Freeholders donate boat to township scuba team

East Brunswick police often called on to conduct water rescues

BY DICK METZGAR
Staff Writer

Freeholders donate boat
to township scuba team

BY DICK METZGAR

Staff Writer

For the last 30 years, rescue and recovery operations at various bodies of water in Middlesex County — and even other parts of the state — have been a way of life for Lt. Gary Holsten.

Holsten is head of East Brunswick’s Water Rescue Unit scuba team, the only unit of its kind in the county, and one of the few in the state. Holsten has been with the team since its beginning in the early 1970s. The unit now has eight members.

The unit’s response time will be much improved with the recent addition of a new 22-foot center console outboard boat, a gift from the Middlesex County Board of Freeholders valued at $35,000, Holsten said. The boat is being equipped at the East Brunswick Department of Public Works garage on Harts Lane, Holsten said.

When there is a recovery or rescue emergency, the boat will be towed to the scene to aid the scuba team, Holsten said. In the past, the team has had to depend on boats from local fire and rescue squads when it has answered emergencies.

"Our new boat will save us a lot of time," Holsten said. "We will not have to rely on local fire and rescue squads to supply us with a boat when we arrive on the scene — we will have our own. This will make us a self-contained unit with the addition of the boat.

"The odds are rough enough when we are involved in rescue and recovery operations to save people’s lives," Holsten continued. "Several minutes can mean the difference between life or death."

The boat was acquired as part of an inter-local agreement between the county and East Brunswick.

"The rescue and recovery operations, which will be made possible by the use of this boat, will provide worried and distraught families concerned for the safety of loved ones a much-needed sense of comfort and relief to see the water rescue teams in action," Freeholder Christopher D. Rafano, chairman of the Law and Public Safety Committee of the Board of Freeholders, said.

East Brunswick Director of Public Safety Thomas Finn agreed.

"This will be a win-win for East Brunswick and Middlesex County because we can now respond to water rescue and recovery incidents quickly with proper equipment," Finn said. "This will keep our skills sharp by not only responding to water emergencies in East Brunswick, but throughout Middlesex County."

Surface appearances of a body of water can be very deceptive, Holsten said.

"Most people think of scuba diving in a pleasurable sense, such as vacationing in the Bahamas," Holsten said. "They think of the water as clear and clean. But it can be anything but that under the surface in a body of water such as Farrington Lake. The water tastes awful and the visibility is terrible. Often you can’t see beyond your scuba’s visor. You can encounter trees that have fallen into the water and deteriorated."

Rescue operations can involve people who are fishing or ice skating, Holsten said.

"We also respond to flooded areas where people are stranded and vehicles are stuck in the moving water," Holsten said.

The unit is also able to assist law enforcement officials by retrieving items thieves have attempted to bury in bodies of water.

"We have recovered articles taken in burglaries, such as cash registers and even stolen cars," he said. "We have recovered burglary tools and weapons such as guns and knives."

Holsten said the unit has been called to other parts of the state to assist with rescue operations.

Since the beginning, members of the scuba unit have been recruited from members of the township’s police department, Holsten said.