South African Maritime and Aeronautical Search and Rescue Act, 2002RegulationsSouth African Maritime and Aeronautical Search and Rescue (SASAR) Regulations, 2016Part 3 : SAR Operational Matters, Standards and Procedures12. Alerting Posts |
| (1) | A designated alerting post must immediately inform the RCC's or RSCs of an emergency or a potential emergency once it becomes aware of it. |
| (2) | The following organizations or institutions are designated as dedicated alerting posts and must be staffed 24 hours a day: |
| (a) | An air traffic service unit (ATSU); |
| (b) | Harbour master's offices; |
| (c) | Coastal radio stations; |
| (d) | South African police stations; |
| (e) | The MRCC; and |
| (f) | The ARCC. |
| (3) | The following procedures must be followed by the alerting post, on becoming aware of an emergency or potential emergency situation: |
| (a) | gather as much information about the emergency situation as is possible: |
| (b) | report to the nearest maritime RCC or RSC in the event of a maritime distress or to the ARCC or nearest ATSU in the event of an aeronautical emergency; |
| (c) | after making the initial report in terms of 5(b) above, the alerting post must make an attempt to check the report for authenticity and accuracy; |
| (d) | if there is reason to suspect that the message or signal indicating the emergency is a hoax or false alert, declare the message as such; and |
| (e) | keep open the channel of communication between itself and the source of the emergency message until the appropriate RCC declares that it is no longer required. |
| (4) | A designated alerting post must attempt to gather the following information on the distressed craft for passing on to the RCC or RSC: |
| (a) | distressed craft identification (name or type/call sign); |
| (b) | position of emergency (latitude/longitude or bearing/distance from known position or last reported position and next reporting position); |
| (c) | date or time of position; |
| (d) | nature of emergency (fire, collision, man overboard, disable, overdue, bail-out, crash); |
| (e) | craft description, (size, type, hull colour, cabin colour, deck colour, rigging, fuselage colour, tail colour wingtip colour) |
| (f) | persons on board; |
| (g) | date, time and point of departure, planned route, speed of advance, estimated time of arrival (ETA) and point of destination; |
| (h) | radio frequency in use, monitored or scheduled; |
| (i) | emergency radio equipment and frequencies, including emergency position indicating beacons; |
| (j) | on-scene weather and sea conditions; |
| (k) | assistance desired, if not obvious; |
| (l) | assistance being received, if any; |
| (m) | heading, speed, altitude and fuel; |
| (n) | initial reporter (name, telephone or address of person, name/call sign-off craft, parent agency; |
| (o) | date and time of initial report; |
| (p) | possible route deviations; |
| (q) | navigation equipment; |
| (r) | survival equipment; |
| (s) | other information, sources (friends, relatives, associates, agents and agencies) |
| (t) | car or boat trailer licence, description, location if pertinent, and |
| (u) | any other pertinent information; |
| (5) | A designated alerting post must attempt to gather the following information in relation to a lost person involved in a maritime or aviation incident or emergency: |
| (a) | Name of the missing person; |
| (b) | Location last seen; |
| (c) | Date or time last seen; |
| (d) | Known intentions or possible actions of missing person; |
| (e) | Description of missing person; |
| (f) | Clothing, footwear and equipment; |
| (g) | Physical and mental condition; |
| (h) | Knowledge of area; |
| (i) | Outdoor experience; |
| (j) | Weather conditions; |
| (k) | Action being taken; |
| (I) | Assistance desired, if not obvious; |
| (m) | Initial reporter (name and telephone number or address); |
| (n) | Date and time of initial report; |
| (o) | Next of kin (name and telephone number or address); |
| (p) | Any other pertinent information. |
| (6) | A designated alerting post must attempt to gather information on existing weather conditions from the person who reported an occurrence by posing questions on the following: |
| (a) | Clear skies or cloudy weather and recent changes; |
| (b) | Whether rain or snow is falling or has fallen, when the snowfall started and ended; |
| (c) | Whether severe weather conditions such as thunderstorms, hail, ice pellets or freezing rain are occurring or have occurred, and at what times it started and stopped; |
| (d) | Visibility and any factors affecting it such as fog, smoke, haze, etc. and the time of recent changes; |
| (e) | Description of the water or sea conditions; |
| (f) | Wind direction and velocity and recent changes. |