Ian Waugh - A Mariner\'s Guide to Marine Communications

Urgent Medical Advice

You can gain access to urgent 'Medical Advice', free of charge, using

marine VHF and SSB Radio, and Inmarsat communications systems. Coast

Radio Stations and Inmarsat Land Earth Stations will connect you to a

doctor/hospital in the same country - or you may be connected to the

International Radio Medical Centre (CIRM) in Roma, Italy.

ALRS Volume 1, in the section labelled 'Medical Advice by Radio',

lists the countries that provide medical advice by radio/satcom, on

request, and the radio/satellite stations through which the advice can

be obtained.

For example, ALRS Vo! 1 tells us that we can obtain medical advice
through 'any United Kingdom Coastguard Station' If we then turn to
the UK section of the 'Coast Radio Stations Service Details' part of ALRS
Vo} 1, there is a map shOWing the main HM Coastguard sites. We can
then look at the entry for the individual station covering our own area
and find the calling procedure and channel{s) being monitored.

Taking the entry labelled Solent (Coastguard MRSC) we find that:

• The Callsign is 'Solent Coastguard'
  The Operational Area is Beachy Head to Chewton Bunney including
  the Isle of Wight (IOW).
  In addition to a RT (MF) service (for use with the SSB Radio) they
  operate a VHF service from remote sites at:
  
  
  • Newhaven (50 46N 000 03E).
    Selsey (50 43N 000 48W).
  
  
  • Boniface, Isle of Wight (50 36N 001 12W).
  
  
  • Lee-on-Solent (50 48N 001 12W).
  
  
  • Needles (IOW) (50 39N 001 34W).
    All five VHF sites listen for voice calls on Ch16 and 67 'H24' (meaning
    24 hours/day).
  
  
  
  


• All five VHF sites have additional working channels 06, 10 and 73,
  (199912000 edition - additional 'duplex' channels are expected to be
  fitted by 2002) - which are used 'HX' (as required - no fixed hours
  of service).
  The Newhaven, Selsey Bill and Boniface Down sites also operate a
  Digital Selective Calling (DSC) service on Ch70, H24, using MMSI
  002320011.
  A ship requiring medical advice when in UK waters, just south of the
  Isle of Wig ht, might go through the procedure shown in the following example:

116 THE NAUTICAL INSTITUTE