From the FDNY Facebook page (FDNY photos):
“At around 6:05 P.M., my partner EMT Amber Black and I were positioned on the boardwalk and received a report of a possible water rescue. We immediately began to respond to the shoreline and once we arrived, we saw two swimmers in distress. We notified our dispatcher, and I immediately entered the water while EMT Black prepared all our equipment on the shoreline. I had to swim about 100 yards to get to them. I put them on my left hip and began to swim them back to shore. The other gator unit arrived with EMT Ciro Napolitano and EMT Roger Canale and they entered the water to assist. As we were bringing the two initial victims out, a third person was in distress, and I swam out to him and got him to the shoreline. Once on shore we immediately began treating all three of these patients,” said EMT Mitch Tarnapolsky, who rescued swimmers from the water in Coney Island Saturday afternoon.
EMT Tarnapolsky was a lifeguard with the Parks Department for eight years before joining FDNY EMS.
Even the most capable swimmers can be caught by a riptide or dangerous ocean conditions. The quick response of these FDNY members prevented a potentially tragic outcome. The FDNY reminds all beachgoers to only swim where lifeguards are present and only during beach hours."
