Boaters were on their way to Kingfish Boat Ramp from Egmont Key when the man at the helm noticed his significant other — a woman in her 30s who had been with him — was missing.
The man searched the water as twilight became dark June 22, but to no avail. At 8:40 p.m., he called 911 on his cellphone.
West Manatee Fire Rescue Battalion Chief Ryan Moore reported the emergency rescue at the July 16 district commission meeting.
After a bit of confusion as to the whereabouts of the emergency, a WMFR team of firefighter/paramedics found the caller on his boat, east of Passage Key, in 17 minutes.
Five minutes later, using spotlights and heat-seeking, infrared night vision goggles, the rescuers spotted the woman struggling and yelling for help in the dark.
“It was a really good outcome to what could have been a horrible situation,” Moore said.
The WMFR team pulled the woman, who wore no life vest, into the district’s 30-foot rescue boat, rendered emergency first aid and transported her to Rod & Reel Pier in Anna Maria to an awaiting ambulance, which took her to Blake Medical Center in Bradenton with non-life-threatening injuries.
Moore led a crew consisting of Derrick Bill, Frank Agresta, Zachary Benshoff, Josh Adkins and Brendon Hostetler, who had hightailed the district boat from its dock at the Holmes Beach boat ramp on 63rd Street, near Westbay Point & Moorings.
“We were the closest unit and we were there first. The boat performed flawlessly,” he said, adding the rescue equipment played a role.
“We found her so quickly, the helicopters didn’t have time to get off the ground.”
The U.S. Coast Guard from the Cortez station and Manatee County emergency services, marine and lifeguard units also got the emergency call.
Moore told The Islander that people with similar emergencies aren’t usually as fortunate as the couple returning from Egmont Key that day.
He said, “Basically it’s just a head bobbing in water and people get exhausted very quickly.”