Emergency Crews Ready For Marine Rescue

A rescue swimmer plunges from a helicopter hovering over the bay and heads towards a man clinging to an overturned boat. He stabilizes the victim while a fire department boat rushes over. On shore an ambulance is waiting for transport to a nearby hospital. A life is saved.

This time, the drill was for practice, but it’s a scenario that will surely play out in real time as emergency crews making up the area’s Marine Incident Response Team hone their skills for rescues along the South Shore.

Conducted in Narrow Bay, just east of the Smith Point Bridge, the exercise was a joint effort between the Suffolk County Police and local fire departments and ambulance companies. It tested a new communications line dedicated to marine rescues and featured special water rescue units among the various departments and their specialized equipment.

According to Mastic Beach Fire Commissioner Bill Biondi, who helped coordinate the drill, a single call to 911 will activate a coordinated response between the various South Shore departments—Center Moriches, East Moriches, Eastport, Mastic, Mastic Beach, and Westhampton Beach—all bringing unique assets to the mission, including Scuba teams, hovercrafts, jet skis, ice rescue. A new team of rescue jumpers assigned to two police helicopters were also part of the drill. The multi-department response team has become even more critical as the Coast Guard, based in East Moriches, has cut back on patrols, Biondi said.

Local officials on the scene, Brookhaven Supervisor Ed Romaine, Legislator Jim Mazzarella, Assemblyman Joe DeStefano, Legislator Dominick Thorne, Councilman Dan Panico, and Bill Biondi, Mastic Beach fire commissioner

The team had sprung into action in January saving a man on an overturned kayak off Pattersquash Island. According to the commissioner, the Mastic Beach Fire Department and the other five departments from the team responded along with a rescue swimmer deployed from the police helicopter. A Suffolk marine unit was also on the scene. The kayaker was transferred to Stony Brook hospital where he was treated for hyperthermia.

“We are fortunate to have a top notch police department and the best volunteer first responders anywhere,” said county Legislator Jim Mazzarella who participated in the exercise along with a number of area officials, including Legislator Dominick Thorne who pointed out the importance of the response team “when we get hit by the next hurricane,” an event he stresses is inevitable.

Brookhaven Supervisor Ed Romaine, who attended the drill along with Councilman Dan Panico, concurred: “Suffolk County is certainly no stranger to marine emergencies. We’re surrounded by water and people enjoy these resources everyday. It’s good to know they have a well-trained, properly outfitted team at the ready in case they need them.”

Assemblyman Joe DeStefano, a communications supervisor with the Suffolk Sheriff’s Department for 27 years, noted the importance of the team’s dedicated radio circuit. “The departments responding to an emergency will have a direct line of communication with each other. With so many assets available, it’s critical that they be coordinated. From what l saw at today’s exercise, both the volunteers and professionals are more than capable in saving lives along our waterways.”