A GROUP of dummies had to be rescued after going missing at sea last week.
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They had not made foolish decisions to venture out onto the water, they were actual dummies – search and rescue manikins used in a large scale Search and Rescue exercise off Bermagui.
Participants in the exercise included about 60 members of NSW Police Force Marine Area Command, Marine Rescue NSW, Roads and Maritime Services, NSW Ambulance Service, Surf Life Saving, Australian Maritime Safety Authority, the Royal Australian Navy and the Westpac Rescue Helicopter Service.
“Regular combined agency exercises such as these are designed to hone the skills of the personnel involved to help ensure an efficient and effective response in a real search and rescue emergency,” said Marine Rescue NSW deputy commissioner Dean Storey.
The weekend’s aim was to search for six rescue training manikins which were described as “six people lost at sea following the sinking of a boat several nautical miles east of Bermagui”.
Saturday was spent developing a plan for the exercise and Sunday saw all of the resources deployed to locate the “missing boaters”.
Strategies involved in search and rescue include establishing command and control protocol for precise, orderly management of the search and a clear chain of command for communications between all searchers; developing a search plan and search grid for rescue vessels to follow and assessing prevailing currents and weather conditions.
The search on Sunday commenced at 9.30am with NSW Police Marine Area Command taking the lead.
The first manikin was recovered within 10 minutes and all six had been located – both in the water and on nearby rocky shores – within the first hour.
“This was an impressive result,” Mr Storey said.
“The cooperation between all agencies involved was very good and the pressure of having to locate a total of six missing targets was much greater than most similar exercises.”
Mr Storey urged all boaters to “help themselves avoid the need for a real life rescue by taking some basic and simple precautions each time they go boating.
“Always wear a lifejacket; always log on with your local Marine Rescue radio base to let someone responsible know where you’re going and when you expect to return - and when you return, always log off so we know you’re back safely,” he said.