Eckerd College SAR Crew Equipped with Emergency Beacons

Posted by Eric Haun June 21, 2016

Photo: ACR Electronics

To celebrate its 60th anniversary, ACR Electronics said it has committed to participate in more philanthropic projects, like donating emergency beacons to the Eckerd College Search and Rescue Team (EC-SAR), the nation’s only college marine rescue crew.

ACR, a Drew Marine Company, has provided 20 personal locator beacons (PLBs) to the EC-SAR. There will be enough beacons for each responder on shift while he or she is conducting rescues in their dedicated response area of Tampa Bay, Fla.

“For the first time in the crew's history, this past year the students of Eckerd College Search and Rescue received over 700 calls for assistance,” said Ryan Dilkey, Assistant Director of Waterfront for EC-SAR. “Through ACR’s generous sponsorship, we will be able to outfit 20 life jackets with Personal Locator Beacons, enhancing the safety of our crew.”

EC-SAR college marine rescue crew consists of a highly trained group of student volunteers who work closely with the U.S. Coast Guard, 911 Emergency Medical Response and other similar agencies. EC-SAR received its first test of international proportions when the crew was one of the first rescue units to respond to the Skyway Bridge disaster in May of 1980. Team members are trained in technical rescue, boating safety, seamanship, searching and medical response.

“After hearing a couple presentations about this one of a kind program and learning how valuable this team is to Tampa Bay, ACR wanted a chance to equip EC-SAR crews with the same emergency beacon technology used by the very people they may rescue,” said Nichole Kalil, ACR’s Media Specialist.