Coast Guard leads multi-agency exercise at Kukuʻiula Small Boat Harbor on Kauaʻi

At Kuku’iula Small Boat Harbor near Po’ipū, the U.S. Coast Guard and several state, county and volunteer agencies conducted a full-scale search and rescue drill on Thursday morning to practice working collaboratively during emergencies.

The simulation on Kauaʻi’s south shore began around 9 a.m. with a call to Kaua’i Police dispatch from a fictitious person named Steven Winter.

Winter reported he hadn’t heard back from his fictitious friend Ted Spring, who went fishing out of the boat harbor with two friends and his son the previous night. He said Spring usually fishes near the “PP” buoy, several miles offshore from the harbor. The missing fishing vessel is reported to be a 20-foot-long Boston Whaler named Reel Fun. 

With the scenario established, the exercise’s first objective was to establish and operate a Unified Command Structure at the harbor, USCG Lt. Junior Grade Zachary Kaiser said.

The Unified Command Structure was developed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and serves as a model of joint leadership responsibility that is used by public agencies nationwide to deal with complicated or large-scale incidents.

Another goal of the annual exercise was to test communications, command and control among the participating agencies. The exercise was led by the Coast Guard and included the Kaua’i Fire Department, Kaua’i Ocean Safety, Kaua’i Police Department, the state Department of Land and Natural Resources, Kaua’i Emergency Management Agency, the volunteer Civil Air Patrol and the volunteer Kaua’i Search and Rescue.

Batallion Chief Reid Tanita coordinated Kaua’i Fire and Ocean Safety efforts at the scene. 

After the simulated 911 call came in, the agencies responded to the harbor as they would in a real emergency.

The Coast Guard used a MH-65 Dolphin helicopter from O’ahu, and a 45-foot response boat medium for a surface search. The Kaua’i Fire Department used Rescue 3 aboard Air 1, a Radon 6 twin-outboard rescue vessel with rescue divers, and Ocean Safety deployed three rescue jet-skis and six lifeguards. Longtime Kaua’i Ocean Safety Bureau Chief Kalani Vierra directed their operation. 

The state Department of Land and Natural Resources used a Boston Whaler, and Kaua’i Search and Rescue set up a communications post, and conducted a land search of the shoreline with a canine.

“Each agency has their own area of expertise, and play their own separate roles,” said Elton Ushio, administrator of the Kaua’i Emergency Management Agency. “We use this same command structure every day on smaller incidents, but it’s important to practice for a major incident like this.”  

As is the case with many search and rescue efforts, the weather was not ideal. On Thursday, it was cloudy and rainy when the exercise began, with choppy surface conditions that reduced visibility above and below the water. The stormy weather did not stop the exercise to continue with air, water and ground crews.

At about 11:10 a.m., air and marine assets located the missing vessel, which had overturned. Ocean Safety lifeguards and the Coast Guard, communicating on shared radio channels, worked together and located and retrieved three of the missing people. The fourth missing person was located along the shoreline about 15 minutes later.

The exercise concluded at 11:30 a.m. There is a de-briefing to discuss how the rescue went and to address any issues that can be corrected for future emergencies.