The United States Coast Guard protects our shores from illegal drug runners, smugglers, and anyone trying to get into the country illegally.
The Coast Guard is also the first to respond to any call for help in the gulf for search and rescue operations before, during, and after major hurricanes.
"It was nothing I've ever seen before, just the sheer devastation," said aircraft commander Lt. Michael Purcell with the USCG.
The Coast Guard goes out when Mother Nature shows her evil side.
"There's a Category 5 hurricane coming. This is your last chance, we have to go," said aircraft maintenance technician Donny Bellamy after responding to a call for help during a category 5 hurricane.
Living in the Gulf Coast we see our fair share of hurricanes. This hurricane season has been especially busy in the gulf, with a rescue happening just off the coast of Sanibel during Hurricane Helene when a man and his dog radioed for help.
"It was a great case, pretty sporty, good size waves a lot of wind. We're all jealous of him; that's what we want to do. We definitely all debrief it because no two cases are the same. So when someone has real experience, we talk about it and learn from each other, so we're all prepared for whatever comes up," said aviation survival technician third class, rescue swimmer Carter Kerwin.
The Coast Guard responded to help victims after Hurricane Ian slammed the Gulf Coast.
"We lowered down our rescue swimmer, and he started going door to door over Sanibel island to search for survivors or anyone in distress. Our rescue swimmer did end up finding one woman in distress; we ended up hoisting her up in the middle of a neighborhood," said Purcell.
The rescue swimmers are an elite group, the best of the best. They go through a six-month training program with a high attrition rating of around 86%, but are trained to handle every situation and rescue people in desperate need.
"When that call comes in and you find out what it's going to be you're definitely remembering your training, remembering what you're capable of doing. I'm just trying to get to the survivors as quickly as I can and get an assessment of what's going on. Are they injured? How many are there? And is everyone accounted for? And then it's just time to get to work," said Kerwin.
There are roughly 250-300 rescue swimmers in the entire Coast Guard. They're the ones who jump out of helicopters or get hoisted down to make a rescue, including a rescue
36 miles off the Boca Grande coast with 8 people clinging to an ice chest, waiting for help to arrive.
"They put me down in the water, I swam over to make sure everyone wasn't injured and accounted for and then went to work. I had to swim about 50 yards to them, buddy tow one person at a time 50 yards back, then rinse and repeat eight times," said Kerwin.
When the Coast Guard gets a call for help. The pilot, co-pilot flight mechanic, and rescue swimmer get their gear, get onto the helicopter and head to the scene,e knowing lives are at risk and seconds count.
"Everyone is bouncing ideas off each other, what we might be flying into and come up with a loose plan before we get on scene, and when we get on scene, we'll talk about what will work and talk it over ... Most of the time the plan usually changes," said Bellamy.
Danger is an aspect of the job team members embrace and prepare for whatever may come up.
"You launch very quickly with a very limited amount of information and do some hasty mission planning and do the best plan you can with your crew," said Purcell.
The rescue swimmers' motto is " So others may live." The Coast Guard is a last hope for help when people are in extreme danger.
"It's what we train for. That's why most of us do the job, is to help others in extreme events like this. It's pretty rewarding to execute a case and save a life in an environment that is challenging," said Purcell.
The United States Coast Guard's motto is "Semper Paratus," meaning "always ready." They will go out at a minute's notice.