1 Rescued After Fall From Jet Ski Near New Old Inlet

BELLPORT, NY — A person riding a Jet Ski was thrown after hitting a sandbar and was injured 0n Sunday morning, in one of three distress calls related to groundings on a sandbar in New Old Inlet in Bellport Bay.

The person was operating the craft just after 11 a.m. when they hit a sandbar and they were thrown off it, suffering a fractured ankle, South Country Ambulance Chief Greg Miglino said.

The water rescue was one of three calls first responders answered at the inlet in just over 24 hours, said Miglino, who said there has been increase in boating activity after a year of cabin fever due to COVID-19, and that coupled with boaters lack of knowledge of the local waters, has kept first responders busy.

Miglino said that the sands of the barrier island breach, which is known as New Old Inlet, and have shifted over the winter, according to updated aerial photos the ambulance company receives every few weeks.

“There has been an extreme spike in cases in the waters of the new breach that was created by Hurricane Sandy, and it is the direct result of people not being able to navigate the channel safely anymore because it has filled in significantly over the winter,” he said.

He warned that the water’s depth can change quickly and in some areas, crossing it should not even be attempted on a boat.

In Sunday’s rescue, the ambulance company used its rescue skiff to reach the person and began stabilizing them for treatment, he said.

Then, in a joint effort involving another two rescue boats, the Mastic Beach Fire Department's rescue boat was able to transport the person out of the shallow water to another ambulance company marine unit which transported them to Bellport Dock, according to Miglino.

The person was transported to Long Island Community Hospital in East Patchogue for treatment of the injury, he said.

Another two people became grounded on Jet Skis on Monday afternoon, but they were not injured.