Off-Duty Officer Helps Rescue Injured Fisherman

An off-duty Suffolk Second Precinct police officer helped rescue an injured fisherman Wednesday afternoon.

Police said that Officer William Parmenter was fishing in the Atlantic Ocean, approximately 80 miles southeast of the Shinnecock Inlet,  when a mayday call about an injured person came over the marine radio.

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 theCoast 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.