The longer it takes to respond the greater the danger for those in distress.
Effective communication reduces response time, which in turn saves lives.
Mayday, Mayday, Mayday. Like calling 911, Americans expect the Coast Guard to respond to their calls for help at sea. Unlike 911, the Coast Guard cannot determine the position of a radio transmission by itself. The Coast Guard is working with a distress communications system that is equivalent to what police and fire departments were using decades ago. Our operations centers don't have the capability to replay enhanced audio signals and they have limited directional finding equipment.