If you were near the Niagara-on-the-Lake Golf Club last Friday morning, you may have noticed an orange-coloured helicopter hovering over Lake Ontario, just offshore.

Not to fear, though, it was just the United States Coast Guard practising some essential search and rescue skills using an MH-65 Dolphin chopper.

The Niagara station of the U.S. Coast Guard was rehearsing doing helicopter hoists – simulating a situation where an injured or distressed person must be lifted from a boat to a helicopter.

Coast Guard spokesperson Lieut. Phillip Gurtler said the training is mandatory and Coast Guard members are required to complete it twice a year to ensure competency.

The session was held Friday at 10 a.m. and involved 10 people, three aboard the chopper helicopter and seven on an emergency response boat.