Conducting The Radio Interview

Verbal Triage The art of conducting the radio interview By Douglas Gould ©2007 Faced with a breakdown at sea, the mariner’s subconscious has a secret wish: click the mic button three times, recite “there’s no place like home…” and he will be magically transported back to his harbor. The mariner is frustrated, confused, and doesn’t see the need for all the questions, he just wants service, and the sooner the better. Inevitably, the initial communications with a disabled mariner consist of a period of questions and answers, exchanged verbally over the radio or by phone. A towboat operator is faced with some challenges every time he answers a call for assistance, and your ability to minimize the confusion and delays created by those challenges is in part due to how well you control the initial communications. I think it is a good idea to think of that period of questions and answers as a job interview, and you play the role of the employer; you’re in charge, and you control the conversation because its in everyone’s interest that you collect the information that allows you to make informed decisions that both parties will benefit from (you get a job, he gets rescued). Communications that minimize confusion, misunderstanding and wasted time will help your towboat operation maintain a professional and efficient image, and might even save you some fuel. To begin, you should remember that you are communicating with a customer who is struggling to deal with an unfamiliar and potentially frightening situation. Even though you have been doing this for years, it is likely his first time calling for assistance. So, your first challenge is that you have to teach him how to call for help at the very same time that you are trying to provide that help. This is actually quite easy if you use a concise routine that keeps you in control of the communications. If you are fortunate to be in a market with really skilled USCG SAR controllers, than you know what I’m talking about. I’ve heard the SARC’s in Los Angeles move a case from initial call to MARB in under two minutes. When you answer a call for assistance, your first obligation is to determine if this is an actual distress that requires notification of the USCG or other public agency. That doesn’t mean you won’t be responding, or even that you won’t be first to arrive. But if there is any doubt about the safety of people, your notification to a public rescue authority is mandatory. If you fail to notify, and someone gets injured, can the lawsuit be far behind? There is some legitimate disagreement regarding how quickly you should move an assistance call from CH16 to a working frequency. In some markets, any assistance call that isn’t expressly a Mayday is routinely moved off to a working frequency. In other areas, it is common practice to conduct some discovery on CH16 to determine if there is any emergency before switching to working channels. One way to address that issue is the compromise, in which you would answer a call on CH16 with “Vessel Calling DougsTow – for non-emergency traffic, acknowledge and switch to channel xx.” At least that gives them an opportunity to say that this is an emergency, and stay on CH16. Experienced towboat operators can often tell how serious the situation is just by the

tone of the voice calling for help. As soon as you establish comms on your working frequency, begin immediately using phraseology and ask very specific questions that make it clear that your voice will be in control of the communications. Speak in a calm, normal voice. You don’t have to tell the mariner that you are in control, or that you have to be the boss; you take control simply by the questions you ask and the way you ask them. It is very important that you begin this way, and after just a few exchanges, the mariner will usually get the idea and become your source of information, rather than acting as one half of a Search & Rescue negotiation. There may be some negotiations much later in the conversation, but avoid “negotiating” what his nature of distress is, or where exactly he might be. When I answer an assistance call, I start out by assuming that this is a real distress, so I collect all the information that I know the Coast Guard will want if I have to involve them. There is a very logical progression of questions that the Coast Guard will ask if someone declares a Mayday. They will always start with “What is your position and nature of distress.” If that is the only question that gets answered, they have enough to begin a search. Thus begins what I call the five and a half W’s. That is just an easy way to remember Who, What, Where, Why, When (the five w’s) and Will (the half w). Who is how many people are we searching for? What kind of boat are we looking for? Where should we be searching? Why are we searching (what was their distress)? When did they call for help, and how long since you last talked to them? And finally, Will you get paid? Will is only a half a W, because it’s only important to your decision about whether you are going to respond to this situation. As you go through this list of W’s, the manner in which you ask a question will determine the quality of the answers. If you say “Yeah Cap, what seems to be the trouble this afternoon?” you might get a longwinded answer that includes the name of his mechanic and a list of recent part purchases. On the other hand, if you say “What is your position and nature of your distress?” the formality of the question will often clue the mariner that this will not be a conversation, but an efficient, organized exchange where you ask the questions and he provides concise answers. As you get each answer, use that information to proceed to the next question (what we call active listening): “Roger sir, I understand that your battery is dead and you are six miles from Tango harbor. How many people are on board your vessel?” Do not ask “what kind of boat do you have?” or even say “give me a description of your vessel.” What you want to know is the length, make and color, so ask for that: “What is the length, make and color of your vessel?” Keeping your questions simple and to the point will improve the chances that the answers are simple and to the point. Before you proceed to any discussion of membership status or quoting hourly rates, you should know the following information: • • • •

What: Vessel description: length, make, color and vessel’s name if it has one Who: How many people on board Why are we looking for him? (nature of distress) Where is the vessel. Lat/Lon if possible.

The vessel’s description and people on board are not subjects that offer any opportunity for confusion. Determining the nature of distress can be a little tricky,

because the act of talking to you may give him a false sense of security. Do not let a mariner decide for you how serious his situation is. Continue to ask specific questions until you are satisfied that the situation is under control. This is especially important if the mariner reports that he hit something. He may report a spun prop, but have no idea that his bilges are flooding from a torn outdrive boot. Unless you instruct him to check his bilges, you will also be ignorant of the flooding. When a mariner reports a dead battery, I always ask him “What happens when you turn the key? Is there a click, or does the motor turn over slowly?” If the answer is that nothing happens, no noise, no click, nothing – then I proceed to confirm that the boat is in neutral, and ask him to check the kill switch. You would be surprised how often that solves a “dead battery” problem. OK, we have the first three W’s asked and answered. We know what we are looking for, how many are on board, and why we are responding. Now comes the hard part: where is the guy? This is another good reason to keep to the concise routine at the beginning, because now you have set the communication ground rules. If the mariner has a GPS, your life is easy: just plot the position. If he’s where he thinks he is, you’re on your way. But if he is unable to provide a lat/lon, then you should begin some detective work now, before you head in the wrong direction trying to get a DF fix on his handheld VHF. Its important to remember the mariner’s state of mind. He just wants to get this over with, so he is predisposed to agree with anything you say. No matter what you ask, he hears “Do you need to be rescued, skipper?” First of all, I have a few rules: a) never trust a mariner’s ability to estimate distances on the water; b) avoid repeating what he just said; c) ask confirming questions; d) avoid nautical and local knowledge phrases; e) try to visualize what he is telling me. If the mariner seems unsure about his distance from shore, ask him what kind of details he can distinguish. Here is a chart I created to help me estimate his distance from shore based on what he can see. What the mariner sees His approximate distance offshore Can tell what people on shore are wearing Sees people walking on shore Can see the foam from surf Can determine size or make of vehicles on road Can distinguish individual windows in houses Can see sand on the beach Cannot see any shoreline features like breakwalls, piers, beaches or low structures Cannon distinguish any hillside features like individual trees, windows in buildings, telephone poles or vehicles

Less than ½ of a mile 1 mile or less About 1 mile (more in big swell) 1.5 miles or less 2 miles or less Usually less than 3 miles More than 5 miles Probably over 8 miles from shore

The chart may not be right for your area, but why not make one of your own next time you’re out on a tow. Just use your radar to measure your distance offshore, and make a note of what you can and cannot see. The further from shore a mariner is, the less accurate his estimates will be. In that case, you may have to settle for a direction, head that way and attempt to acquire

a DF fix on him. Avoid repeating what he just said. Instead, ask a question that will confirm what he just said. If he reports himself one half mile from the harbor entrance, then you should say “Roger sir. Can you see the breakwall from your position?” His answer might be, “Oh, no. I’m too far out to see the breakwall. I’m at least a half mile.” At this point, I’m thinking he is more like 3 or 4 miles out. Or you could ask if he can read the name on the water tower. If he reports that he is “Just off Deadman’s Cove,” use your knowledge of where that is to ask a confirming question: “Ok skipper, that puts you just two miles south of the airport, correct?” This forces him to think about his location, rather than just acknowledge that you heard him right the first time, which is all he will do if you merely repeat his words by saying “Ok skipper, you are just off Deadman’s Cove.” A confirming question includes information that wasn’t previously given, like his relation to a landmark. If he knows he is not near the airport, perhaps Deadman’s Cove isn’t the correct location. Do you see how this simple trick of asking a confirming question will quickly confirm his information, or put you on alert? To do this tactfully and avoid getting into a debate could take a little practice. It is very easy to get sucked into a debate about where the landmark is (“No, the airport is closer to the powerplant…”). Focus on getting answers to your questions. The third rule is to avoid using overly nautical terms and local slang. Instead of asking for a relative bearing, you can say, “If you were steering your boat towards the lighthouse, what would the compass say?” or, “So, you are between the ship and the mainland, correct?” Sometimes, even words like north and south are overly nautical, but the concept of ‘between’ is a universal one: “Are you between the lighthouse and the factory?” is better than “Are you north of the lighthouse?” Local knowledge can cause confusion, generally because the mariner may not realize he is using the term incorrectly. Fishermen are particularly guilty of using nicknames for favorites, and knowing the nickname of a place is like knowing the secret handshake – using it means your in a special, elite class. So, when the fishing is slow, and they are listening to the radio, they pick up names like “Dolly Parton”, and then they use that term, instead of calling it what it is: a nuclear power plant. This brings up the next rule: visualize what he is telling you. Use your understanding of the area to create confirming questions that verify his location. IF he is where he says he is, how deep should the water be? What should be to his north or south? Your ability to visualize his situation will come in handy someday, when you are dealing with a really clueless mariner. In those cases, sometime all you can do is keep asking him to describe what he sees, and then keep driving you boat around until you see the same thing. The list of what he sees could include anything – ships, buoys, sails, mountains, forest fires, even aircraft. I found a guy once because he could tell me which side of a Goodyear blimp he was on. If you think this mariner is close to shore, you must ask him to anchor, which most disabled boaters are reluctant to do. The reluctance to anchor is usually because the mariner has had little, or no experience anchoring. His friends may have told him how difficult it is, or he may be worried about lifting the anchor later. That is why it is

important to ask a reconfirming question, and gather independent information about how far the boat is from shore. Too many times I have had a mariner tell me that he is well offshore with no need to anchor, only to have him calling “I’m in the surf” 10 minutes later. Beg him to drop anchor if you have too. Finally, don’t make it his job to find you. Towers who continually repeat “Can you see me now? Can you see me now?” not only sound like a bad cell phone commercial, but obviously haven’t asked the right questions to begin with.