Suffolk County Police Marine Bureau officers rescued the captain of a clam dredge after he experienced a medical incident while fishing in the Atlantic Ocean.
Ronald Garay, captain of the 77 foot commercial clam dredge Mary T, was operating in the Atlantic Ocean south of Point O’ Woods, Fire Island, when he began to experience shortness of breath and called for assistance over Marine VHF radio.
The Marine Bureau heard the call and dispatched a rescue boat, Marine Kilo, crewed by Officers Keith Magliola and Christopher DeFeo, who are both New York State Certified Emergency Medical Technicians.
The police boat responded out of Fire Island Inlet into the Atlantic Ocean and intercepted the Mary T approximately two miles south of Fire Island. Officers DeFeo and Magliola transferred Garay, 44, of East Meadow, New York, from the dredge onto the police boat where Officer DeFeo administered first aid to Garay. The victim was transported to U.S. Coast Guard Station Fire Island. West Islip Fire Department ambulance then transported Garay to Southside Hospital in Bay Shore for treatment.