Coast Guard conducts search and rescue training off Ogden Point

The Coast Guard has conducted a total of 23 training exercises up and down B.C.’s coast this year. (CTV Vancouver Island)

A Coast Guard training boat was in distress off Ogden Point Wednesday, but the good news is no one was hurt. It was just a training exercise.

A Royal Canadian Marine Search and Rescue crew from Oak Bay, the Victoria Fire Department’s fire boat and the Coast Guard lifeboat CCGS Cape Calvert came to the aid of a simulated boater in distress. They were all part of a training scenario designed to keep the skills of search and rescue members sharp.

“These skills are all perishable skills so it is important for these crews to maintain all of their skill sets,” said Paul Barrett of the Canadian Coast Guard search and rescue program. “Because the system is based on that team framework, it is import that we always work with our partners to conduct this type of training.”

The focus of today’s training was caring for patients dealing with the effects of hypothermia. Crews were tasked to seeking out the boat and looking for casualties in the surrounding water.

SAR crews looked after patients and prepared the "injured" for transfer to the lifeboat. The injured were then transported to BC Ambulance onshore.

To ensure the waters around the stricken boat were searched effectively, crews did a grid pattern search.

Getting to the scene of an incident of the water quickly is critical to the outcome.

The Canada Shipping Act allows the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre, based at CFB Esquimalt, to take command of other vessels, including pleasure boats, fishing vessels and even commercial vessels such as ferries.

“BC Ferries [staff] are trained and they also have fast rescue craft onboard that they can deploy quickly,” said Barrett.

The Coast Guard has conducted a total of 23 training exercises up and down B.C.’s coast this year. The training is always centred on a Coast Guard vessel and includes local search and rescue members and partner agencies like local fire departments.