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Our Kit
This pages shows the kit of the
Ventnor Coastguard team. As we have a lot of equipment we have
broken it down into the main categories, so it is easier to see.
Click on a category that you are interested in to view what we
have.
The kit that a Coastguard Rescue
Officer has to carry is shown below with a description to what each
piece is used for.
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This is a
pager that every team member has to carry with them. It
works on VHF Channel 0 and they were issued at the end of
2007. We are pleased with them as they seem to be working well
and you can monitor the main Coastguard working channel (VHF
0) to hear what is going on, which can be very useful.
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This is a handheld VHF radio
that every team member has. These are used to communicate
amongst other team members whilst on training/calls etc.
They can be used to talk to our Ops Room at Solent and any
other person that is communicating on a VHF radio, e.g.
Lifeboats and Helicopters.
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These are overalls that every
Coastguard Rescue Officer is
provided with. They have reflective
strips
down the side with HM
Coastguard
Search and Rescue written on
the back. |
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This is one of the teams
jackets that every member has. It has two layers so that the
'body warmer' inner part can be worn in the summer. HM
Coastguard Search and Rescue is written on the reverse. |
These are salapets that each
team member is issued with. They can be worn on the cliff or when
doing search and rescue work.
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These are a pair of our boots
that
every Coastguard member has. They
have to be worn when we are training
and
on calls and can be used for cliff
and
search and rescue work.
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These are the new safety
glasses that every team member has. They are to be worn when
out on calls and whilst doing training.
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This is one of our helmets
that every Coastguard member has. They have to be worn when we are
training and on calls, from cliff work, search and rescue to
Helicopter landing sites. |
This is one of 'Maglite's'
that is issued
to every team member. They are
provided mainly for our own
safety
when on a cliff or doing search
and
rescue work.
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This is a belt that every
Coastguard member has. These are useful for both cliff and search
and rescue work as our radio, maglite etc can be fitted here
to leave our hands free.
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These are new gloves that have
been issued to the team. They are used by the cliff man and
anyone who is pulling the lines through the winch etc. |
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Details of our current vehicle
and trailer are shown below.
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This is our current MRU which
is a Nissan Navara Crew Cab - HF57 HRJ.
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This is inside our vehicle.
We now have 5 seats compared to our old vehicle which only
had two due to rear ones being folded down to make room for
our kit. All of the equipment now fits in the back which is
a lot better as more team members can be in the vehicle on a
call, rather than taking more of our cars. It will also be
used for carrying casualties if required. This vehicle is
brand new and up to date. We have a new radio, sophisticated
blue lights and sirens, Bluetooth connectivity through the
stereo and climate control. It is also 4 wheel drive. |
Inside the back of our
vehicle. |
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These are the controls that we
use to activate the blue lights and sirens.
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This is the trailer that we
use.
However, since our new vehicle
arrived in April 2008, most of our kit fits into the back of
that
so the trailer isn't being used at the moment. The Basket
Stretcher is still on the trailer and if we need it for a
call, it will be secured to the roof of the vehicle.
Eventually, it will be used to carry our mud kit. |
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Cliff Gear
The cliff gear that the team has
to use is shown below with a description to what each piece is used
for.
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This is our rigid cliff
stretcher which is used for recovering casualties who are
unable to get back up the cliff themselves. Two cliff men
will go down the cliff to recover the casualty. It folds in
half and has a bag for easy storage in the back of our
vehicle. |
This is our basket stretcher
which is used on the cliff and any other scenario for when a
casualty is not able to walk themselves out of danger. It is
secured onto our trailer for transporting and is the same one
that is used on the Coastguard Helicopters. |
This is the petrol winch that
is used
whilst on cliff jobs. Under
the new cliff
procedures it is purely a
hauling device.
It has two drums, one for the
main line
and one for the safety line.
It has a red
button on the top to stop it
quickly. It
is secured by stakes driven
into the
ground.
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This is one of bags of 250m
line that we carry in our vehicle. In all, we have two bags
of line, one being blue and one red in colour. One is used
as the main line and the other is used for the safety line.
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This is one of cliff harnesses
that is carried in the vehicle.
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This is one of the harnesses
that is
used for cliff top safety. You can lean
out on the cliff
yourself to make sure that
the cliff man is ok
and report back to the
rest of the team
who are in control of the
lines and the
winch. |
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a Scotchman which is used to put over the edge of the cliff.
It is secured by stakes around the tripod. The cliff man
will use this to get grip when lowering or ascending on the
cliff. |
This is one of
our stakes that is used on the cliff top. They are used for
securing the winch/lines and to secure the cliff top safety
man. Some are carried in our vehicle, whilst another
quantity are carried in the trailer. |
These are the lights that are
used to
provide lighting on the cliff
top for the
team. They are secured by
strong
magnets on the metal plate at
the top
and are powered by our petrol
generator. |
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| This is the
petrol Generator that is used to power our lighting.
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This is the
tripod that is used when we are cliff training or have an
incident. As you can see, one of the lines is attached to
the top and it goes through a pulley to make it easier for
the cliff man, so they are not being pulled into the cliff.
The two Coastguards by the tripod are the cliff top safety
who keep an eye on the cliff man and relay messages between
the cliff man and the rest of the team operating the winch
and lines. The tripod is no
longer in service and has been replaced by a quadpod. A
picture of this will follow soon. |
These are additional lights
that are
used on the top of the cliff.
These are,
again powered by our petrol
Generator.
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our many Karabiners that is used for clipping on the cliff
man, cliff top safety men when we are training or on a call.
As the red mark is showing near the catch, this means that
it is unlocked and will need to be screwed tight before it
can be used. |
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Search
and Rescue
The search and rescue equipment
that the team uses is shown below with a description to what each
piece is used for.
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have a call to search for a missing person, we use these
bags. They are used to carry flares, a map, compass, note
paper and a blanket. |
These are the
First Aid kits that we use. The one on the left is used for
search and rescue calls whilst the one on the right is used
by the cliff man attending to a casualty on the cliff.
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This is one of our torches
that is used
primarily for search and
rescue but is
also used by the cliff man.
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our Life Jackets that is used mainly for search and rescue
when we are on the rocks searching for people, as well as
animals. |
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Mud Rescue
The Ventnor Coastguard Team is
going to be the principal mud rescue team for the Isle of Wight. Our
mud rescue kit is currently on order, so we will bring you pictures
when the equipment has arrived.
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Communications
The communications that the team
uses is shown below with a description detailing what each piece of
equipment is used for.
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This is the radio that is
stationed at our remote site on St. Boniface Downs. It is
used when our Ops Room are non operational. Two of us will
usually man it at a time in 3 hour shifts. There are 4
radios altogether, monitoring channel 16 which is the
distress channel, channel 0 which is the Coastguard main
working channel and two radios set to monitor channel 67
which is the secondary Coastguard channel. DSC can be
monitored here as well. |
This is the VHF radio that is
permanently fixed in our vehicle. We use this to talk to our
Ops Room on
channel 0, 67 and listen to
distress calls on channel 16.
We also talk to the Helicopters and Lifeboats using the
radio.
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This is a handheld VHF radio
that every team member has. These are used to communicate
amongst other team members whilst on training/calls etc.
They can be used to talk to our Ops Room at Solent and any
other person that is communicating on a VHF radio, e.g.
Lifeboats and Helicopters.
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Picture
to follow soon. |
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Pagers are used to
communicate. When there is an incident, our Ops Room
(Solent) will page us. As these work on VHF Channel 0, we
can monitor this channel but cannot transmit. |
When all else fails, we will
use the mobile phone! It is also used to call other team
members to get to different vantage points. We may also need
to talk to our Ops Room.
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Flares
We carry Flares for different
situations. The ones that we use are shown below with a description.
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This is a Single White Star
which is used by the team members if our radio or mobile
phones fail. The other team members will then know that
other team members need some assistance. |
This is a Parachute Flare
which is used for illuminating an area to identify a target
that the team is looking for. |
This is a Maroon which is used
by the team for Remembrance Sunday. When fired it creates a
large 'bang' which will start the 2 minutes silence. Another
Maroon is fired to stop the silence. |
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This is Orange Smoke which is
used for a Helicopter Landing Site. The Helicopter will then
follow the trail of the smoke to the area to which it will
land. The team will make sure that the area is suitable for
the Helicopter and relay the information about the site,
along with weather conditions to the flight crew.
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views expressed in this website are those of the Ventnor Coastguard
Team and may not reflect those of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency
Copyright © Ventnor Coastguard - 2008 - All Rights Reserved |
