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SAR Program Information
This page reviews the SAR Program Objectives, Goals, Standards and Requirements as stated in the U.S. Coast Guard Addendum (COMDTINST M16130.2) to the United States National SAR Supplement (NSS) to the International Aeronautical and Maritime Search and Rescue (IAMSAR) Manual .
Four general objectives provide direction for the SAR Program:
- Minimize loss of life, injury, and property loss and damage in the maritime environment;
- Minimize crew risk during SAR missions;
- Optimize use of resources in conducting SAR;
- Maintain a world leadership position in maritime SAR.
SAR Program
Primary Goal
The ultimate goal of the Coast Guard’s SAR program is to prevent loss of life
in every situation where our actions and performance could possibly be brought
to bear. Our success in meeting this goal is the result not only of how
well the SAR system responds to maritime SAR incidents, but also the efforts of
other maritime safety programs, including recreational boating safety and
commercial vessel safety. Success reflects how these combined efforts
provide mariners with seaworthy craft, proper equipment, necessary knowledge,
training, and information to operate safely in the maritime environment, and to
take the correct actions when faced with a distress situation.
Performance Benchmark Goal
- Save 86% of all mariners in distress.
Subset Benchmark Goals
Two specific benchmarks have been
established to measure a subset of the overall Coast Guard Maritime Safety of
Lives and Property goals - the response component of the service’s maritime
safety team. These indicate how well we are performing within the
constraints of our current resources. After Coast Guard notification, in
waters over which the Coast Guard has SAR responsibility:
- Save at least 93% of those people whose lives are in distress.
- Prevent the loss of at least 80% of the property that is at risk of destruction.
SAR Program Standards
and Requirements
Certain standards and requirements have been developed for various components of
the Coast Guard’s SAR system.
SAR Readiness: Each Coast Guard unit with a SAR readiness responsibility shall have a suitable SAR resource ready to proceed within 30 minutes of notification of a distress.
SAR Mission Response: No greater than a two-hour total response time for any one response unit within a Sector or unit’s AOR to arrive at any location within the AOR. This time is calculated from time of notification of the Coast Guard until the time of arrival on scene, including 30 minutes of preparation time (i.e. a total of 90 minutes from underway to on-scene).
SAR Watch Duty Length at CG Command Centers: Military and civilian command center watchstanders shall not stand more than 12 hours of continuous watch in any 24-hour period.
National Distress and Response System (NDRS) Coverage: NDRS is the primary distress alerting and SAR command, control and communications (C3) system for U.S. coastal waters (Sea Area A-1, which extends from the territorial baseline out to 20 nautical miles). The standard for the VHF-FM network is a minimum 90% continuous coverage for reception of a one-watt signal of a one-meter antenna, out to 20 nautical miles from shore around the coastline of the continental U.S., the Great Lakes, main Hawaiian Islands, the Commonwealths of Guam, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and portions of Alaska.
Basic SAR Training: Successful completion of resident SAR planner training at the National SAR School is required for all Area, District, and Sector Command Center (Rescue Coordination Center) watchstanders who perform SMC functions. An additional goal is to complete training in the Incident Command System (ICS) for all SAR planning personnel and SAR staffs.
SAR Command and Control Responsiveness: SMCs shall process and evaluate information about a SAR incident, determine appropriate initial action, and initiate action within five minutes of notification of a distress incident. Units other than SMC receiving SAR incident information shall relay information to the SMC immediately.
Employment of Approved Search Planning Methodologies: Use and documentation of an approved search-planning tool for all incidents that require search planning. Approved tools include manual solution work sheets with manual plotting, C2PC/JAWS, and CASP.
Computer Assisted Search Planning (CASP) System: CASP should be used for planning guidance for all cases involving incidents outside the 30 fathom mark when the duration of an incident has or could have exceeded 24 hours and there is uncertainty concerning the incident time, incident location, or type of search object(s) involved.
Automated Mutual-assistance VEssel Rescue (AMVER) System: Use AMVER for identification of SAR facilities for all cases involving maritime and aeronautical incidents offshore when such facilities might be useful for mission accomplishment. SAR Coordinators, SMCs, and others within the Coast Guard SAR System shall seek to increase ship participation in this voluntary ship reporting system for SAR and promote the use of AMVER information for SAR purposes by other RCCs.
SAR Unit Training and Professionalism: The SRU crew shall be able to correctly operate all equipment provided on their vessels, aircraft or land vehicles to aid a person or property in distress. Specialized and recurrent training shall be provided to personnel designated by the unit as Rescue Swimmers, Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs), or First Responders. All personnel assigned these specialized rescue duties shall demonstrate a high level of professionalism and competency as documented by completion of appropriate PQS, practical factors, and by their performance.