Water rescue has been a part of my life for the past 11 years because my husband and his father own a marine salvage and rescue business. All life rescues done by Marine Services are done on a voluntary basis. Most of the calls I only hear about after the fact. Last weekend was a different story.

Friday evening our phone rang and I was asked to go on a call. Someone had fallen in the water and my husband needed me to go with him. We were out the door in seconds. My heart was racing not knowing what I was getting myself into, but I knew I needed to do whatever I could to help. We were the first on scene within a few short minutes of being notified of the horrible accident.

My husband immediately began watching the water move, looking at the shore to see if he could see the water line on the rocks (assessing how fast the tide was rising) and taking note of wind conditions. Within seconds he knew which way to look first. Unfortunately or fortunately, depending on how you look at it, all of this was second nature to him. A few minutes later more rescue boats joined the search; sheriff, Coast Guard, fire department, and state parks. It was amazing to see the search unfold right in front of my eyes.

We all had the same goal in mind, but no one was in charge or in command to organize this rescue. We weren’t even in communication with each other. More than once my husband brought our boat to an idle to make communications with the fire department and they turned as if we were not even there. The first time this happened I didn’t think too much of it. After the third time, it became obvious to me they didn’t have the desire or ability to communicate with us. So there we were, this being the second person in the water my husband had been searching for in just eight short days, searching on our own accord. The same rescue boats responded to both calls, but what we didn’t have was a team.

Over the past couple of days I have had a lot to think about: Why did this happen to such a beautiful child? What could have been done differently? What can we do better next time? I can say it has been overwhelming to see this event in hindsight.

Here is what I know after tragedy struck. My husband has been doing volunteer marine rescue for over half of his life and has grown up on these waters. My father-in-law has been doing this for over 35 years and has every resource needed to save a life. Both of these men were an integral part of the volunteer fire department for many years. Neither of these men has ever been paid to rescue a person or save a life. They do this because it’s in their hearts to use their knowledge as natives of this area to do whatever they can to help during a crisis situation. Both of these men are experienced, licensed professional mariners willing to voluntarily respond 24 hours a day to a rescue on the water. As skilled captains and natives of these waters, they do everything they can to help.

If tragedy strikes my family I would expect nothing less than the best of the best on those waters doing whatever they could to bring my child home. The fire department, the Coast Guard, sState Pparks, the sheriff, a passing yacht, Marine Services and Assist. All of them. I would expect them to work together, train together, talk to each other during the rescue, wouldn’t you?

We need teamwork that develops from communication and training among all mariners available during these events in order to achieve our common goal. All it takes is a marine radio on every boat and a plan to search together, in unison, and then who we search for has a stronger probability of being found alive.

Lisa Aydelotte, Marine Services, Cornet Bay.