His Majesty's Coastguard

HM Coastguard was established in 1822.[4] In 1809 the Preventive Water Guard was established, which may be regarded as the immediate ancestor of HM Coastguard. Its primary objective was to prevent smuggling, but it was also responsible for giving assistance to shipwrecks. For this reason, each Water Guard station was issued with Manby's Mortar (the mortar fired a shot with a line attached from the shore to the wrecked ship and was used for many years). In 1821 a committee of inquiry recommended that responsibility for the Preventive Water Guard should be transferred from HM Treasury to the Board of Customs. The Board of Custom and the Board of Excise each had their own long-established preventive forces: shore-based Riding Officers and sea-going Revenue Cruisers. The committee recommended the consolidation of these various related services. The Treasury agreed, and in a Minute dated 15 January 1822 directed that they be placed under the authority of the Board of Customs and named the Coast Guard.

The new Coast Guard inherited a number of shore stations and watch houses from its predecessor bodies as well as several coastal vessels, and these provided bases for its operations over the following years. In 1829 the first Coast Guard instructions were published, dealing mainly with discipline and the prevention of smuggling; they also stipulated that when a wreck took place the Coast Guard was responsible for taking all possible action to save lives, taking charge of the vessel and protecting property.[5] In 1831, the Coast Guard took over duties from the Coast Blockade for the Suppression of Smuggling (which had been run by the Admiralty from a string of Martello Towers on the Kent and Sussex coast); this finally gave it authority over the whole of the UK coastline.

In the 1850s, with smuggling on the wane, oversight of the Coast Guard was transferred from the Board of Customs to the Admiralty.[6] In the decades that followed, the Coast Guard (or Coastguard, as it came to be called) began to function more like an auxiliary Naval service, a recruitment ground for future naval personnel. Responsibilities for revenue protection were retained, but hands-on rescue services began to be undertaken more and more by Volunteer Life Brigades and by the lifeboats of the RNLI, with the Coast Guard acting in a support role.

By the start of the twentieth century, there was a growing sense of dissatisfaction with the service expressed both by the Board of Customs (concerned for revenue protection) and by the Board of Trade (responsible for safety at sea). In the wake of the First World War, moves were made to address these deficiencies. In 1923 the Coastguard was re-established as a coastal safety and rescue service, overseen by the Board of Trade.[7] Its skills in maritime communication (acquired during the Admiralty years, when Coastguard officers often manned signal stations) were recognized, with provision being made for the use of new communication technologies for safety at sea. There was also a renewed determination to recruit, train and co-ordinate volunteer rescue personnel with the establishment in 1931 of a Coastal Life-saving Corps, later renamed the Coastguard Auxiliary Service (see Coastguard Rescue Service, below).

For the rest of the twentieth century, the Coastguard continued to operate primarily out of local shore stations (use of ships had declined after 1923). In 1931 in England there were 193 stations and 339 auxiliary stations; in 1974 there were still 127 stations (permanently manned) and 245 auxiliary stations. From the 1960s onwards, though, priorities were changing from maintaining coastal lookouts to provision of co-ordinated search and rescue services. Old watch houses, with their on-site accommodation and annexed boathouses, gave way to new technology-based Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Centres, far fewer in number.[8] Efficiency drives in the 1990s made Her Majesty's Coastguard a government executive agency, then in 1998 the Marine Safety Agency and the Coastguard Agency were joined to become the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA).

HM Coastguard volunteer on Skye, Scotland

The Coastguard Rescue Service is made up of 352 teams located near the coast in stations around the UK, with the most coastal rescue stations in the UK. The teams are made up of Coastguard Rescue Officers (CROs) who are volunteers trained to carry out rescues and provide assistance to those in distress on the UK's coastline. There are approximately 3500 CROs and they carry out rope rescue, mud rescue, water rescue and search duties in all weathers and at all times. The teams are paged by the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre (JRCC) or Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) and respond to emergencies. They also assist other authorities such as the Police, Fire and Ambulance with their specialist expertise. The Coastguard Rescue Teams (CRT) will also provide safety advice to those they rescue and members of the public.

After recovering any casualty the CRTs will provide the assistance needed then will transfer them to a place of safety. The teams will also provide support to the lifeboats and SAR helicopters per tasking by the Operations Centres.

Search and rescue

A Search and Rescue vehicle as seen in Brancaster Staithe

The Coastguard Rescue teams carry out searches of the shoreline which, depending on the team's location, could be urban or remote, beach, mud or cliff. The searches could be for vessels, wreckage, people who have abandoned ship, or missing persons. This is referred to as Lost and Missing Persons Search (L&MPS).

Mud rescue

HM Coastguard 4x4 + trailer and rope rescue dump sheet and hardware.

Mud rescue is described as the most physically demanding type of rescue there is. Mud rescue technicians walk on the mud using equipment to prevent them getting stuck, and recover casualties. In most cases these are people who have become too tired to continue walking on the mud while taking a shortcut. The CRTs also have rescue equipment to extract people deeply stuck in mud, including inflatable rescue walkways, mud lances, and specialist footwear inspired by ducks' feet.

Members of the Southbourne Coastguard Rescue Team deploying a rope technician during a training exercise at Hengistbury Head near Christchurch in Dorset

Rope rescue

Members of the Southbourne Coastguard Rescue Team using a double stake holdfast with both main and safety line running through a "quad pod" to lower a rescue technician.

Rope rescue methods are to recover casualties who have fallen or are stuck on cliffs or difficult to reach areas, be they rural or urban. The teams work together to lower a rope rescue technician who will assess the casualty, provide first aid treatment if necessary and then recover the casualty to safety, before transferring the casualty to the next level of care as required.[9]

Casualty Care (CERCC)

Each team member receives extensive casualty care training that goes much further than just basic first aid, the course known as CERC (Coastguard Emergency Responder Casualty Care) is taught by a team of trainers locally around the coast with regular role play training and evaluation. Each CRO is required to have his/her CERC qualification re-validated every three years.

The HMCG CERCC qualification is bench marked at Level D (Diploma) of the PHEM framework from the Faculty of Pre-Hospital Care,[10] and is also equivalent in syllabus content to the First Response Emergency Care Level 3 Certificate (FREC 3) level.

In 2017 the CERCC course was updated to reflect and include latest research and guidance such as implementation of the 2015 European Council Resuscitation Guidelines, 2017 JRCALC Guidelines and the British Thoracic Society Oxygen Guidelines.[11] Each frontline Coastguard Rescue vehicle carries a fully stocked Coastguard Emergency Responder Bag which includes a first aid kit, pelvic splint, frac straps, airways set (OPA & NPA), trauma dressings, airway suction kit + bag, valve & mask set.

HM Coastguard Rescue Helicopter "175" from Lee on Solent during a medical evacuation from a British warship just off the south coast west of Bournemouth. Casualty transferred to ambulance from landing site in Poole Bay.

In 2022 HM Coastguard provided each operational team with a Heartsine Samaritan 500p Automated External Defibrillator (AED).

A Mitsubishi L200 search and rescue vehicle at Overcombe

The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) is an executive agency responsible throughout Britain for implementing the Government's maritime safety policy. That includes initiating and co-ordinating search and rescue at sea or on the coast through His Majesty's Coastguard, checking that ships meet British and international safety rules and preventing coastal pollution.

Typical emergencies to which the Coastguard is summoned include:

• Persons in difficulties in the water;
• Persons in difficulties on the coastline;
• Pleasure craft with problems;
• Medical emergencies on vessels, installations or offshore islands;
• Incidents involving oil installations;
• Persons threatening or attempting suicide on the coast or bridges over estuaries;
• Missing persons on the coast;
• Merchant vessels with problems;
• Evacuating injured or ill persons at sea;
• Groundings;
• Collisions at sea;
• Reports of suspected Ordnance.

HM Coastguard helicopter India Juliet over Dorset pre-2008

Ships in distress or the public reporting an accident should make a Mayday call on MF radio, marine VHF radio channel 16, or by dialling 999 or 112 on a telephone. The Coastguard MRCCs continuously monitor all the maritime distress frequencies (including the international VHF distress signal frequency 156.8 MHz i.e. channel 16) and have access to satellite based monitoring systems. The MRCC then co-ordinates the emergency response. This normally involves requesting the launch of a local RNLI lifeboat (the RNLI being an independent organization), launching an independent lifeboat, deploying a local Coastguard Rescue Team, or a Search and Rescue helicopter, making broadcasts and requesting assistance from vessels in the area. Depending on the circumstances of each incident, the Coastguard MRCC may also request for other emergency services to be deployed to the incident or to meet other units returning from the incident, for example in the case of a medical emergency. A list of common 'Declared Assets' is below:

• HM Coastguard's own CRO (Coastguard Rescue Officers) Initial Response and Coastguard Rescue Teams;
• Inshore lifeboats, all-weather lifeboats and inshore rescue hovercraft operated by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution
• Other nominated inshore rescue services
• Search and rescue helicopters under contract to the MCA
• Ministry of Defence Helicopters and fixed wing aircraft operated by the Royal Air Force (RAF) and Royal Navy (RN)
• Emergency towing vessels (ETV) – powerful tugs contracted to the MCA
• Nominated Fire Service teams for cliff and mud rescue as well as firefighting and chemical incident response for vessels at sea
• Nominated beach lifeguard units

Declared Assets are facilities that have given a declaration to the Coastguard of a certain level of availability or training. Other assets that may be tasked to assist with any incident include; Mountain Rescue, Military Police, The Fire and Rescue Service and volunteer lifeguards. In addition, various 'Memorandums of Understanding' exist between the Coastguard and other emergency services to establish priority when working in each other's areas. For example, police officers needing to carry out a search of the shoreline.

The Coastguard has ten rescue helicopters based around the United Kingdom (at Stornoway Airport, Sumburgh Airport, Prestwick, Inverness Airport, Caernarfon Airport, Humberside Airport, St Athan, Lydd, Newquay Airport, Lee-on-Solent).[12]

A 2012 Peugeot 308 estate at Whitehaven

Search and Rescue vehicle livery, as seen in Brancaster Staithe

When HM Coastguard receive a distress call by a 999 or 112 phone call, by radio or any other means at the MRCC, a Maritime or Senior Maritime Operations Officer will use their training to question the caller to determine the location. The Maritime Operations Officer will normally be able to confirm the location given by the caller if the call is on the 999 system as the equipment in the Operations room will display where it has come from. The use of the equipment is very important because when people are in a distress situation it is easy for them to make mistakes as they may be frightened, anxious and/or uncertain. Coastguard Rescue Teams are paged via an SMS based system detailing the emergency incident, or via a VHF pager, although these are being phased out.

The Maritime Operations Officer will use the correct chart or map for the area and they are trained to ask questions that will help the caller identify where they are. The coastguard SMC (SAR Mission Co-ordinator) in charge of the watch will then decide which rescue resources will be used to conduct the SAR operation. The Maritime Operations Officer who takes the call may keep talking to the caller, while another can be passing information to the chosen rescue resources. These assets will depend on the situation, but could be one of the 365 Coastguard Rescue Teams (CRT) around the UK coast made up of 3,500 Coastguard Rescue Officers, RNLI or independent lifeboats, Search and Rescue fixed wing aircraft or helicopters, or a 'civilian' vessel or aircraft known to be in the vicinity or who responds to a broadcast on radio made by the MRCC.

Leonardo AW189[13] helicopter of His Majesty's Coastguard, operated by Bristow Helicopters, arrives at the 2018 RIAT, England

The MRCC will call out and send the rescue units according to the nature and severity of the incident. The MRCC will then co-ordinate the SAR operation using the Coastguard Rescue Teams, lifeboats and helicopters or other vessels or aircraft, who carry out the physical rescue.

Coastguard Rescue Teams have an Officer in Charge who is responsible for the action of that team or unit, management of the scene and joint coordination of the rescue with the MRCC. If the caller is, for example, stuck in mud, the CRT Officer in Charge (OIC) will coordinate which of the team goes onto the mud to carry out the rescue. If it is someone stuck on a cliff the OIC will coordinate who is lowered over the cliff. All this is done while keeping the MRCC updated of their actions, and possibly being supported by lifeboats or a rescue helicopter. Each rescue resource is able to relay information about any casualty to each other and to the MRCC who retains overall coordination. The coxswain of a lifeboats and the SAR helicopter pilot would be in command of that rescue asset, whilst being coordinated by the MRCC or the OIC.

The rescue resources work together with the MRCC as the coordinating authority to carry out SAR response. Once the persons in danger are rescued the person is then given the assistance they need and then transferred to a place of safety.[9]

HM Coastguard co-ordinates activities from one Joint Rescue Coordination Centre (JRCC), nine Maritime Rescue Coordination Centres (MRCCs) and one Maritime Rescue Sub-Centre (MRSC).

• JRCC UK at the National Maritime Operations Centre at Fareham. Incorporating Solent Coastguard, the UK Aeronautical Rescue Coordination Centre (ARCC) and UK Cospas-Sarsat Mission Control Centre (UKMCC).
• MRCC Aberdeen
• MRCC Belfast (Bangor)
• MRCC Shetland
• MRCC Stornoway
• MRCC Falmouth
• MRCC Holyhead
• MRCC Milford Haven
• MRCC Dover
• MRCC Humber (Bridlington)
• MRSC London

All centres operate 24 hours a day. In addition Coastguard Rescue Teams are based locally at over 300 locations around the UK.[15]

Recent changes

His Majesty's Coastguard station at Girvan, Ayrshire, Scotland

The modernisation of HM Coastguard was completed on the 31 December 2015. This has seen a significant reduction in operation centres. The following MRCCs have had operational capability transferred to remaining MRCCs:[16]

• Clyde (closed, area transferred to Stornoway and Belfast)
• Forth (closed, area transferred to Aberdeen)
• Brixham (closed, area transferred to Falmouth and JRCC)
• Portland (closed September 2014, area transferred to JRCC)
• Solent (closed September 2014, area transferred to JRCC)
• Great Yarmouth (closed, area transferred to Humber)
• Liverpool (closed, area transferred to Holyhead)
• Swansea (closed, area transferred to Milford Haven)
• Thames (closed, area transferred to Dover)

As well as its own operations as described above the JRCC has operation oversight across the rest of the national network at the remaining Centres. In addition the small London coastguard centre, which is annexed to the Port of London Authority headquarters, will maintain its oversight of activity on the River Thames.

Aircraft

See also: Air ambulance services in the United Kingdom, RAF Search and Rescue Force, and History of Royal Navy Helicopter Search and Rescue

Prestwick

Lee-on-Solent

St Athan

Inverness

Lydd

Stornoway Airport

Sumburgh Airport

Newquay

Caernarfon

Humberside Airport

Operational locations of aeronautical search and rescue cover in the United Kingdom from 2017. The colour of the location mark indicates the type of helicopter at each location (blue: Leonardo AW189, red: Sikorsky S92).

Coastguard 175 from Lee-on-Solent during winch rescue training with the RNLI Bembridge ALB.

The coastguard operate the following aircraft:[17]

Fixed wing

Operated by 2Excel Aviation:

• 3 Beechcraft King Air B200 - search and rescue, fisheries patrol, pollution patrol, maritime surveillance
• 2 Piper PA-31 Navajo - search and rescue, fisheries patrol, maritime surveillance
• 2 Diamond DA62

Operated by RVL Group:

• 1 Beechcraft King Air B200 - pollution patrol, surveillance, search and rescue
• 2 Boeing 737-400F - Oil Spill response
• 1 Cessna F406 - Oil Spill response

Helicopters (operated by Bristow under contract)

• 10 Sikorsky S-92 - search and rescue
• 10 Leonardo AW189 - search and rescue

Uncrewed Aerial Systems (UAS)

• 4 Schiebel Camcopter S-100

Coastguard helicopter at Mount Snowdon

Under a 10-year £1.6 billion contract starting in 2015, Bristow Helicopters assumed responsibility for search and rescue operations within the United Kingdom on behalf of HM Coastguard. Under the contract, Sikorsky S-92 and Leonardo AW189[13] helicopters operate from 10 locations around the British Isles. Ten S-92s are based, two per site, at Stornoway, Sumburgh, Humberside, Newquay and Caernarfon. Ten AW189s operate, two per site, from Prestwick airport, Inverness, Lydd, Lee-on-the-Solent and St Athan. Two aircraft are kept in reserve.[18] All bases are operational 24 hours a day. Half of the new fleet was built in Yeovil, Somerset.

The Maritime & Coastguard Agency are launching a tender for their second generation UK search and rescue aviation programme (UKSAR2G),[19] which is one of several tenders for similar services.[20] In July 2022 the contract was awarded to Bristow Helicopters, worth £1.6 billion over 10 years.[21]

As a uniformed service, but with Coastal responsibilities and maritime traditions, HMCG's uniform appearance is similar to the Royal Navy, the former HM Customs and Excise and HM Revenue and Customs. There are three types of uniforms:

1. Formal
2. Blues (daily duties)
3. Personal Protective Uniform (PPE) uniform

Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) rescue uniform

HM Coastguard rescue officer during a training exercise

For coastal rescue uniforms, CROs wear the following:

• Overalls
• Safety boots
• Helmet + Helmet headlight
• Safety glasses
• Safety goggles
• Safety gloves
• High visibility wet weather gear
• A high visibility buff (a neck-worn protector)
• Micro fleece
• ADS t-shirt
• Technical trousers
• Socks (upon request)
• Mobile phone or pager
• Personal radio.

Exterior items are appropriately marked to identify them as rescue workers.

• Maritime and Coastguard Agency
• H.M. Coastguard Long Service and Good Conduct Medal
• RAF Search and Rescue Force
• Royal Air Force Mountain Rescue Service
• Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI)
• Trinity House
• Isle of Man Coastguard
• Irish Coast Guard

• Official website