CLEVELAND — There’s a new tool that is helping the Coast Guard rescue a distressed boater. The new I-911 system uses your cell phone to track your location in an emergency, so they know your exact location when they send out their rescue crews.
When a distressed boater contacts the coast guard, they can send a text message directly to their cell phone. The text requests permission to track the boater’s location.
The technology cuts down on response times and it’s already proving to be useful. Two weeks ago, there was a boat taking on water off Avon Point. The Coast Guard was able to get the location of the boat from someone on board, allowing them to be on scene in about 30 minutes.
“I truly believe that this saved their lives,” said Mark Weidmann, civil search and rescue specialist. “Because I would've sent the boat out to Avon Point. Then the question becomes where do I send them? Four miles off shore? Five miles off Shore?We didn't waste any time. In this case minutes counted. Those people in the water, If that boat would've sunk and those people were in the water, they had minutes not hours.
Four people on board the boat were rescued safely.
And remember, if you’re out on the water on Memorial Day, even though temperatures will be in the 80s, water temperatures are still in the 50s.
