December 2022 Update

These newsletters aim to share updates, learnings, and guidance about our current (and future!) service deliveries. If you wish to subscribe, please email uav@surflifesaving.com.au

Thank You!

Thank you from the Australian UAV Service and wider SLSNSW team to all the awesome people making AUAVS a success. We appreciate each and every one of you, and wish you and your families a safe, happy, and healthy Christmas and New Year’s period. We look forward to working with you in the new year! Please note that some enquiries may be delayed over this time as our teams take some leave, but normal business as usual and SurfCom communications will continue per the Standard Operating Procedures.

New Standard Operating Procedures

AUAVS recently published updated Standard Operating Procedures, these procedures can be found under the documents section when logging in to AVCRM. Please ensure you familiarize yourself with the updated procedures as well as signing off on the new procedures before your next flight.

AUAVS Online Pre-Summer Briefing

Earlier this month, the UAV team held an online meeting for all pilots and operators to be brought up to speed on the AUAVS’s work as we approach the busy Summer period.

For Staff: The slides from our Pre-Summer Briefing can be found by going to Microsoft Teams, viewing the Resources page in the UAV Pilots & Operators Team Group, where you’ll find the slides in the folder named “4.Operational Quick Guides & FAQ’s.

For any volunteers who wish to review the slides, please email us at uav@surflifesaving.com.au for a copy of the slides.

Thank you very much again to those who were able to attend and we all hope that the information you found was very helpful.

Sign On / Sign Off procedure

For Far North Coast to Lower North Coast UAVs:

• The SOC UAV Officer will contact for sign on in these areas from 8:45am
• If you have not received contact from SURFCOM by 9:45am, you may contact SURFCOM for sign on
  • This may occur due to an incident occurring in another part of the state.

For Hunter to Far South Coast UAVs:

• The SOC UAV Officer will contact for sign on in these areas from 9:15am/9:30am (dependent on Lifesaving Services Sign Ons)
• If you have not received contact from SURFCOM by 10am, you may contact SURFCOM for sign on
  • This may occur due to an incident occurring in another part of the state.

For UAVs requiring Air Traffic Control Approval:

• The SOC UAV Officer will contact for sign on for UAVs requiring ATC approval from 8:45am, regardless of location in state.
• The SOC UAV Officer will advise UAVs to standby after sign on and not to initiate take off until they have successfully made contact with ATC for approval.
• If you have not received contact from SURFCOM for Sign On, please wait till 9:45am, and do not initiate take off until ATC approval is granted via SURFCOM.

Important Notes:

• Most Lifeguards, Lifesaving Clubs and other services around the state will be signing on from 9am/9:15am. Please await call from SURFCOM for UAV specific sign on calls and do NOT interrupt these sign ons unless there is an emergency.
• Unless you are requiring ATC Approval, you may begin flights once you have signed on via deputy, turned on your radio, greeted the lifesavers/lifeguard and set up your area in a safe manner for the day.
• These times are only estimated when SURFCOM will contact your location and can change on any given day to be earlier or later. When you arrive at your location, ensure you turn your radio on, and you are on the correct channel as soon as you can.
• For Sign Offs, locations will be again once called from North to South, starting from 3:45pm. Sign offs should be completed quickly as most other services will sign off later in the day. If there are any issues with contacting SURFCOM for sign off, you’re supervisor may be able to acknowledge your sign off and pass that onto the SOC UAV Officer.

If you have any questions regarding Sign On / Sign Off Procedures during this summer, please direct it to your local supervisor who can help in resolving the situation.