Emergency preparedness is an essential lesson every Scout learns.
Those lessons were kicked in when the fast-acting members of Boy Scout Troop 5700 and their scoutmaster saved an individual in distress they encountered during a week-long sailboat trip this summer in Maryland’s Chesapeake Bay.
Mayor Janice S. Mironov issued a mayoral proclamation recognizing and commending Boy Scout Troop 5700 members Cash Colleton, Jack Conner, Adam Lewandowski and Connor Suk and scoutmaster Bruce Kramer, according to a release through the township.
The mayoral proclamation notes that when the Scouts received a message over the radio from the coast guard advising all boats in the water that there was an individual in distress, they “reacted in a calm and controlled manner by stationing themselves on different parts of the sailboat’s deck, ensuring the immediate area was being monitored from all directions.”
The proclamation continues, “Troop 5700 Boy Scouts saw something ‘shining in the distance’ and discovered a disabled jet ski and discarded backpack bobbing up and down on the water, and quickly relayed the jet ski’s coordinates and registration number to the coast guard and as a result of these actions, the coast guard and Maryland State Police were able to locate and rescue the distressed individual 200 yards away.”
Mironov said on behalf of the township they were proud of the Scouts for their “outstanding positive actions.”