Ahead of a busy holiday weekend on the Island, on Thursday at around 11 am, a “Pan-Pan,” an international maritime and aviation signal for an urgent situation, broke through what was otherwise a silent morning on the Martha’s Vineyard Public Safety radio. The call came from bystanders about a woman stranded while paddleboarding near Oak Bluffs Harbor. But first responders found nobody matching the description from the call after searching the waters for hours.
U.S. Coast Guard Station Menemsha received the call at 10:45 am and broadcasted the Pan-Pan over police radio.
There were also additional calls Wednesday from beachgoers, including one about a woman swimming who was “not in distress,” according to the emergency radio operators, and another of a teenage boy who was swept out by the current under Big Bridge, or what’s better known as Jaws Bridge, after jumping off. He eventually swam to shore after making it past the jetty, where the current typically dies down. While none of the incidents resulted in injury, officials continued to encourage the public to report potential emergencies.
Aaron Silva, the Menemsha Coast Guard’s search and rescue coordinator, reported that callers Wednesday morning became disgruntled when the operator sought more details about the paddleboarder and hung up shortly after making the call.
Coast Guard crews conducted a flyover, patrolled the water, and requested that local boaters keep their eyes peeled. The Oak Bluffs harbor master sent out search boats as well, but couldn’t locate anyone matching a woman stranded on a paddleboard.
Nicole Gazaille-Graves, director of the Dukes County Regional Emergency Communications Center, said regardless of the outcome, they treat every call at the emergency center as a potential emergency.
“It’s hard to determine what the status is of the people they are looking at from the shore,” Gazaille-Graves said. “I don’t want to discourage anybody from not making that call. We don’t want to send resources somewhere they don’t need, but we encourage the public to make a call if they see somebody in distress.”
Gazaille-Graves added that some of the emergencies came up as false alarms on Wednesday.
“As we saw everything unfold, some things came up as false alarms, not as they predicted,” she said. “We send resources then let them determine the status.”
Edgartown and Oak Bluffs first responders, including EMTs and several police and fire personnel, responded to the report of a teenage boy caught in a current at about 7 pm Wednesday. A 911 caller said someone was caught in a current after jumping off the Jaws Bridge and was being taken offshore. By the time first responders arrived, the boy had returned to shore on his own, according to Edgartown Police Chief Chris Dolby.
No injuries were reported in any of the incidents.
“We always err on the side of caution,” Gazaille-Graves said. “We are going to get everybody that we can to people on the street or the water to make sure people are safe.”