Safe on the Sound: Boating incidents draw a network of rescue units

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In a area that has no true boarders, It's up to everyone to work together toward the common goal.

Safe on the Sound: Boating incidents draw a network of rescue units

When a middle-aged man fainted on the Snow Goose II out of Port Chester a couple of years ago, Capt. Kevin Reynolds radioed for help, then attended to a cut on the man’s head, which he had struck upon falling.

The charter boat was three or four miles out, but Greenwich, Conn., marine police were there in less than three minutes, Reynolds recalled.

“Before I even stopped the bleeding, the police were there,” he said

While a car accident on a local road generally draws police and rescuers from the immediate community, boat accidents on Long Island Sound are a different matter. A patchwork of police and fire marine units, Connecticut state agencies and even private businesses and other sailors can rush to the rescue.

They are aided by Coast Guard stations in New Haven, Conn., and Eatons Neck in Suffolk County.

“We have a saying out there,” he said. “ ‘Just because you can afford it, doesn’t mean you should be driving it.’ ”