The Emergency Threshold

At Sea
34 26.96 N 0776 56.12 W

Last night around 2100 we passed the dreaded (by us) Frying Pan Shoals, and changed course for Beaufort. NC. The put the wind directly behind us, and about the same time the wind speed dropped off. Anyhow, we've been motoring ever since. We prefer not to motor at sea, but it is still much faster than motoring on the ICW. ETA Beaufort 1800 today.

WIth our Sirius satellite radio out, the only source of entertainment out here is the stream of PAN PAN emergency broadcasts by the US Coast Guard. How many of those can there be? More than you probably imaging. There are reasons. First, in nice weather like this, we hear the powerful Coast Guard transmissions from up to 400 miles away. Up here near Hatteras we regularly hear everything from SC and NC, and some o fthe stuff from GA, FL, VA and MD also. That's a big area. The second factor is that they repeat the same broadcasts regularly, once every 30-60 minutes. Imaging how busy 911 would sound if you could listen in to 6 states worth of traffice at the same time.

The radio protocol for announcing an emergency message is to start with the words PAN-PAN PAN-PAN PAN-PAN. In fictional accounts one hears more about MAYDAY-MAYDAY instead, but in real life PAN-PAN is used. (The only difference is that a MAYDAY call is so urgent that everyone else using that radio channel should shut up mid-sentence and listen. With PAN-PAN you may continue very briefly before shutting up. ) Many PAN-PAN messages are mundane -- for example, a tree floating in the channel causing a hazard. Some are actual life-and-death dramas such as instructing someone how to give CPR and to drive a boat at the same time. Some sound like mistakes or pranks such as flares supposedly sighed, or people calling for help on the redio with no follow up.

A few weeks back we were up early and getting ready to depart Fisher Island mean Miamo. Suddenly we heard something very loud and clear on the VHF radio. It sounded like heavy breathing into the microphone and briefly the sound of a baby could be heard in the background. In my mind I dismissed it as kids playing with the radio. A few minutes later, we heard the Coast Guard -- "PAN PAN PAN PAN PAN PAN, the Coast Guard received a distress call with no indication of the nature or location of the distress. Boaters who heard it should contact US COast Guard." I heard it loudly, so I immediately called the Coast Guard and told them I heard it at Fisher Island. Then another boat at Fisher Island called. He heard it too. It happens that the Miami Coast Guard station was only 1/2 mile away so it moust have been loud for them too. I looked out. There was a motorboat at anchor 100 yards awy. It was reasonable to presume it was kids on that boat, but no proof. My first thoght, was "What a wast of time."

My second though was "what should the threshold be to distinguish a real emergency from a likely prank or mistake?" I realized that the threshold must necessarily be set very low. It is entirely possible that a dying person might be able to push the button on the mike yet be unable to speak. Such calls may probably be mistakes but they also might be a life and death emergency. Any emergency service must treat all such calls seriously. No more will I listen and think, "Waste of time."