BOSTON – The Coast Guard and the Gloucester Fire Department rescued a diver today after his air and tending lines became entangled in the propeller of a vessel moored near a fishing auction house in Gloucester, Mass.
The diver, Ted Barnes, was reportedly working below the surface on a vessel when he became entangled around 3 p.m.
The fire department, which was already on scene, contacted the Coast Guard, and Station Gloucester arrived on scene in a 25-foot rescue boat shortly thereafter.
“The fire department’s paramedic tried to pull the diver from the water but wasn’t able to,” said Petty Officer 2nd Class John Brooks, the 25-foot rescue boat coxswain from Station Gloucester. “When we began trying to pull him out, we noticed his tending line was caught.”
Brooks cut the diver’s tending line and tried to pull Barnes out of the water, but was unable to.
The crews noticed the diver’s air line was also entangled. Using the survival knife, the paramedic cut Barnes’s air line and the boat crew was able to pull him aboard their boat.
The boat crew took Barnes to the Coast Guard station where they were met by Boston MedFlight for transport to a Boston hospital.
“The Coast Guard and Gloucester Fire Department responded very quickly and worked together to free Mr. Barnes, so he could receive the medical attention he needed,” said Chief Warrant Officer Chris Sparkman, the commanding officer of Station Gloucester.
