of water. The Philippine Auxiliary has a volunteer membership of over 19,000 and five to six times more assets than the Philippine Coast Guard, who employ 3,500 personnel to cover over 7,000 islands. The Auxiliary has more aircraft than their Air Force. Their coastline is twice that of the U.S. and 97 percent of goods are transported by sea. Since it is still considered a developing country, most fishermen can't afford PFDs which increases the need for SAR and medical resources. They are currently establishing a hospital ship and base hospital, which is a joint project between the Philippine Coast Guard, Auxiliary, Physicians for Peace Philippines and Physicians for Peace USA. The South African National Sea Rescue Institute was started 37 years ago and has totally replaced its entire fleet in the past eight years. All vessels are owned by NSR who does all maintenance; there are no owner-operators. Their organization consists of 15 paid staff, three offices and 30-plus stations, 28 of which are coastal and 2 inland. They utilize 50 rescue craft and 700 volunteers. The U.S. Power Squadron has 460 squadrons in 33 districts in addition to an evolving unit in Japan, 8 squadrons in the U.S. Virgin Islands and 6 in Puerto Rico. They have translated their boating class into Spanish, initiated the "Skipper Saver" program, a one-weekend course for spouses of skippers, and are working on making internal courses available to those outside the organization. The meeting concluded with a discussion of a new concept to be implemented - the request of funding for a three-day course to address leadership, management and organizational issues for five or six countries who are interested in establishing or strengthening their volunteer SAR organizations. Input is being accepted from all interested parties. The meeting was visited by Rear Admiral Sirois, who commented that "this is all about partnerships; share the things that work well." International Participants at NACON 2004: Canada: Curacao: Philippines: South Africa: |
