Abstract
The Canadian Coast Guard has maintained a database of maritime search and rescue (SAR) incidents involving response personnel and assets since the 1980s. This information is stored in a national system known as the Search and Rescue Program Information Management System (SISAR). The SISAR database records all major incidents that occur within Canada’s coastal SAR regions, documenting them with both spatial and temporal details. As a result, it serves not only as a record of response operations but also as a valuable historical dataset that analysts can use to support various decision-making processes. This paper shows how SISAR incident data can be used to identify and visualize temporal and spatial patterns in maritime SAR incidents. Temporal trends were examined using annual, monthly, and hourly time scales, while spatial patterns were analysed by considering the location and density of incidents. Several visualization techniques are presented to help explore and interpret the SISAR dataset effectively. In addition, the chapter briefly discusses several important topics related to the analysis of SAR incidents. These include underreporting within incident databases, the sharing of national SAR incident data, and the integration of environmental factors with accident data. Incorporating environmental information can provide greater context for historical SAR incidents and contribute to more accurate estimates of SAR response times.
Keywords Data analytics · Incident analysis · Search and rescue and Visualization
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