U.S. Coast Guard push use of stickers that save lives and taxpayer dollars

In an effort to reduce the number of man hours spent searching for individuals not in distress, the U.S. Coast Guard highly recommends all mariners use a "Paddle Smart" sticker.

It may not look like much, but something as simple as a sticker could have saved the U.S. Coast Guard tens of thousands of dollars last night. 

Around 5:30pm stand-up paddlers spotted this 8-foot blue kayak about a mile off Kualoa Beach Park. Along with the Navy and Honolulu Fire Department, the U.S. Coast Guard launched its MH-65 Dolphin Helicopter and Cutter Ahi crews to search for the kayaks owner, believed to be lost at sea.  But, after several hours, the missing man came forward safe and sound on shore.

"The Coast Guard gets reports of this nature on a pretty regular basis sometimes they are legitimate distress and sometimes the individual is found safe ashore," says US. Coast Guard Lt. Commander Matt Derrenbacher.

For the Coast Guard to launch a C-130 aircraft it costs about $17,000 an hour, a Dolphin helicopter $7,000 an hour, a Cutter or station small boat is approximately $4,000 an hour.

If the Coast Guard is using resources searching for someone who isn’t missing, it’s not only a waste of money but manpower.

"It takes a tax on the responders, puts responders unnecessarily in harms way and takes us away from potentially responding to another case in a different area," says Lt. Commander Matt Derrenbacher.

We are a state surrounded by ocean, so  Lt. Commander Derrenbacher says anyone going diving, kayaking or boating should at least tell a friend or loved one where they’re going and when they’ll be back.  And if anything happens, having a weather-proof, reflective "Paddle Smart" sticker attached to your gear is the best bet to tracking down you and your property.

He says the little bit of info the sticker provides would have made the difference last night.

"In this case it would have helped a lot because we would have been able to call him immediately and find he was not in distress and return his kayak to him and stand down our resources," says Lt. Commander Matt Derrenbacher.

The Coast Guard has distributed these stickers at various water sports stores across the state.