Call if you need us, Inshore Rescue Boat Service urges Islanders

The Canadian Coast Guard's Inshore Rescue Boat Service is back in harbours around the country including around Charlottetown and is urging Islandersto callif and when they havean emergency on the water.

Isaac Longard, a maritime search and rescue preparedness officer with the Coast Guard, said the vessels are very good for rapid responseand can operate in a variety of sea states.

"In any search and rescue case, especially if people's lives are directly in danger, for example, for somebody being in the water, timing is definitely important," he said.

Summer program

The program started in the 1970s for two main reasons to provide meaningful summer employment for students, and to help keep Canadian harbours safe during the busy summer months.

"For incidents like people in the water, where it's cold, we need someone to get to them as soon as possible and that iswhy we have a super fast boat," said RemieMill, who is in her second year of participating in the program.

It has now expanded to 26different stations in threeregions, including a new station in Rankin Inlet, Nunavut.

Crews often work with two differentstyles of rigid hulled inflatable zodiacs, between six and eight meters in length.

The program employs more than 150 students over the summer months, when pleasure craft traffic is at its peak.

People in distress can contact the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre, located in Halifax, at1-800-565-1582.

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