On Sunday May 7, 2023 the Moriches Bay Marine Incident Response Team teamed up with Suffolk County Police aviation and marine units in a joint training exercise in Narrow Bay east of the Smithpoint Bridge in Mastic Beach.

Fire & Police marine units as well as aviation assets gathered at the Smithpoint Marina for a safety briefing and reviewed the goals for the interagency exercise. More than 100 personnel attended the training which lasted 4 hours.

After the briefing all marine units departed for Narrow Bay east of the Smithpoint Bridge where the drill took place.

During the training exercise Suffolk County Police helicopter deployed their rescue swimmers into the water simulating the rescue of a person in distress. The Marine Incident Response Team assisted in the recovery of the survivor and rescue swimmers from different platforms including Jet Skis with rescue sleds, Zodiac Boats, Safe Boats and Fire Boats.

Emergency personnel also successfully tested a Public Safety talk group which allows Suffolk County Police marine and aviation units to talk directly to the Fire Department marine units. This type of direct communication is crucial to the success of any search and rescue mission of this type.

The Moriches Bay Marine Incident Response Team has a long-standing history of working together and training with US Coast Guard Station Shinnecock.

Training with the Suffolk County Police not only helps to keep police and fire on the same page when such coordination is needed the most, it helps build teamwork and improves our overall effectiveness on the water during the time of an emergency.

A special thanks to all of our public officials who took the time to come down to show their support for this important joint training exercise.

Thank you to all the agencies that participated in the exercise:
Suffolk County Police Aviation and Marine Bureaus, Suffolk County Parks Police, Mastic Beach Fire Department, Mastic Fire Department, Center Moriches Fire Department, East Moriches Fire Department, Eastport Fire Department, Westhampton Beach Fire Department, Brookhaven Fire Department, Yaphank Fire Department, Mastic Beach Ambulance, Mastic Ambulance, Shirley Community Ambulance, Stony Brook University Hospital and US Coast Guard – Station Shinnecock.