Security procedures
If you find yourself in an emergency situation on board a boat in distress, adopt the following security procedures:
- keep calm;
- make everyone on board wear life jackets;
- get any other security equipment ready for use, including: lifebuoy, first aid kit, distress signal kit (smoke buoy, red hand flares), sound signaling devices (whistle), life raft, etc.;
- drop anchor if the boat is adrift;
- call 1 1 2 and contact the Coast Guard by radio (distress frequency VHF channel 16) providing the requested information, including: name and type of the boat, position (geographic coordinates), distance from the coast, type of problem encountered, number of people on board, presence of injured people, people who may have fallen overboard, presence of people in need of special assistance (pregnant women, children, elderly people, disabled people), port of departure, destination, current weather and sea conditions, route and speed maintained, etc.;
- follow the rescuers’ instructions.
