Coast Guard Says New Technology Will Save Lives, Reduce Hoax Calls

A new tool in the hands of the Coast Guard could save lives on the water.

Coast Guard officials introduced “Rescue 21” Tuesday morning at Coast Guard Station Fort Macon.

The new system uses GPS and other communication technology to pinpoint exactly where a distress call is coming from.

It’s vital because boaters in trouble often don’t know their precise location.

The system will reduce response times and narrow search areas.

And because it pinpoints locations, it should also keep the Coast Guard from responding to hoax calls.

“When someone’s under distress, they don’t always give out the correct position,” said Coast Guard Capt. Lisa Festa. “And a lot of times, if they’re looking at the GPS, they might not look at the latitude and longitude position – and they might look at a waypoint position, which could be a significant number of miles from where they actually are.”

The Coast Guard says it already used the technology last week, when Coast Guard members rescued a family of four from a sunken boat off Emerald Isle.