Four foot breakers and one nasty rip current didn’t sway two Suffolk County Police Marine Bureau officers, from assisting in a dangerous rescue with an off-duty lifeguard over the weekend. On Saturday, Marine Bureau officers, Charles Giardella and Michael Malone, along with a Point O’ Woods Off-Duty Lifeguard successfully rescued a Babylon man and two Smithtown residents from a dangerous situation at Ocean Bay Park in Fire Island.
Peter Giorgianni, 62, of Babylon, was swimming in the ocean when he was pulled out to sea by a rip current. Twenty-two year old Smithtown resident, Michael Baruch swam into the current to help Giorgianni, with Nesconset native; Kevin Mannix. The two men became stuck in the current as well and were drifting nearly 100 feet from the break line.
A plan to run a life-ring and rescue line out to the distressed swimmers was orchestrated by the off-duty lifeguard and the two Marine Bureau Officers. Officer Giardella entered the water with the off-duty lifeguard while Officer Malone stayed on shore to coordinate the rescue and maintain communications. Officer Giardella and the lifeguard pulled Giorgianni in first, swimming approximately 100 feet past the breakers. The Officer dragged Giorgianni to shore with the life ring and rescue line and quickly swam out past the break again to assist Mannix and Baruch to shore.
Giorgianni told responding officers that he wouldn’t have survived if they had not rescued him. The Babylon man was transported by Suffolk County Police boat to Marine Bureau Headquarters in Great River. From there he was transported to Southside Hospital in Bay Shore by Islip Exchange Ambulance for treatment. Mannix and Baruch refused medical attention at the scene.
The Marine Bureau remind swimmers that it is vital to swim where lifeguards are on duty.
If caught in a rip current, remember these survival tips:
- Keep calm.
- To get out of the rip current, swim parallel to the beach.
- When out of the rip current, swim at an angle away from the rip current and toward shore.
- If you can’t escape this way, float or calmly tread water.