Agents Play Key Role in Search & Rescue Effort

By Sr. Agent Jason Russo

The Mississippi River is known to most of North America. How it starts in Minnesota and is only 12 feet wide and 1 foot deep, then travels down the country towards the Gulf of Mexico. By the time the river reaches southern Louisiana, it is a winding monster, 3,000 feet wide with unbelievably strong currents and a multitude of hazards. It would be unthinkable to imagine that someone could survive falling from a great height into this beast. Well, someone did. But only because of the efforts of agents trained and equipped to handle such a situation.

Sr. Agent Eddie Skena and I were on patrol in Lafitte when my cell phone rang. It was my brother, Det. Dax Russo of the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office. He told me that the Sheriff’s Office needed some assistance with a search and rescue in the Mississippi River. When I asked him what happened, he told me that a man was stopped at the top of the Huey P. Long bridge with his hazard lights on and standing outside of his car. A witness stopped in order to see if the man needed some help, and without saying a word he pulled out a knife, slit his wrist and jumped. I sat there listening in disbelief. Det. Russo wanted us to go to the scene and see if the man may have made it to the surface. Eddie and I immediately started down the Intracoastal Waterway to the Harvey Canal and into the river. I must admit, our thoughts that the man might still be alive were slim to none.

We arrived on the scene and joined the U.S. Coast Guard, who had recently arrived, in the search. We traveled down the banks of the Mississippi River with our spotlight hoping to catch a glimpse of the man. Shortly thereafter, we received word that the Coast Guard helicopter had spotted something on the east shoreline. We immediately traveled to the area where the Coast Guard boat was shining their spotlight towards the bank. As we got closer, we saw that there was a man sitting in the water. It was the jumper, and he was alive! He appeared to be injured and disoriented, with his shirt ripped off and bruises down the entire length of his body. As he raised his right hand out of the water we could see a severe cut on his wrist and blood being washed into the river. We knew that we had to quickly get him medical attention. But there was a problem.

Watching the man sitting in the water bleeding, we feared that he might lose consciousness. We knew that we had to reach him quickly. The Coast Guard boat was too large to reach the bank and the helicopter was carrying too much fuel in order to fly low enough to lower someone into the water. However, Eddie and I were in a much smaller boat made out of aluminum and we knew that we could reach the rocky bank to help the man. We picked up two of the guardsmen and all four of us made our way towards the man. It was difficult to maneuver the boat with the current of the river, but I knew that we had to reach him. When we got there, Eddie and the two guardsmen jumped off of the boat onto the bank. Referring back to our First Responder training, we knew that it was important not to move him until he could be supported. I then pulled along side of the Coast Guard vessel and picked up a full body splint that would support his head and neck. Eddie and the two guardsmen safely put him in it and bandaged his cut wrist as we waited for EMS to arrive. They continuously made the man aware that we were going to get him out of the river and forced him to keep talking so that he would not lose consciousness. And though he was attempting to take his own life, he seemed glad that we were there.

When EMS arrived they were only able to get the ambulance atop the levee that ran along the river. We lifted the man and carried him over the rocks, through 20 feet of heavy brush, and up the levee to the awaiting medical personnel. The man was then transported to Charity Hospital in New Orleans for further medical treatment. As the ambulance pulled away, Eddie and I, the guardsmen, and Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office deputies that had arrived, talked in amazement of how the man was able to survive the fall from the Huey P. Long Bridge, the deadly currents of the Mississippi River, and a severe laceration to his wrist. It was truly a miraculous event.

A few days after Eddie and I went on our search and rescue mission, Region 8 Captain Brian Clark received a letter of commendation from the Coast Guard supervisor. He thanked us for our help and sent each of us a Coast Guard life-saving award. We were honored. And though I think that luck and a higher power played a large role in the attempted suicide victim’s survival, I feel that the man may not have survived without the aid of highly trained individuals and the quick response of the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries and the U.S. Coast Guard.