U.S.

Department of Homeland Security United States Coast Guard

CITIZENS GUIDEBOOK

Maritime tips for homeowners

CITIZENS GUIDEBOOK
SECTION 1: AMERICA'S WATERWAYS WATCH & COAST GUARD AUXILIARY A. AMERICAS WATERWAYS WATCH B. THE COAST GUARD AUXILIARY C. IMPORTANT PHONE NUMBERS AND WEBSITES SECTION 2: INTRODUCTION TO C.A.N. A. CITIZEN ACTION NETWORK OVERVIEW B. PURPOSE OF THE PROGRAM 1. Maritime Domain Awareness SECTION 3: OBSERVATIONS AND REPORTING A. WEATHER 1. Reporting wind 2. Gauge sea state B. MARINE POLLUTION REPORTING 1. Shoreline Assessment 2. Surface Oiling Descriptors Thickness 3. Surface Oiling Descriptions Type 4. Surface Oil Distribution Percent Cover 5. Percent Cover Estimation Charts C. HOMELAND SECURITY AND LAW ENFORCEMENT 1. What is suspicious activity? 2. Where should I look for suspicious activity? D. SEARCH AND RESCUE 1. Distress Signal Reporting 2. Hypothermia treatment 3. How to report locations
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SECTION 1: AMERICA'S WATERWAYS WATCH & COAST GUARD AUXILIARY A. AMERICAS WATERWAYS WATCH America's Waterway Watch is a public outreach program, encouraging participants to simply report suspicious activity to the Coast Guard and/or other law enforcement agencies. Unlike some Neighborhood Watch programs, for example, you are not formally joining an organization -- there are no meetings, membership cards or membership requirements -and you do not become an agent of the Coast Guard or any other law enforcement agency. Though waterway security is better than ever, with more than 95000 miles of shoreline, over 290,000 square miles of water, and approximately 70 million recreational boats in the United States, the Coast Guard and local first responders can not do the job alone. B. THE COAST GUARD AUXILIARY Since its creation by Congress in 1939, the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary has served as the civilian, non-military component of the Coast Guard. Today, the 33,000 volunteer men and women of the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary are active on the waterways and classrooms in over 2,000 cities and towns across the nation. Each year, Auxiliarists (folks just like you) save almost 500 lives, assist some 15,000 boaters in distress, conduct more than 150,000 courtesy safety examinations of recreational vessels, and teach over 500,000 students in boating and water safety courses Since the recreational boating population in the United States is growing rapidly, the Coast Guard Auxiliary needs a few
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good men and women like you. As an Auxiliarist, you will have the opportunity to select and participate in one or more of the Auxiliary's major programs. Auxiliarists aren't paid with money, but with satisfaction. We furnish and maintain our own equipment and can choose to participate at a level tailored to our individual capabilities. C. IMPORTANT PHONE NUMBERS AND WEBSITES

Emergencies dial 911 To report suspicious activity on or near the water, call the National Response Center 800-424-8802 or 877-24WATCH. Citizen Action Network www.uscg.mil/d13/nwwatch/ 13th Coast Guard Public Information www.d13publicaffairs.com America's Waterway Watch www.americaswaterwaywatch.org/ 13th Coast Guard District www.uscg.mil/d13/ USCG Auxiliary www.uscgaux.org/~130 DHS preparedness website www.ready.gov
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SECTION 2: INTRODUCTION TO CITIZEN ACTION NETWORK A. CITIZEN ACTION NETWORK OVERVIEW Citizen Action Network is a very unique and helpful program. This vital program enlists the assistance of residents who live near navigable waterways to assist the Coast Guard with their missions. The Coast Guard will call on Citizen Action Network members to help investigate cases such as flare sightings or mayday calls in their area, which puts volunteers right in the heart of the action. The only requirements to participating are having access to a phone and a marine view from their home. We manage a robust and well-informed network of civilian volunteers living on or near all of the Thirteenth District's waters. When needed, any Coast Guard unit with access to the Search and Rescue program (C2PC) can identify a geographic-specific volunteer and call upon them. B. PURPOSE OF THE PROGRAM 1. Maritime Domain Awareness Maritime Domain Awareness is the Coast Guard's overarching maritime security program, and is guided by the recently established Maritime Domain Awareness Directorate. Maritime Domain Awareness is the effective understanding of anything associated with the maritime domain that could impact the security, safety, economy, or environment of the United States.
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SECTION 3: OBSERVATIONS AND REPORTING A. WEATHER 1. Reporting wind The direction and speed of the wind should be measured in an unsheltered, unobstructed area. a. WIND DIRECTION The observer shall estimate the direction by observing the wind cone or tee, movement of twigs, leaves, smoke, etc., or by facing into the wind in an unsheltered area. The observer shall not use the movement of clouds, regardless of how low the clouds are, in estimating the surface wind direction. WIND EQUIVALENT -- BEAUFORT SCALE KTS SPECIFICATIONS <1 Calm; smoke rises vertically 1-3 Direction of wind shown by smoke drift not by wind vanes 4-6 Wind felt on face; leaves rustle; vanes moved by wind 7-10 Leaves and small twigs in constant motion; wind extends light flag 11-16 Raises dust, loose paper; small branches moved 17-21 Small trees in leaf begin to sway; crested wavelets form on inland waters 22-27 Large branches in motion; whistling heard in telegraph wires 28-33 Whole trees in motion; inconvenience felt walking against the wind 34-40 Breaks twigs off trees; impedes progress 41-47 Slight structural damage occurs 48-55 Trees uprooted; considerable damage occurs 56-71 Widespread damage

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2. Gauge sea state Sea state refers to the height, period, and character of waves on the surface of a large body of water. SEA STATE CODE 0 - Calm (glassy) - 0 ft 1 - Calm (rippled) - 0 - 0.5 ft 2 - Smooth (wavelets) - 0.5 to 1.5 ft 3 - Slight 1.5 to 4 ft 4 - Moderate 4ft to 8 ft 5 - Rough - 8 to 13 ft 6 - Very rough - 13 to 20 ft 7 - High - 20 to 30 ft 8 - Very high - 30 to 46 ft B. MARINE POLLUTION REPORTING 1. Shoreline Assessment When oil contaminates shoreline habitats, responders must survey the affected areas to determine how to respond appropriately. 2. Surface Oiling Descriptors Thickness a. COVER Oil or mousse more than 0.1 and less than 1 centimeter thick.

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b. COAT Visible coating of oil less than 0.1 centimeter thick; can be scraped off with fingernail.

e. FILM A film is transparent or iridescent sheen or oily film.

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3. Surface Oiling Descriptions Type a. FRESH OIL Fresh oil is unweathered, liquid oil as seen below.

b. MOUSSE Mousse is emulsified oil.

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c. TARBALLS Tar balls are discrete accumulations of oil less than 10 centimeters in diameter.

d. PATTIES Patties are discrete accumulations of oil more than 10 centimeters in diameter.

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e. TAR Tar is highly weathered oil of nearly solid consistency.

f. SURFACE OIL RESIDUE Non-cohesive, heavily oiled surface sediments, characterized as soft incipient asphalt pavements.

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4. Surface Oil Distribution Percent Cover b. BROKEN Broken oil cover is 51 to 90 percent cover.

c. PATCHY Patchy oil cover is 11 to 50 percent cover.

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d. SPORADIC Sporadic oil cover is 1 to 10 percent cover.

5. Percent Cover Estimation Charts a. SPORADIC less than 1 % to 10 %

b. PATCHY 11 % to 50 %

20 %

40 %
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c. BROKEN 51 % to 90 %

70 %

80 %

C. HOMELAND SECURITY AND LAW ENFORCEMENT 1. What is suspicious activity? Most of us have found ourselves wondering this at some time or other. However, because we are not really sure, we tend to ignore what we have just seen and, hoping it wasn't so, we continue about our business. But times have changed, and we no longer have that luxury. To learn more about how you can help, read Section 1 of this manual. 2. WHERE SHOULD LOOK FOR SUSPICIOUS ACTIVITY? Watch for suspicious activities of vessels and individuals in locations such as: * Under and around bridges, tunnels, or overpasses * Near commercial areas or services like ports, fuel docks, cruise ships, marinas. * Near industrial facilities like power plants and oil, chemical, or water intake facilities.
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* Near military bases and vessels, other government facilities, or security zones * In and around passenger terminals for ferries and day cruiser lines * Near railroad lines serving any of the above listed facilities. You are NOT expected to patrol any particular area. Your expertise in recognizing suspicious activity is derived from your familiarity with surroundings you operate within while engaged in your normal work or recreation around the waterfront. D. SEARCH AND RESCUE 1. Distress Signal Reporting a. FLARE INCIDENTS A. Response to flares Red and orange flares are recognized as marine and aviation emergency signals, and they must be treated as a distress and responded to. B. Importance of accurate information The accuracy of the initial information received from a reporting source is most critical because the nature of flare distress signaling makes execution of searches difficult due to wide variations in flare types, possible altitudes and weather as well as many other factors. E. Position Reporting source position is the point from which distance and direction are measured. Attempt to obtain; bearing and range from a prominent landmark or street address. F. Flare characteristics Characteristics can aid in determining the distress location, and may correlate with other sightings, phenomena, or military exercises. Flares can be identified primarily by
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duration of burn. It is important to note that the height of a flare significantly affects the size of the search area. G. Color It is critical in assessing urgency. Red and orange flares must be treated as distress cases until proven otherwise. H. Number of flares Number of flares, time(s) of sighting(s), and intervals between flares. I. Apparent origin of the flare Did you see where the flare came from? If so, was it near the horizon or definitely between the reporting source and the horizon? Did the flare illuminate any objects? If so, what were they? J. Trajectory The nature of the flares trajectory is an extremely important clue. Did you see the flare both rise and fall? Rising only? Falling only? What were the rates of rising and falling (rapid rise and fall, rapid rise, slow fall, etc.)? Was the trajectory steep (mostly vertical) or flat (mostly horizontal)? * Closed Fist Method. A closed fist held at arms length with the thumb side up represents approximately 8 degrees of arc. When the bottom of the fist is aligned on the horizon relatively accurate estimates of small vertical angles can be made. If you hold your fist at arms length, with your thumb on top and the bottom of your fist on the horizon, was the top of the trajectory above or below the top of your fist? If the flare was sighted below the top of the fist, have the reporting source attempt to more accurately estimate the angle with the horizon.

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8o 6o 4o 2o
HORIZON

With hand-held flares, and even meteor flares if you are not high enough, the flare may not rise above the visible horizon if it originates between the reporting source and the horizon. In this case, you should be asked to align the top of the index finger with the horizon and estimate the apparent distance below the horizon using the fist method described above.

HORIZON

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2. Hypothermia treatment a. AFTER-DROP A further cooling of core temperature occurs after the victim is removed from the cold environment. This after-drop is often responsible for post-rescue collapse. Preventing respiratory heat loss and progressive cooling, of the heart through the tissues is essential.
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b. CORE REWARMING This is the most effective treatment for all cases of moderate to severe hypothermia, whether treatment occurs in the hospital or in the field. c. AVOID VICTIM MOVEMEHT Muscular activity by the hypothermic victim pumps cold blood from the arms and legs into the central circulation causing the core temperature to drop even further. 3. How to report locations Because Northwest Watch volunteers homes are recorded by Coast Guard Command Centers by Global Positioning System location, all reports should be made in true bearing instead of relative bearing. Meaning north is the magnetic direction and not the direction in front of you. It is also helpful to use easily identifiable landmarks, aids to navigation markers and immoveable objects.

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REPORTING CHECKLIST
BOAT IN DISTRESS
* What color is the boat? * What length is the boat? * How many people aboard? * What is happening to the boat? * What is registration number on the hull? * What is the vessel have a name?

REPORTING FLARES
* What color is the flare? * How long did it burn for? * How high in the air did it fly?

SPILLS
* Is it hitting the shoreline? * How big is the spill? (estimate) * What do you smell? * Are there any ships in the area? * If so, does the vessel have a name? * What is the registration number? * What is the vessels country flag?
The U.S. Coast Guard is a military, maritime, multi-mission service within the Department of Homeland Security dedicated to protecting the safety and security of America.