Coast Guard Crew Rescues Accident Victim

Coast Guard Crew Rescues Accident Victim
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OCEAN CITY — A quick-thinking Coast Guard crew got creative in the rescue of an unidentified man injured in a personal watercraft accident just off the north end of Assateague on Saturday.

On Saturday, an unidentified man and his friends were enjoying some early season personal watercraft activity in and around Ocean City when an accident occurred off the north end of Assateague just inside the south jetty near the Inlet. A Coast Guard 24-foot Special Purpose Craft-Shallow Water crew from Station Ocean City was on routine patrol when friends of the injured man flagged down the crew for assistance.

The victim suffered a leg injury and was displaying signs of hypothermia. Because of the tricky location and the prevailing conditions, the Coast Guard SPC crew had to get inventive in their method for quickly rescuing the man and getting him to safety.

“After realizing EMS transport for the island would be impractical and time consuming, I decided to intentionally ground our vessel on the northern side of the island and sent crewmen to assist the victim and transport him back to our boat to be taken to our station where EMS were waiting for him,” said Petty Officer 2nd Class Andrew Sumski, the coxswain aboard the SPC-SW.

The Coast Guard crew literally carried the victim across the beach and dune to the waiting SPC-SW, which had grounded itself on the north side of the island and transported him to Coast Guard Station Ocean City along the bay at Worcester Street. Awaiting EMS personnel then transported the victim to AGH in Berlin. The condition or outcome for the victim has not been made public.

About The Author: Shawn Soper

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Shawn Soper has been with The Dispatch since 2000. He began as a staff writer covering various local government beats and general stories. His current positions include managing editor and sports editor. Growing up in Baltimore before moving to Ocean City full time three decades ago, Soper graduated from Loch Raven High School in 1981 and from Towson University in 1985 with degrees in mass communications with a journalism concentration and history.