Mystic firefighters gain U.S. Coast Guard certification
New London — The Mystic Fire Department on Tuesday became the first agency in the region to have its members achieve U.S. Coast Guard certification in water search and rescue.
"Why wait for a tragedy to happen before we come up with best practices? We've turned lessons learned into lessons applied. Our goal is zero lives lost," U.S. Coast Guard Captain Ed Cubanski said.
Cubanski said the training completed by the firefighters creates another asset for the Coast Guard to call on in the event of a maritime emergency — such as a boat in distress.
Cubanski said Coast Guard Sector Long Island Sound created this first-of-its-kind certification program in the country to ensure "everyone is using the same playbook." The program will eventually include agencies across the coasts of Connecticut and Long Island that can act in unison with the Coast Guard. The Coast Guard has already trained numerous Long Island-based agencies, Cubanski said.
The training is an outgrowth of partnerships built through the New London Marine Group, which meets monthly to tackle larger regional maritime issues.
Not only are the firefighters now trained in proper search patterns and risk management techniques, but “We can communicate with the Coast Guard and know exactly what they’re talking about,” said Anthony Manfredi Jr., Mystic deputy fire chief.
The U.S. Coast Guard is in charge of all maritime search-and-rescue activities. The Mystic Fire Department operates a 32-foot MetalCraft firefighting boat, which also has hazmat and search-and-rescue capabilities.
The five Mystic firefighters certified were: Manfredi, William G. Jamieson Jr., Andrew Bellinghieri, Kevin A. Wager and Antonio Cassata. Jamieson is also an Old Mystic firefighter and Bellinghieri is a firefighter in Stonington borough.
The group was part of a larger class that included members of the Westbrook Fire Department, Clinton Police Department and Watch Hill Fire Department. Training included a mix of classroom work and practical training, such as person-overboard drills.
Local agencies currently working toward certification include Norwich, Stonington, Waterford and Groton Town police departments, the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection and harbor masters from several local towns.
Commercial outfits with training include TowBoatUS, SeaTow and Cross Sound Ferry.
Emergency dispatchers, who more and more often receive distress calls from boaters on a cellphone, will be trained to forward certain information from a call to the U.S. Coast Guard. Cellphones pose problems with pinpointing a person's location when on the water, Cubanski said, but training can speed the process of a rescue.
On Sept. 16, Mystic and other area departments will be involved in multijurisdictional, full-scale mass rescue exercise involving a ferry incident off the coast of New London.
Manfredi said the partnership with the Coast Guard has also led to members of the Coast Guard obtaining firefighter or EMT training and joining the department.
“We have a true partnership, and this will only get better as time goes on,” Manfredi said.
Twitter: @SmittyDay
