From 7/19/01</font id=blue>
(Courtesy of USCG)
It seems that everyone has a cellular phone in this era of the connected consumer. Cellular phones are easy to use, fairly inexpensive, and portable. The Coast Guard receives a large number of distress calls via cellular phones. It is good that these mariners in distress were able to contact the Coast Guard, but puzzling that the boaters opt for the cellular phone in lieu of the VHF radio.
Cellular phones are a dependable way to communicate around the city as cellular towers are positioned primarily for optimal use on land and not the marine environment. Cellular telephones are a great tool that can be used to augment the VHF radio. However, they should not replace it.
Nothing frustrates an emergency responder more than receiving a call for help on a cellular phone, and then loosing the caller due to coverage or a dead battery. A VHF radio offers a major advantage over a cellular phone. When you call the Coast Guard on your cellular phone for help you are normally talking to one person, whereas when you call the Coast Guard on the VHF radio it allows all mariners within range to hear the distress call. The larger audience helps to increase the chance that a fellow mariner nearby can come to your assistance. If you were an advertiser would you call only one potential customer or target a larger audience? Each day cases are solved because a Good Samaritan responds to either the mariners call for help or the Coast Guards Urgent Marine Information broadcast.
What can you expect from the Coast Guard if you are in distress and call from a cellular phone? In order to quickly locate and assist you we first request ask three important pieces of information: position, problem, and number of people. Second, we will ask for your cellular telephone number, provider, and if you are roaming on the network. Third, we will need the strength level of the cellular battery. Nothing is worse than suddenly losing contact. If we know you have a low batt