False distress calls prompt Coast Guard concern

It’s one thing to think a boat’s sinking or a little kid’s drowning and call the Coast Guard about it.

But to do it as a prank when there’s no real threat on the water is an entirely different, criminal, matter.

A recent statement from the U.S. Coast Guard states the number of false distress calls has nearly tripled in 2017, compared to the number received last year by the same time.

“A false distress or hoax can be made by phone or over a marine radio by a person claiming to be in distress intentionally deceive others and cause an unnecessary search,” reads a June 29 statement from the U.S. Coast Guard 9th District Great Lakes pubic affairs office. “There have been more than 160 false distress calls made to date across the Great Lakes compared to 55 similarly in 2016.”

No matter if it’s a person calling to report a distressed vessel, someone missing on the water, a possible drowning or the discovery of a body in the water, any response by the Coast Guard and/ or state, county or local authorities is a serious, time- and resource-consuming matter the agencies involved take very seriously.

“The Coast Guard treats all emergency calls as if they were real until they can be proved otherwise. A false distress can put other mariners in real danger at greater risk because of the redirecting of available search and rescue responders,” the Coast Guard statement reads.

And, whether the person reporting the hoax call gets a laugh or some entertainment value out of watching public safety resources get dispatched to an area due to a false call or it’s an honest mistake, the Coast Guard responds to it regardless. And it’s no laughing matter.

“False distress and hoax calls expose

not only Coast Guard rescuers, but our partner agencies and other mariners to unnecessary risks, and potentially take away personnel and resources from real emergencies,” said Capt. Joseph McGilley, chief of incident management for the Ninth Coast Guard District, which encompasses the entire Great Lakes region.

Authorities around Northeast Ohio agree.

“When we get a distress call, two things happen,” said Lake County Sheriff’s Sgt. Robert Izzo, who works with the sheriff’s marine patrol around the Lake Erie coastline, the Chagrin and Grand rivers. “The first thing is, we’ll determine if we’re able to respond. Then if it’s feasible for us to respond, based on where we are in relation to the reported distress call, we’ll get there as fast as we can.”

He said then, it’s all about locating and identifying that person, boat or whatever the case may be, based on the call, itself. And, when dealing with a caller’s description, that could be over miles of open water.

“And, keep in mind, when these calls are broadcast over the marine radio band, other boats — civilian boats like people out fishing, etc. — may also respond to the area to see if they can lend a helping hand. Because, let’s face it, when you are in distress out on the water, you’re pretty much helpless. So anyone who hears the call and is in the area could conceivably respond, too.”

Izzo added that, along with water-based help, public safety entities on land may also be preparing to help.

“With that in mind, anytime there is an emergency response relative to the water, there may be (rescuers) on land who are also responding to the scene,” he said. “And, any time you have public safety personnel responding to an emergency situation, that potentially puts them, and the public, in danger.”

Mentor Fire Department Chief Robert Searles agreed with Izzo, pointing out that, when a distress call comes from the water — be it Lake Erie, an inland body or a river — rescue personnel mean business and are deployed with enough operators and support to get whatever job becomes necessary done.

“When we do get water-rescue calls, we respond with three stations and our on-duty divers,” Searles said. “That’s not only to affect a response, but to provide support for the divers, as well.”

But Searles, along with the Coast Guard and other public safety officials want to clarify that people with legitimate, good-faith concerns about something they see on the water should always call to report it.

“A lot of time — at Headlands beach, for example — we’ll get a call about a missing child,” Searles said. “We always respond to calls like that. And, in the best-case scenarios, when the caller reports that, the last time the child was seen, he or she was in the water, we’ll locate the child and find out that he/ she’s just missing and hasn’t drowned. Then, everyone goes home safe and happy. We like those calls.”

But, he said, when it’s someone intentionally trying to elicit an emergency response through knowingly reporting an emergency that is nonexistent, it’s a problem and a waste of resources.

U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer Brian McCrum with the outfit’s Ninth District Great Lakes public affairs office said that the Coast Guard and other public safety organizations don’t want people with legitimate concerns to hesitate calling when they think something’s wrong.

“That’s not our purpose here — to scare people with six months in prison and a big fine,” he said. “People should call when they genuinely think someone’s in trouble on the water,” McCrum said. “There’s a difference between hoax distress calls and when someone makes a call like that in good faith.”

He said they want to receive the good-faith calls. And, even when an honest mistake is made, say a child playing with a radio or phone and makes a distress call that’s not genuine, people should follow up and alert the Coast Guard or whatever agency that a mistake has been made.

“That way,” he said, “we can stand down. Because, if we get a call about someone in distress on the water, we’re going to respond.”

And those responses aren’t cheap, the Coast Guard reports.

“The average cost of launching a Coast Guard response boat is about $4,500 an hour while the cost of a Coast Guard helicopter involved in a search could run as high $16,000 an hour. A hoax Mayday case can sometimes last an average of 3 hours before it is called off,” the June 29 Coast Guard statement reads. The costs of legitimate calls are paid for by the Federal Government, which is funded by taxpayers.

But if the call turns out to be a hoax, people are paying big penalties if they can be linked to the calls, the Coast Guard reports.

Take a recent case out of Chicago, for example: “In 2017, a Chicago man was sentenced to 6 months in prison, three years of supervisory release and ordered to pay the Coast Guard $28,181 in restitution for knowingly calling in false distress calls of a body in the Chicago River on two separate occasions in 2014,” the Coast Guard reports.

SOURCE: COAST GUARD