On Tuesday evening at 6:50 p.m. the Cutchogue Fire Department was dispatched to respond to an EMS alarm for an injured paddleboarder located in the waters of Peconic Bay to the rear of 7325 Nassau Point Road in Cutchogue.

For Responders, this call would turn out to be anything but ordinary.

Southold Town Police had received 911 calls reporting a person that had fallen from her paddleboard and had become impaled by some sort of anchor in the water.

First Arriving units arrived to find a 58 year old female approximately 50 feet from shore still in the water being supported by a paddleboard and bystanders.
A Southold Town Police Officer was first to arrive and entered the 4 feet of water to assess and begin treating the patient.

He quickly confirmed that the patient was impaled by the upper portion of a Mushroom type mooring anchor that was commonly used to moor a boat. The top of the anchor had entered the upper portion of the patient’s upper thigh when she fell from her stand-up paddleboard impaling her.

This information was quickly relayed to Chief Larry Behr who had arrived and was now on shore. It was quickly realized that additional resources and specialized tools were needed for this rescue.

The Cutchogue Fire Department dispatched its Fire-Rescue Boat 8-5-10 to respond from its dock in New Suffolk as well as the Department’s Heavy Rescue Truck 8-5-5 to respond to the scene.

Once the boat arrived on scene Firefighters & EMS personnel entered the water to begin treating and devising plan to extricate the patient.

Because of the weight of the anchor and nature of the injury the patient could not be moved. Both the anchor and patient’s leg were below the water’s surface. This would require all rescue and extrication attempts to take place under water. This ruled out the uses of some conventional tools that could commonly be used in situations such as electric tools or a cutting torch.

Because of the nature of the injury a Suffolk County Police Medivac Helicopter was requested to respond and landed at the Cutchogue West School.

Firefighters quickly began to use whatever tools that were available on the rescue truck. All tools that were used had to be transported from the driveway of a nearby home, and down a bluff to the beach.

Starting with bolt cutters to cut away the chain and attempt to cut the upper portion of the anchor. It was quickly discovering that the anchor was made of 2 inch round hardened steel and would require more powerful equipment.

Firefighters next devised a plan to utilize hydraulic rescue tools “Jaws of Life”. A gasoline powered portable unit with hoses and a cutter were transported out to the patient using an available paddleboard that was on the beach. Due to the size and type of metal, when in use this also saw limited success.

After approximately 1 hour of using a combination of hand saws and battery operated reciprocating saws rescuers were able to safely package and remove the patient from the water.

She was loaded onto the waiting rescue boat where she then transported to the New Suffolk dock and was transferred a waiting ambulance who transported her to the landing Zone.

The Suffolk County Police Helicopter transported her to Stony Brook University Hospital for Treatment of her injuries.

This incident posed unique and rare challenges for the responders, due to the efforts and teamwork of everyone involved the patient received the best care possible and is expected to make a full recovery.

Mattituck FD stood by at the Cutchogue Fire house during the incident in the event of any other calls.