An FDNY drone pilot helped pull off a high-tech rescue off Rockaway Beach on Tuesday, dropping a flotation device into rough surf to keep two struggling swimmers afloat until help reached them. An off-duty lifeguard and an FDNY firefighter then pulled the pair to shore, and both were taken to St. John's Episcopal Hospital in Far Rockaway. Officials said the swimmers are expected to survive.
As reported by New York Daily News, firefighter Michael Stothers of the FDNY Robotics Unit spotted the swimmers in trouble near Beach 85th Street. He deployed a flotation device from a drone to keep them above water. According to the Daily News, lifeguards had gone off duty roughly 20 minutes earlier, and an off-duty lifeguard, with help from firefighter Michael Ormiston, helped bring the swimmers back to shore. The outlet adds that the FDNY released footage of the Tuesday water rescue on Wednesday.
Drone Drops Give Rescuers Extra Seconds
The close call highlights a growing FDNY program that outfits drones to drop Restube-style flotation buoys and to monitor for sharks and rip currents along the Rockaway peninsula. Officials and industry reporting say those drone-delivered buoys can buy crucial time when human rescuers are not right on top of a distress call, and the city has been fine-tuning the tactic over the last few beach seasons, as reported by EMS1.
What It Means For Rockaway Beach Safety
City agencies have increasingly used drones at the Rockaways for shark spotting and swimmer surveillance, a shift in drone surveillance that has already prompted temporary beach closures after shark sightings. Broadcasters and officials have pointed to recent missing-swimmer searches at the peninsula as a reminder of how unforgiving the rip currents can be. In May, ABC7 New York reported on a multi-agency search that underscored how quickly conditions can turn dangerous.
Officials still stress that drones are a backup tool, not a replacement for the human pros in red swimsuits. Swimmers are repeatedly urged to enter the water only when lifeguards are on duty. Even so, the quick drop of a drone-carried buoy on Tuesday appears to have made a critical difference, showing how new tech is being woven into the city's first-responder toolkit along the shoreline.
