Propeller strikes, boat crashes, near-drownings, heat stroke, alcohol poisoning, overdose, filleting accidents…all of this and more are some of the emergency calls that the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office (PCSO) Marine and Environmental Lands Unit responds to on a regular basis. On major holiday weekends, with large numbers of boaters on the water and packed sandbars, the chance of medical incidents and injuries is even greater. To make sure that citizens have the best and fastest emergency medical care, PCSO includes Tactical Paramedics on several of our boats on days of peak activity.

“We love having them out with us,” said Corporal Robert Mitchell. “For medical calls they’ve applied tourniquets, they’ve packed wounds. Tactical Paramedic Caleb Hudak treated someone who had a bad propeller strike to the back. He managed to put an IV in while the boat was going 40-50 mph. We had two jet skis crash over Memorial Day weekend and someone had a significant laceration. A deputy applied a tourniquet when they hit the beach, and when Tactical Paramedic Austin Dente arrived on scene, he was able to pack the wound and assist fire rescue.”

These kinds of early interventions are lifesaving. When an accident happens on the water, crucial time can be lost transporting the patient to land. But when a Tactical Paramedic is onboard, they can quickly stop massive bleeding, give fluids, and treat the patient as they are racing to shore.

Tactical Paramedics are part of the SWAT Team, working part time with PCSO when they aren’t at their primary jobs with fire departments, Sunstar, or local hospitals. They try out for their position by going through the same obstacle course that prospective SWAT operators run, but when the SWAT candidates get to rest, Tactical Paramedics jump right into a scenario where they must save a deputy with a gunshot wound. They go through SWAT school and train regularly with the SWAT Team in addition to keeping their medical training sharp.

If there is an injury during a law enforcement call – whether the patient is a citizen victim of a battery, or an injured deputy – regular paramedics have to stage in a safe location until the scene is clear. Not so with Tactical Paramedics. As armed medics with ballistic vests, they are able to be in the danger zone, ready to treat a trauma patient. In drastic circumstances, they can even move in under fire to save someone.

Though their original purpose was to work in conjunction with SWAT, Tactical Paramedics soon proved so valuable that their mission expanded. Now they also work with Narcotics and go out for warrants. They’ve come into their own as trainers, too, teaching deputies how to use tourniquets and pack wounds to stop major bleeding. But in the last few years, PCSO began to see how valuable it would be to have these highly trained Tactical Paramedics out with deputies at major events, putting them in the perfect position to save citizens’ lives. “We started having the Tactical Paramedics with us about three years ago,” said Corporal Mitchell. “Now we ask for them every holiday weekend or big boating event.”

Tactical Paramedics were out on all four days of the Fourth of July holiday weekend. On that Saturday, two people were hit in the head with bottles and Tactical Paramedics were able to quickly assess them. Another person suffered from heat stroke. Tactical Paramedic Nadier Yakoub was able to immediately give them IV fluids and something for their nausea. They were already feeling better by the time Sunstar was on the scene. Yakoub, who is also a lieutenant with Seminole Fire Rescue, said that heat stroke is common. “Once it hits you that badly you’re not going to feel better by just drinking water. It is going to take your body hours to process that properly. Giving an IV gets it right to your system quickly.” Heat stroke can be life threatening if left untreated. “He will recover pretty quickly, but if he were in a place where he couldn’t get help it could eventually be bad.”

If a Tactical Paramedic is on hand, you know you’re going to get the best and fastest emergency care possible. Whenever the location is too remote or the situation is too dangerous for regular paramedics, a Tactical Paramedic has the training to take action.

Deputies from Marine to SWAT to Patrol love having Tactical Paramedics nearby. The combination of medical knowledge and tactical training puts them in a unique position to help deputies and save lives. “They all train with SWAT so they are great backup for us,” said Corporal Mitchell. “They are a huge asset to the Marine Unit and to the agency as a whole. We will forever ask for them, any chance we get. They’re a great tool for our agency.”



Shorebirds are a decorative background to some of your best beach days here in Florida – you’ve seen tiny sanderlings play keep-away with waves as they run at the edge of the surf. Terns divebomb the water, emerging with a tasty sardine, while orange-billed skimmers fly with their beaks dipped in the water, snapping up any fish they touch. Deputies with the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office (PCSO) Marine and Environmental Lands Unit want you to do your part to help protect our shorebirds.

Many species of shorebirds make their nests on our beaches, especially higher on the sand, on or near the dunes. But even if you spend every summer on the beach, you may never notice a nest – and that’s the point. Shorebirds rely on camouflage to protect their babies from predators. Their nests are just depressions in the sand, while their tiny eggs look like speckled pebbles. Newly hatched babies blend in well with the sand.

As you enjoy summer days boating or on the beach, make sure you help take care of our county’s most adorable and fragile residents. Shorebird nesting season runs through September 1, and some of the things humans think are the most fun can be devastating to these creatures. Since the nests and babies are so hard to see, you could easily step on them if you’re walking through the dunes. (You should stay off the dunes all year – they are what keep our islands from washing away in hurricanes and walking or digging on them can disrupt the plants that keep them anchored.)

Shorebirds work hard to keep their babies safe from predators and from the elements, but if the adults are scared away from their nests, the babies can perish. In 2021, someone set off a firework in a black skimmer nesting area, and when the parents fled that entire colony was lost. If kids play too near the nests and scare the parent birds, the exposed babies can die from the blistering heat. Even flying kites near nesting birds can frighten them away from their nest.

While shorebirds may nest on any of our beaches, it is especially important to protect them in preserve areas such as Shell Key Preserve. This cluster of islands just north of Fort De Soto is a haven for nesting birds, as well as a place where sea turtles lay their eggs. All animals and plants in the preserve are protected – you can’t fish, or take shells that have living creatures in them, or damage the seagrass.

Some areas of the preserve are entirely off limits to people, but in those areas where people can visit there are strict regulations, one of the most important being absolutely no dogs allowed. No matter how well behaved you think your dog is, their playing or prey instinct can disrupt wildlife.

Marine deputies frequently patrol the waters around Shell Key Preserve, making sure the pristine areas are kept safe and beautiful. On a recent patrol they found three separate boaters with dogs in the protected area. Some were running on the beach, while others were on the boat or playing in the water. Laws about the water can be confusing – in some places the water is public up to the high tide line. However, in a preserve, everything within the preserve boundary, both water and land, is subject to the same rules – such as no alcohol, no glass, and no pets. There are signs in the water notifying people they are entering the preserve all around the perimeter and visible on every approach, as well as signs on the islands themselves.



PCSO deputies are all about education. They didn’t issue any citations in Shell Key Preserve that day, but they did explain the laws, issued warnings, and let people know where they can take their pups instead. There are lots of places to enjoy the water with your dog. This summer, make sure you leave the preserve to the baby birds.