Commercial fisherman rescued near Fire Island
Suffolk County Police Marine Bureau officers rescue the captain of a 77-foot commercial clam dredge near Fire Island Inlet on Wednesday. Credit: SCPD
The captain of a commercial clam dredge was brought safely to shore Wednesday night after he had difficulty breathing and radioed for help, police said.
Ronald Garay, 44, of East Meadow, was operating his 77-foot clam dredge, Mary T, near Fire Island, south of Point O’ Woods, when he began to experience shortness of breath, police said.
The Suffolk County Police Marine Bureau received the distress call around 9:15 p.m., and sent a rescue boat, Marine Kilo, with two crew members who are 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,” police said in a news release.
Police said Garay was taken to U.S. Coast Guard Station Fire Island, then by ambulance to Southside Hospital in Bay Shore for treatment.
