Naples area maritime emergency responders, and Coast Guard members from Station Fort Myers Beach and Air Station Clearwater are shown in front of an MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter at Naples (Florida) Municipal Airport, Tuesday, March 21, 2017. (U.S. Coast Guard video by Petty Officer 2nd Class Ashley J. Johnson)
NAPLES, Fla.— Coast Guard members hosted a National Association of Boating Law Administrator’s boating operator search and rescue course in Naples this week.
Members from Coast Guard Station Fort Myers Beach working as NASBLA BOSAR instructors certified 18 local maritime emergency responders from Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Collier County Sheriff’s Office, Marco Island Police Department, North Collier Fire Department and Marco Island Fire Department.
“This week we had a great opportunity to build external relationships,” said Petty Officer 1st Class Shae Currington, one of the instructors for the course. “We were able to work with our partners and help teach them search and rescue patterns, along with man-over-boards, and basic engineering casualty control exercises.”
The NASBLA boating operator search and rescue course included classroom and on-the-water training, and a tour of a Coast Guard Air Station Clearwater MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter.
“It makes [the community] safer, all the way around, because when we are able to effectively communicate with the Coast Guard and other agencies, it makes things work so much faster,” said Sgt. Dave Bruening, the Collier County marine unit supervisor and a trainee in the course. “And, we can more easily effect a successful rescue.”
Certified participants are nationally qualified to respond to maritime emergencies and entered into a qualification database that is maintained by NASBLA and recognized by the Coast Guard and FEMA.
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