Ocean County Sheriff’s Department makes use of drone to save lots of swimmers in misery

SURF CITY, N.J. (WPVI) — The Ocean County Sheriff’s Department says an officer used a drone to save lots of two swimmers in misery late final week.

The rescue occurred round 6:15 p.m. on Friday, July 17 at Division Avenue Beach in Surf City.

According to Detective Patrick Kennedy, an officer, “received a call from county dispatch that there was a swimmer in distress in the area that he was in.”

While crews labored to get out to these in misery, the officer deployed a drone that’s outfitted with a flotation gadget known as a ‘restube.’ It can transfer as much as 45 miles per hour.

“So we take it out, turn it on, it has GPS coordinates, and they go. Once it flies up and is over the person, we remotely activate it, and it drops that right to them,” stated Kevin Fennessy, a Chief Warrant Officer with the Ocean County Sheriff’s Department.

Fennessy stated the flotation gadget “will activate and expand in the water. It’s something they can hold onto until someone gets out there – the rescuers get out there to bring them in.”

Pictures launched by the sheriff’s division present one of many swimmers holding onto the tube till crews acquired out to them and introduced them to shore.

While the division has had these drones for a number of years, Officer Fennessy stated final summer time was the primary time they considered utilizing them on this method.

Every evening from 5 p.m. to eight p.m., when lifeguards are off obligation, the sheriff’s division is stationed in areas the place essentially the most water rescues occur.

Now, these flotation units provide an additional layer of safety.

Detective Kennedy advised Action News, “Words can’t describe how important this is. It saves one life? It’s worth it.”