EC-SAR provides its services free of charge to the St. Petersburg / Tampa Bay area of Florida, from its station on the Eckerd College campus.

For emergency assistance EC-SAR can be contacted on VHF channels 16 and 68, phone number (727) 864–8256, or through Coast Guard Sector St. Petersburg.

EC-SAR gained national attention in 1980 when it was one of the first agencies to respond to the Sunshine Skyway Bridge disaster.

[1] Members coordinate the utilization of four rescue boats through an operations/communications center located in the Waterfront Activities building.

Within their response range, including all of Tampa Bay and up to ten miles into the Gulf of Mexico from Longboat Pass to John's Pass, some services provided include:[1] Using a variety of techniques, disabled vessels are towed to the place of nearest safe mooring.