What is the Purpose of this Sticker?
These free stickers help people return lost or stolen gear to you, and they also help first responders save lives!
Every week, the Coast Guard, State, and Lifeguards are forced to launch search and rescue missions that don’t need to happen, and it hurts their ability to save lives at sea.
When a dive float, kayak, dinghy, or SUP is found drifting in the ocean, first responders leap into action and begin searching for the owner, who might be lost at sea. Sometimes, there’s a person in the water who gets the help they need, but most of the time, it’s a simple case of lost gear. Either way, Coast Guard helicopters, airplanes, and boats head out to search.
What is the message of our stickers?
HOST has partnered with the State of Hawaii DLNR Division of Boating and Ocean Recreation (DOBOR) and the US Coast Guard to create the free “Scan If Found” sticker program. If a watercraft is found drifting, these stickers help first responders identify the owner of watercraft/equipment and verify that the owner is safe. Each sticker has a unique number that the US Coast Guard has access to, if the finder of the lost item deems that the situation is a life-threatening emergency, there is also a toll free 24 Coast Guard emergency number that can be called. The US Coast Guard can then match the unique number to the owner of the item.
The stickers also help people return lost gear to one another through an anonymous messaging/relay system & help owners ID their equipment. No account needed, just scan a sticker and you’re in. The videos below show how easily it all works.
Many mahalos to the State of Hawaii DLNR Division of Boating and Ocean Recreation (DOBOR)for funding the 10,000 stickers currently being distributed Statewide!