Nearly 70 representatives from 22 different countries attended the Caribbean Volunteer Maritime Search and Rescue Conference (CSAR 2002) in Miami on December 6-7, 2002. The conference was hosted by the USCG Auxiliary at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Downtown Miami. The U. S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) provided funding for the information sharing conference.

Attending the conference were representatives from the USCG, USCG Auxiliary, Caribbean Nations, as well as representatives from Canada, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and Venezuela.

According to Commodore Everette Tucker, past National Commodore and Director of the International Affairs of the USCG Auxiliary, almost every country in the Caribbean was invited to have a member of their Navy/Coast Guard or police force attend. Additionally, each country was invited to bring a local citizen who was interested in assisting in developing volunteer SAR support, or if there was already an existing volunteer SAR organization, a representative of that organization.

Several international volunteer SAR organizations were also invited to participate in presentations and workshops at the conference. These included the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the International Lifeboat Federation (ILF), the Maritime Rescue Institute (MRI), the Association for Rescue at Sea (AFRAS), and the Search and Rescue Charitable Foundation.

Conference Day 1, Friday, December 6

During his introductory remarks, Commodore Tucker outlined several objectives for the conference. "One objective is, of course, to enhance the ability and capability of the nations in the Caribbean to provide safety at sea services. To support the government, the police, the navy and the coast guard by providing volunteer aspects that could take off more of the search and rescue load, thereby allowing the government forces to do the things that only the government forces could do: law enforcement, protection of the country, and items like that," said COMO Tucker.

Commodore Tucker stressed communication. "Sharing information in coordination and cooperation with local governments and Caribbean Coast Guards is vital to the success of volunteer maritime organizations conducting search and rescue operations and natural disaster recovery operations," he emphasized.

Commodore Tucker introduced some of the invited USCG and USCG Auxiliary participants who had assisted in organizing and coordinating the conference: From the Auxiliary: Commodore Mary Larsen, National Vice Commodore for the Atlantic Area-East; Peter Fernandez, District Seven Vice Commodore; and Klaus Baumann, Deputy Director of the International Affairs. From the active duty: Commander Kevin Crawley, USCG, Director of the Auxiliary for the Seventh District and Captain David Hill, USCG, Chief Director of the Auxiliary.

Captain Hill welcomed guests to the conference on behalf of the USCG. "What a great looking group of search and rescue professionals! I am absolutely honored and delighted to be here with you this morning," he said enthusiastically.

As the USCG Auxiliary's Chief Director, Captain Hill described his overall responsibility of managing the capabilities and resources that the Auxiliary provides. In addition to preventative SAR and traditional SAR missions, he announced some new emerging missions now being performed by the Auxiliary, including maritime security operations. Captain Hill did not hesitate to also express the Coast Guard's enormous indebtedness and reliance upon the nearly 37,000 volunteer members, 2000 boats and 250 aircraft provided by the Auxiliary.

Captain Fred Rosa, USCG, Chief of Staff, Seventh District, USCG, on behalf of Vice Admiral James Hull, Atlantic Area Commander, delivered the keynote address for the conference. Captain Rosa said, "Our world today is a vastly different reality than it was at the time of your first conference in the Dominican Republic just two short years ago."

In the aftermath of the September 11 terrorist attacks, Captain Rosa recalled, "The Coast Guard was responsible for evacuating approximately 1,000,000 people from Manhattan." He added, "Several days later, the Coast Guard launched the largest port security operation since World War Two, taking dramatic measures to safeguard the nation's domestic ports and shipping activities from any further terrorist attacks."

During a morning recess participants viewed a static display of a USCG Auxiliary 35-foot operational facility, docked just outside the meeting hall on the Miami River. Three Auxiliarists from Flotilla 65, D7, manned the boat, "Howdy." Frank Sullivan serving as coxswain with Eric Jones and Seymour Rosenfeld as crewmen

Alexandra Hewitt-Jones, Executive Administrator for British Virgin Islands Search And Rescue (VISAR), presented a case study of their highly successful volunteer SAR organization operating in the Caribbean. Ms. Hewitt-Jones described the numerous challenges and accomplishments of the volunteer Caribbean SAR organization.

"Since VISAR was established, it has responded to more than 1156 calls for assistance, launched a rescue vessel more than 336 times and assisted in excess of 1629 people," Ms. Hewitt-Jones said. VISAR estimates that it has saved possibly as many as 189 lives thus far.

Funding was a universal concern among conference participants and was addressed by each of the individual workshops facilitators. During the two-day conference, five separate workshops were scheduled to augment communication about different resources available to volunteer SAR organizations in the Caribbean.

Gerry Keeling, International Development Manager for the International Lifeboat Federation, conducted the first workshop. Mr. Keeling began the workshop titled "Establishing a Volunteer SAR Organization" by dividing the representatives into small interactive groups of six to eight participants. In addition to fundraising strategies, Mr. Keeling discussed a variety of other topics, including "Why volunteer SAR organizations exist" and "Interaction with a wide variety of marine users within 50 miles of shore."

Auxiliarist Jeff Mahl, Deputy Department Chief of Information Services, introduced participants to the many communication resources available online with a presentation titled "Exploring e-Technology!" Topics covered included "e-training, e-testing, e-database, e-mail, e-resources and how to maximize the effectiveness of websites."

A second Workshop on Friday afternoon focused on "Developing the Capability to Conduct SAR Operations" and was facilitated by VISAR's Executive Administrator, Alexandra Hewitt-Jones with assistance by Sip Wiebenga, Director of the Royal Netherlands Sea Rescue Institution (KNRM) and Curd Evertsz, Board Member of Citizens Rescue Organization (CITRO), Curacao, Netherlands Antilles.

Ms. Hewitt-Jones discussed various aspects of training volunteer SAR crews. Mr. Wiebenga addressed the capabilities and requirements of SAR vessels. Additionally, Mr. Evertsz spoke about the importance of building and maintaining relationships with other volunteer SAR organizations and government agencies.

CDR Olin, Deputy Chief Director, urged participants to review the "USCG Organization and Contact" handout information distributed at the conference, courtesy of the USCG International Programs.

A highlight of the first day was a trip to the USCG Base, Miami. Guests were welcomed to a tour a 110-foot USCG cutter and to witness a SAR exercise being performed by the USCG and the USCG Auxiliary.

The exercise included a demonstration of various towing evolutions performed by Auxiliarists from two different flotillas. Auxiliary vessel "Double Time" from Flotilla 69 was operated by Robert Bartley with crewman: James Shea, Jorge Corrales and Bruce Farkas. The second Auxiliary vessel, "Argus", belonged to Flotilla 6-10 and was operated by Luis Castro with Eddy Montros and Ernest Fariol as crewmen.

The volunteer forces were then joined by the arrival of a USCG HH-65A "Dolphin" helicopter from USCG Air Station, Miami. A rescue swimmer was deployed to rescue a simulated person in the water. Following the exercise, guests assembled at the Integrated Support Command for a group photograph and an informal hospitality reception.

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 7

Among the logistical details of organizing the conference was the matter of transporting representatives to and from their destinations. COMO Tucker called upon Auxiliarist Peter Fernandez, who coordinated the transportation of participants to and from Miami Airport. Several Auxiliarists from Division 6, D7, assisted in this duty including Frank Sullivan, Ian Mac-Baradit, Sheldon Dobkin, Charles Levy, Cal Gordon, Kirby Heller, and Thomas Janata. Henry Gonzalez, Flotilla 69, a Metro-Dade (Miami) police Sergeant, arranged for the vans to be cleared to enter the airport bus loop and park at an area next to the terminal.

The first of the Saturday workshop, "Maritime SAR Control and Coordination" was conducted by Lieutenant William Nunes, USCG, Senior Controller, Greater Antilles Section (GANTSEC). LT Nunes delivered a detailed account on the "SAR system components in a perfect world."

Captain Steve Sawyer, USCG, Chief, Office of Search and Rescue, urged representatives of volunteer SAR organizations not to feel intimidated by the number of resources and the acronyms used by the USCG. "SAR does not require dedicated assets or the use of special terminology to be effective," he said. "Active communication and coordination by volunteer SAR organizations can still be very helpful in saving lives," he noted.

Captain David Hill, USCG spoke of the Coast Guard's increasing need to share SAR capabilities and resources with other SAR maritime organizations in the Caribbean.

COMO Tucker, expressing his honor and pleasure for his presence at the conference, welcomed the Honorable Hugh Derek Taylor, Chief Minister, Minister of Finance, Government of Turks and Caicos Islands.

Alexandra Hewitt-Jones of VISAR discussed "The SAR System and the Caribbean Reality". Among the problems Ms. Hewitt-Jones identified were inconsistent coverage, small responding forces, tight operating budgets and multi-mission tasking for government forces.

"Through VISAR in the British Virgin Islands and BASRA in the Bahamas, children are now being taught at an early age about the importance of marine safety and good communications," she said. Ms. Hewitt-Jones also highlighted the need for frank discussions with marine community members to locate people and assets that are potentially available to assist SAR organizations.

Bryan Victor, Assistant Director of Civil Aviation, Trinidad and Tobago, and LT Stephen Clark, Trinidad and Tobago Coast Guard, concluded the workshop with a presentation on "Maritime SAR in Aeronautical Emergencies". They also noted that only two months ago Trinidad and Tobago augmented their country's Coast Guard with the establishment of a volunteer Coast Guard Auxiliary. In addition, commercial fishermen have taken it upon themselves to patrol certain areas, especially during boat races.

The facilitator for the "Conduct of Volunteer SAR Operations" workshop was Curd Evertsz, CITRO (Curacao). Mr. Evertsz said that preparedness is the key to dealing with an emergency and mentioned several ways in which local government bodies can assist in providing disaster response and recovery operations. He also proposed the creation of a global database for information sharing purposes.

Gerry Keeling, ILF, conducted the final workshop and focused on "Developing a Mature Organization." Gerry conducted this workshop with assistance from the USCG Auxiliary. Mr. Keeling announced, "Membership in the ILF is free of cost and offers many benefits to SAR operations worldwide."

COMO Tucker, USCG Auxiliary, discussed some of the preventative initiatives taken by the USCG Auxiliary to enhance the safety of life at sea as well and to minimize the need for active duty SAR callouts. He also emphasized the need to establish partnerships with all organizations and commercial firms who could help them enhance safety at sea.

Auxiliarist Jeff Mahl delivered a second informative presentation discussing how to use e-Technology strategies for recruiting. For example, he described websites as "very cost effective, easily administered and maintained and can be focused to a particular need or audience interest."

"The website created for the conference was but one example of a professional looking website," he noted. Further, Mr. Mahl offered to launch a Caribbean SAR mail service, whereby representatives could easily contact their counterparts in other rescue organizations via email.

After the final workshop, several topics were raised during an open discussion session. John Chomeau, President of the Association for Rescue at Sea, Inc. (AFRAS) announced that AFRAS had limited funding available for small boats and equipment. He also urged the participants to contribute stories with photos about their organizations to AFRAS. "Each issue of the newsletter features a different volunteer SAR organization," he said.

The nations of Jamaica, St. Kitts and Nevis, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Barbados, St. Lucia, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Grenada, Netherlands Antilles and Venezuela all plan to proceed with plans to establish or strengthen volunteer SAR organizations during the coming year.

Also discussed among the participants was the possibility of another Caribbean SAR conference in 2004. Until that time, Commodore Tucker said that many ongoing efforts are continuing to be made to assist in furthering communication capabilities and resources among the multi-national SAR organization representatives within the Caribbean and Venezuela.