Be careful out there guys.



News Release
Date: August 21, 2011
Contact: Public Affairs
(212) 668-7114

Coast Guard rescues two people from the water




Interactive map shows location of Coast Guard Station Eatons Neck, where the case occured and the resource used to respond.
NEW YORK – A boat crew from Coast Guard Station Eatons Neck, N.Y., rescued two people from the water near Crab Meadow Beach on the northern side of Long Island, N.Y., Sunday, Aug. 21, 2011.

At approximately 3:45 p.m., Coast Guard Sector Long Island Sound received notification from Suffolk County, N.Y., dispatch, that two people, who were swimming from their vessel, were being carried away in a strong current. The Coast Guard launched a 25-foot response boat crew from Station Eatons Neck.

Once on scene, the Coast Guard conducted a search to locate the two swimmers. They were located clinging to a lifejacket shared between the two of them, which kept them afloat. The boat crew recovered the two swimmers and treated them for mild hypothermia.

“When we first arrived on scene where their boat was anchored, they were nowhere in sight,” said Petty Officer 2nd Class Rob Ringelspaugh, who was in charge of the Coast Guard boat crew. “We immediately began a search pattern from their boat and were able to locate the two swimmers, who appeared exhausted and relieved that we were there to rescue them.”

Although swimmers aren’t required to wear a lifejacket in the water, they chose to bring one with them. Because they had only one lifejacket, which neither of them had on, it would not have kept their heads above water in the event they became unconscious due to hypothermia. In this case it helped them stay afloat until the rescue.