Halesite
– Supervisor Chad A. Lupinacci praised Town of Huntington Senior
Harbormaster Fred Uvena, Senior Bay Constable Jeff Kropp, and Bay
Constable/EMT
and Maritime Services Director Dom Spada on their swift Long Island
Sound water rescue on the morning of July 15 of an 18-year-old woman
from Greenwich, Connecticut, in the Town’s new response vessel secured
with FEMA Security Grant Funding.
Supervisor Chad A. Lupinacci posted
on social media:
“LONG
ISLAND SOUND RESCUE: This morning at 8:23am, Senior Harbormaster Fred
Uvena, Senior Bay Constable Jeff Kropp, and Bay Constable/EMT and
Maritime Services Director Dom Spada responded to an emergency with a
distressed female experiencing a seizure on sail boat in the Long Island
Sound approximately 2 miles north of buoy 15. In the Harbormaster’s new
response vessel, with the assistance of the
James Joseph Fishing vessel, the Harbormaster’s crew was able to
administer aid and transport the female to PICKUP POINT 5 at the The
Head of the Bay Club where the Halesite Fire Department transported the
patient to Huntington Hospital. Great job by all!”
The
Town’s new rescue vessel, secured with 75% grant funding, made it to
the scene 15 minutes prior to the arrival of other boats responding to
the emergency.
“It’s
that fast and its arrival before this boating season proved essential.
We’ve seen more people out on the water than usual this year,” said
Supervisor
Chad A. Lupinacci. “This has resulted in more rescue calls, especially
for kayakers and small boats, with our Harbormaster’s Office averaging
one rescue a day early in the season. Boaters should call the
Harbormaster’s Office on VHS Channel 16 for emergencies
on the water.”
This
winter, the Department of Maritime Services took delivery a new
state-of-the-art 34-foot North River Liberty patrol boat, 75% of which
was paid for
by $330,000 in FEMA Port Security Grant funding secured by Director
Spada. The new response vessel, which has proved very useful on several
occasions this season, adds new features to the Harbormaster’s fleet
with thermal imaging to detect body heat, a side
scanner to give rescue personnel a wider range of visibility for
searching underwater lands for rescues, a radiation meter, a lift to
recover injured boaters and passengers from the water, and a generator
for better lighting on rescue scenes.
In
March 2020, Maritime Services also took delivery of a a new 26-foot
Sound Marine pump out boat, built locally on Long Island with over 60%
of the cost
covered by a NYS Clean Vessel Assistance Program (CVAP) Grant, which
includes a 325-gallon holding tank to pump boats out and keep our water
clean.
In
the photo (l-r, post-rescue) Town of Huntington Senior Harbormaster
Fred Uvena, Maritime Services Director Dom Spada, and Senior Bay
Constable Jeff
Kropp. Photos of new response vessel.
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