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When trouble strikes in the water the U.S. Coast Guard Air Station Houston is ready to respond
Houston Airport System
May 4, 2007

Wearing the United States Coast Guard seal of authority takes more than strength and agility. The red, white and blue enblazoned badge means having to make some tough calls sometimes.

Members of the U.S. Coast Guard Air Station Houston say it might mean having to save one life over another. In these instances, the emotional and psychological strains of making such a decision must be conquered.

The rescue-swimmer has to stay focused on the mission of saving the one life he can. It is a choice not many people can make and therefore a reality that prevents many from joining this elite branch of the United States Department of Homeland Security.

Spring and summer months are usually the busiest for members of the air station crew who are on call 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

“Anything that can happen to a person on land can happen to a person on water,” says Mario P. Romero, public affairs specialist 3rd Class for the U.S. Coast Guard Air Station Houston. “Anytime there is an injury or someone needs to be helped we are going to go out there and help them as best we can.”

Usually that aid consists of four crew members – two pilots, an engineer and a rescue swimmer – aboard an HH-65 Dolphin Helicopter. The orange-toned 44-foot aircraft reaches speeds of up to 135 miles per hour and can make it to the Galveston coastline from its base at Ellington Field in about 15 minutes or less.

The air station in Houston covers most of the Gulf coastline along northeastern Texas, through Lake Charles, Louisiana. The next nearest air station is based out of Corpus Christi and handles the rest of the Texas coastline into Mexico.

During Hurricane Katrina, both of these air stations rescued hundreds of lives.

“The Houston area is very important because of the amount of oil companies and refineries that are here,” Romero explains. “A large portion of the oil that services the entire country comes from here. The Houston market can actually impact the entire country’s gas prices.”

In fact, a sizeable number of the rescue missions performed by the Coast Guard involve offshore rigs on the nearby coastline.

Some of the other issues dealt with by the air station include boat accidents, capsized mariners, medical emergencies and biological hazards, just to name a few.

© Courtesy of the U.S. Coast Guard A.S.H.
Saving lives is the primary mission of the U.S. Coast Guard Air Station Houston at Ellington.

Emergency calls to the air station in Houston come from a variety of sources, but most often involve a law enforcement agency. Response missions can be divided into one of three distinct categories – marine safety missions, law enforcement missions and search and rescue missions.

Marine safety missions involve biological hazards such as oils spills. In these situations the Dolphin’s main responsibility is to contain the oil spill from spreading – this is often done by dumping eco-friendly containment materials around the affected area.

Law enforcement missions could involve hostage situations, drug or migrant smuggling interceptions or any other criminal activity taking place on water. For these operations a series of response tactics are used, including what is known as a vertical insertion.

During a vertical insertion, armed members of the U.S. Coast Guard are dropped directly onto a marine vessel from an aircraft in order to contain a situation.

The last and perhaps most common type of response missions are the search and rescue operations. These can involve anything from a burned victim on an offshore rig, a capsized vessel, to a diabetic patient in need of medical attention.

As soon as a search and rescue mission call comes in, the air station crew begins prepping the aircraft for deployment and figuring out the fastest way to get to the victim or victims. Romero says, many times, especially during the spring and summer months, search and rescues missions are avoidable.

“People just get careless,” he adds.

For the members of the air station this is often the most frustrating part of the job. Because of the limited space on the aircraft only one person at a time can be transported during rescue missions – if the emergency zone is very far from the nearest hospital or Coast Guard drop-off location that could mean the difference between life and death for the remaining individuals.

“If you’re not prepared, no matter what we do we are not going to be able to save everybody,” Romero warns.

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