Thursday 27 March 2008

When should you call the Coastguard



Last nights search for an overdue walker was a classic example of when to call the Coastguard.

In summary two brothers out walking from Lulworth to Swanage, in the afternoon they decide to take different routes and agree to meet at a local pub. Having waited 3 hours one brother still can not get in touch with the other so decides its time for help......called us, off we went and thankfully found the him very quickly.

When we reunited the pair they were very sorry for causing so many problems.....problem ? "this is not a problem" I said, " the earlier we get called the better, we can soon all go home quickly knowing the person is safe and well."

Over the years lots of people have said we were never sure when to call you, the advice is simple.... the moment you have concern call us let us be the judge and put the resources into the incident, don't worry about putting people out or the cost (we don't send bills!), get us on the way, it may save a life.

3 comments:

blah said...

So how do dial '999' on a phone with only '1', '2' & '3' on it?

CG said...

Good point, how about pressing 3 nine times?

Or perhaps Carole Vordaman might tell us how to make 999 from the available numbers (she lives in Swanage!)

Swanage Coastguard said...

Perhpas not the best example of a 999 phone that I could have used, however its similar to the one at Anvil Point.
By pressing just one of the keys it automatically dials 999
Sorry more attention to detail in the future....good spot!