March 9, 2022 – Daylight was waning, and a thunderstorm was fast-approaching when Flagler County’s FireFlight helicopter was called into action to rescue four boaters from Pellicer Creek, including two in their 80s.
FireFlight was dispatched at about 5:30 p.m. Monday to help locate the boaters in distress, stuck in what was later confirmed to be 4 inches of water. Pilot Todd Whaley and Flight Medic Frank Mesta located the vessel, made contact with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officer sent to assist in the Intracoastal Waterway, and guided an employee from the boat rental company (also struggling in the shallow water) to the location of the distressed boaters.
“Multiple factors came into play at this time: the sun would be setting within 30 minutes; there was a rapidly approaching thunderstorm front from the west; two of the elderly occupants of the vessel were in there 80s; and, the time delay for a requested airboat from St. Johns County was undetermined,” Whaley said. “We (Whaley and Mesta) were in agreement that a helicopter evacuation would be the quickest and safest action to get the occupants to a safe location.”
The FireFlight team had already identified a landing zone – a field south of Marineland in the 9600 block of North Oceanshore Boulevard. They asked the boat rental employee to bring the elderly couple to a mud bank about 100 yards away. It took three trips to transport the four boaters to the accessible field.
“We first transported the two in their 80s, one at a time, secured appropriately on the med(ical) deck,” Whaley said. “With rain and diminishing visibly and darkness rapidly approaching, I directed Flight Medic Mesta to assess the agility of the two remaining victims. We were able to airlift them together.”
Once the four were reunited, Mesta determined that further medical rescue was not required. All information was relayed to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officer.
“Pilot Todd Whaley and Flight Medic Frank Mesta did a great job thinking on their feet and delivering an outstanding result – all four individuals safely rescued,” Fire Chief Michael Tucker said. “I can’t say enough about the dedication and professionalism of our entire Fire Rescue team.”
Media Release: Flagler County
