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The Coast Guard at it finest

by ChrisMichaelStudio | February 5, 2010 at 01:33 pm

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Los Angeles Air Station Coast Guard and the Los Angeles County Lifeguards out of Marina Del Rey practicing hoist rescue maneuvers. The saying practice makes perfect can not be underestimated when your at the mercy of bad weather and choppy seas. These guys in a joint outing hone their skills holding position over a stationary or moving craft to allow for the safe extraction of stranded or injured boaters. After hundreds of such training sessions these professionals can make it look easy. The pilot of the MH-65C Dolphin has a lot to concentrate on at one time, multi-tasking is at it’s extreme. Making sure the Helicopter can hold position over a moving boat while the rescue swimmer is being lowered takes many hours of training and skill. Not only do you have your normal flying precautions to take but you need to watch out for the cable coming down not getting snared by the boat or hitting the people you want to rescue. Then add the weight of the rescue basket and then the person in it – you have to watch your distance from the boat and if there is anything coming up in front of you at the same time! Stationed out of the Los Angeles Airport like other USCG locations, they are there to answer the call when life is on the line and protect our shores 24hrs a day ready to go.

--On Location

Michael Darcy