An off-duty Suffolk County Police Second Precinct officer helped rescue a man who was suffering from rapid blood loss following a fishing accident in the Atlantic Ocean.
Officer William Parmenter was fishing in the Atlantic Ocean, approximately 80 miles southeast of the Shinnecock Inlet, when a mayday call regarding an injured person came over the marine radio on July 3 at approximately 2 p.m. Parmenter, who is a paramedic, contacted the victim’s boat via radio and offered assistance. Parmenter located and boarded the victim’s boat with a trauma kit.
The victim, Norman Orsinger, 66, of East Patchogue, was bleeding from both legs after he was punctured by a fishhook while attempting to catch a yellowfin tuna. Parmenter applied tourniquets to both legs and contacted the United States Coast Guard and the Suffolk County Police Department Aviation Section.
A Coast Guard helicopter met the boat in the Atlantic Ocean, approximately 20 miles south of Hampton Bays, and airlifted Orsinger to Long Island MacArthur Airport. Orsinger was then transported to Stony Brook University Hospital via Suffolk County Police helicopter where he was treated and released.