Please help the coast guard help you

Please help the coast guard help you.

The Coast Guard must respond to about 60,000 emergency calls each year (while saving nearly 5,000 lives annually) using limited resources. According to Coast Guard say, “Of the roughly 100 digital selective calling distress alerts we are now receiving each month, approximately nine out of 10 do not have position information (i.e., do not have a GPS navigation receiver interconnected to their DSC-equipped VHF radio), and approximately six out of 10 have not registered their MMSI. Despite the promises DSC technology offers in significantly reducing the alerting and search time for mariners in distress, there’s little a Coast Guard watchstander can do after receiving a distress alert with no position information, using an unregistered MMSI, and having no follow-up voice communications. No position information or bearings for the vessel, and have no other means of contact.

Just push and hold down the red DISTRESS button on your VHF radio, and it sends an automated digital distress message to the Coast Guard and all other DSC radio-equipped vessels. Rescuers instantly know who you are, where you are (using GPS coordinates), the name of your boat and the phone numbers of your emergency contacts.

To reap the benefits of Rescue 21 and DSC technology, mariners must:

Obtain a Maritime Mobile Service Identity (MMSI) and enter it into your radio. MMSI numbers are issued by BoatUS, Sea Tow, the U.S. Power Squadrons or the Federal Communications Commission if your vessel otherwise requires a station license. You also need to update your emergency info as changes happen. Interconnect your radio to a GPS receiver using a two-wire NMEA 0183 interface on all DSC-equipped marine radios and on most GPS receivers. Instructions should be provided in the radio and GPS operator’s manuals.

So make sure you enter your MMSI code and GPS location before using the VHF marine radio, which will help the coast guard to help you when you are in danger