If, God forbid, there’s ever a worst-case scenario, a simple text could mean the difference between life and death. Photo: Wikimedia Commons
I work as a maritime search and rescue coordinator in the mid-Atlantic. Occasionally, we receive calls from people who want us to start looking for their loved ones. Recently, we were contacted by someone whose spouse went out surfing and hadn’t come back. She didn’t know where he went, how long he was supposed to be gone, or any of the other information we would have needed to find him.
For areas where there aren’t lifeguards, those who are responsible for conducting search and rescue (SAR) would respond to reports of surfers in distress. In light of our recent efforts to find a missing surfer with minimal initial information, I wanted to share some brief advice for those who tend to go it alone. Advice that could literally save your life in the unlikely event something goes tragically wrong.
Text Someone Close to You Before, and After, You Paddle Out
Before you paddle out alone, make a habit of sending a text message to someone who would miss you. I’ve copied one in my “notes” and shoot it to my wife when I head out to surf alone. It’s got all of the relevant pieces of information SAR officials might need in an emergency. Here’s an example:
“Hey. Going surfing. I’m heading out at X spot and I parked at X street. I’ll be in the water in about 10 minutes and I should be back in two hours. I’m wearing a black full wetsuit and have a white surfboard. I will text you when I get back to the car. If you don’t hear from me by X o’clock, call the Coast Guard at XXX-XXX-XXXX.”
I’m very confident that I’ll never need anyone to look for me, but if they did I’d feel very dumb if I didn’t give them the information they needed to search because it’s literally my job to know the information that those people need to initiate these operations.
Allow me to briefly describe the search and rescue process and the importance of each piece of information in the example text above.
Search and rescue coordinators are going to define an area where you were known to be during a certain time and see where the winds and currents might have taken you. Through computer simulations fed by real-time environmental data, we can assess where you may have drifted. The quality and accuracy of these drifts are directly dependent on the accuracy of the information fed into the simulations. The standard text helps eliminate error in this process.
“Going to X Spot”: If they’re popular spots, the local law enforcement may already be familiar with them. Plus, it’s a general location as a start point for SAR. What’s most helpful is to give a range – “I’ll be between 61st and 70th street.” This gives us an area to begin our simulations.
“Parked at X Street”: Once you’re reported missing, one of the first objectives is to find your vehicle. If you’re safe but couldn’t send your, “I’m back” text before your phone died, we might not expect to find your car. If we find your car still at the beach, that’s a big sign that we should probably be looking for you in the water.
“I’ll be in the water in 10 minutes”: This provides a definite starting point for when you entered the water. When calculating how far you may have drifted, this will be the start time for the simulation.
“Should be back in two hours”: This information provides an end time to the scenario. By letting us know when you should be back in, you’ve given a range of time where you could reasonably be expected to stay at the surf spot. This is the final piece for the initial information. Where you were surfing and the range of time for when something might have happened.
“Wearing a full black wetsuit with a white surfboard”: This accomplishes two things. One, it lets us know what to look for. The second part, while somewhat morbid, is important – how long would we reasonably expect you to survive? In some searches, we must consider that body recovery is a possible outcome. The shift from searching for a person versus body recovery may come down to how long we think you would survive given what you were wearing and the water temp. While unpleasant to think about, it’s important information.
“I’ll text you when I get back to the car/I’ll be back by X”: Simple, but this lets someone know that they should expect to hear back from you.
“If you don’t hear back from me by X o’clock”: If I’m going surfing from 9-11 a.m., I will set this for 3 p.m. If I’m having a good time and don’t come in until 12, that’s fine! If I’m not back by 3 p.m., there’s a problem. I am frankly not going to surf from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. I’d say take the longest normal session you’ve had and add an hour. This is the time that you would want somebody to consider you as “missing.” If I went surfing at 9 a.m. and nobody has heard from me by 3 p.m., I’d rather have someone raise the alarm than wait several additional hours to realize they hadn’t heard from me. In SAR vernacular, this may allow us to consider this a distress situation, warranting an immediate response. If you are actually in need of response every minute counts.
“Call the Coast Guard at XXX-XXX-XXXX”: In the worst case scenario, you don’t want to leave anything to chance. You need to make it easy for whoever is going to report you as missing. Do the research and let them know who to call. If a loved one is going to sound the alarm, they may not be in a state of mind to find out who they should call. They might not know how to find that information anyway. Take the time while you aren’t in any trouble to do that work for them. If my wife calls the number I provided and reads them the text I sent her, they’ll have everything they need to start looking for me in a worst-case scenario.
I should note that while these tips are specific to maritime SAR, texting your emergency contact with the above information has its merits if you’re an enthusiastic backcountry skier or snowboarder, a trail runner, rock climber, or mountain biker. Substituting “I’ll be going to X spot” for “I plan to hike to X area and ride X line” encourages you to have a plan before heading out and sticking to it. Again, it sounds silly, but you never know when this simple tip will save your life. But here’s to hoping it never comes to that.
