Safety on Simcoe

[kickingfrog]

http://www.thebarrieexaminer.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=3188519

 

FLIR on the water

South Simcoe police unveils new technology

By Miriam King, QMI AGENCY

Posted 1:00am June 27, 2011

It's after dark on Lake Simcoe and a storm is brewing.

 

A call comes in reporting two Sea-Doos have collided somewhere in a bay off Innisfil's 6th Line. There may be injuries. Someone has been thrown into the water.

 

The South Simcoe police department's marine unit, Wardrop II, rushes to the scene.

 

Leaving Lefroy Harbour marina, where the boat is berthed, officers use radar, overlaid on a GPS electronic chart to get their bearings, avoid obstacles in the water, and locate the two Sea-Doos adrift in the bay.

 

The radar has no problem picking up the signatures of the machines, but there's no sign of anyone in the water.

 

That's where the police department's newest tool comes into play. The Wardrop II has just been fitted with a Forward Looking Infrared (FLIR) thermal imaging unit. The unit picks up the man's heat signature as he drifts prone in the choppy water.

 

Time to rescue: 8 minutes.]

 

The collision was, in fact, a training exercise to demonstrate how FLIR can assist police in search and rescue.

 

Drowning and hypothermia are the most obvious potential outcomes for a person in the water, but they are also placed at great risk of being struck by vessels responding that can't see them, notes Staff Sgt. Steve Wilson, who oversees the marine unit.

 

FLIR can pick up the vessel's heat signature from more than a kilometre away, and a person from about 60 metres.

 

"This equipment will allow our officers to find vessels in distress and persons in the water much quicker," Police Chief Bruce Davis said. "Just a few minutes can make the difference between a rescue and a recovery on Lake Simcoe."

 

The South Simcoe police department is one of several services mandated to provide search and rescue on Lake Simcoe, a service not provided by the Coast Guard because it has no vessels on the lake.

 

South Simcoe police works closely with York Regional Police (YRP) to ensure that a police boat is always available in the Cook's Bay area. YRP already has FLIR technology in place.

 

With the new technology, "we can go out here in darkness and go full speed," Wilson said. "The electronic chart shows hazards and sets off an alarm if we get too close. You get accustomed to the good technology. It saves you time, and when you're in the water, time is important."

 

Last year, the marine unit responded to 45 search-and-rescue calls on Lake Simcoe, including one drowning.

 

"We were on a couple of calls last year that we could have used (FLIR)," Wilson said.

 

So far this year, the marine unit has been called out approximately eight times.

 

However, due to the rainy, cold weather and high price of fuel, it has been a little quiet so far. But once boating season picks up, South Simcoe police will be more prepared.

 

[email protected]

[Grimace]

Awesome.

[Terry]

oh yeah I love the heat cameras and FLIR make some of the best

 

you can get them for your car so if all the headlights are too bad or fog or whatnot you look at the monitor and see everything and only 3000 +

 

http://www.atncorp.com/atn-thermal-securitycamera-flir-pathfindir-30

[Dave Bailey]

...but they are also placed at great risk of being struck by vessels responding that can't see them, ...

 

Yeah, tell me about it. Ten years ago we rented a boat and went out on Couchiching, and it was a normal July day on the water for that lake. Translation: BUSY AS HELL! While tootling along about in the middle of the whole stretch of water, halfway up and halfway across, I suddenly noticed something bobbing around in the water ahead, and slowed down. As we got closer we saw that it was a guy swimming, kind of a breast-stroke, and we pulled up to see if he was okay, figured that far from shore he might have tumbled out of a boat. "I'm alright" he said, "my girlfriend and I just wanted to see if we could swim across the lake."

 

?!?!?!

 

We looked around and finally located his girlfriend about a hundred feet away, barely visible in the slight chop. Both were wearing dark floppy hats to keep the sun off, not realising that it also made them just about invisible. We finally convinced them that with all the boats whipping around at high speed the continuation of their little adventure might not be a good idea, and they climbed in. After we got them back to shore some friends asked them if the 'other two' had made it all the way.

 

W?T?F?

 

We had seen enough silliness for one day and decided to go back to cruising the water and fishing, but we kept a sharp watch for any more heads.