Getting people out of bad situations
This story originally appeared at Coast Guard Pacific Southwest and was written by Petty Officer 1st Class Thomas McKenzie and Petty Officer 1st Class Rachel Polish. It began with a 911 call from someone stranded aboard a 17-foot recreation boat [...]
Don’t get carried away
Winter is a particularly dangerous time to be on the beaches of Northern California. Tragically, every year, people and their pets fall victim to sneaker waves. A sneaker wave is a large wave in a series of coastal waves. They frequently catch beachgoers, dog walkers and dogs off guard and wash them out to sea.
Shipmate of the Week – CWO Randall Rice
Two sailors were in for the trip of their lives as they set out sailing from Florida to Greece in May 2011. But the trip of their lives didn’t end in Greece, it ended in the shelter of a Coast Guard helicopter’s cabin. The 45-foot sailing vessel Eva was 150 nautical miles southeast of Cape Cod and had hit a nasty storm early into their journey. Water was streaming in and the vessel’s pumps could not keep up. The pounding winds had ripped the mast off the vessel and shattered its windows. There was no doubt; these sailors were in trouble.
Got questions? These rescue swimmers have answers.
We asked our Facebook fans if they could ask a rescue swimmer anything, what would it be? And with more than 200 questions asked, it was clear you were all eager to hear more about the men and women who make up the aviation survival technician rate – more often called rescue swimmers. We picked the top five most “liked” questions and asked two swimmers from the 13th Coast Guard District to help answer them.
Shipmate of the Week – AST3 Thomas McArthur
UPDATE: As a Dunwoody, Ga., native Petty Officer 3rd Class Thomas McArthur was a guest on MyFOX Atlanta Nov. 3. Click to watch his interview. It was a beautiful summer day along Frankfort Beach, Mich., with sun-drenched sands and blue [...]
Guardian of the Week – AST1 Salvador Carire
The Association for Rescue at Sea (AFRAS) held its annual award ceremony Thursday, and Aviation Survival Technician First Class Salvador “Pepe” Carire, who risked his life to save a fisherman at sea, was awarded the AFRAS Gold Medal for his [...]
Coast Guard heroes recognized at Public Service Recognition Week
Post written by Petty Officer 3rd Class Brandyn Hill The men and women of the United States Coast Guard were recognized as part of Public Service Recognition Week at the National Mall in Washington, D.C., Friday. On hand to represent [...]
Guardian of the Week – AST1 Drew Dazzo
Yesterday, Coast Guard rescue swimmer Drew Dazzo was awarded the Star of Courage, Canada’s second-highest decoration for bravery, for “acts of conspicuous courage in circumstances of great peril” during an dramatic rescue in 2007. Petty Officer Dazzo is only the [...]
Guardian of the Week – AST3 Emley
Can you imagine what it would be like to deploy out of a helicopter over rocky cliffs and turbulent seas and swim in and back out of a cave with raging waves to rescue someone. Almost like a Hollywood movie, [...]
