Florida Panhandle Area Search and Rescue Partners Receive Maritime Search and Rescue Training

Area first responders from three local and DOD agencies completed maritime search and rescue training this week. The teams were composed of personnel from the Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office, Destin Fire Department, and United States Air Force SERE School.  The week-long course provided specialized search and rescue training designed to strengthen partnerships and promote mission success in the Search and Rescue mission.

The training, dubbed the “Boat Operator Search and Rescue (BOSAR),” was presented by instructors from United States Coast Guard Station Destin.  It is a nationally accredited curriculum that allows federal, state, and local responders to work seamlessly together in responding to mariners in distress.  It also provides responders with state of the art tactics and techniques needed locate and rescue people at sea.  The United States Coast Guard has designated the training as the National Standard for maritime first responders.

The rigorous training involved many hours of waterborne drills and scenario driven exercises.  It not only tested the responders’ capabilities, but that of their equipment while underway in the waters of Choctawhatchee Bay near Destin.