Victim's Mom Applauds Town's Water Rescue Enhancements

The mother of 11-year-old Harlie Treanor, who died last summer in a July 4 boating accident, lauded the Town of Huntington Tuesday for its effort to improve water rescue capabilities.

Huntington recently formed an emergency dive team and added Rapid Diver Entry Systems donated by the Bay Constable Benevolent Association, which also provided training for the equipment. Among the advantage of the RDES is that it can be stored in a small space, put on quickly and worn in situations in which conventional scuba gear is too cumbersome or restrictive.

"It took about an hour to get my child out of the water, nobody had any rescue gear," Joy Treanor told the Town Board Tuesday, at one point welling up in tears. She witnessed rescue personnel training in the new Rapid Dive systems recently and said it took only two and a half minutes to suit up and rescue a man from the water. "It breaks my heart in a way," she said, "because if we had this then, my daughter might still be here."

Since her daughter's death, Treanor has worked with the Bay Constables Benevolent Association to provide rescue equipment and training and thanked the Town for accepting the challenge to enhance safety on its waterways. She noted that she has hit a "road block" with other agencies and, in a letter to Newsday, criticized Oyster Bay, the Nassau County Marine Bureau, and the Coast Guard for cutting back patrols.

"We should reactivate the Starcom Task Force, an effort among Nassau and Suffolk county police, the Coast Guard, the FBI, the Secret Service, U.S. Customs and bay constables," she wrote in the letter. "This task force, previously headed by Denis Monette, was unfortunately not continued under the Mangano administration."

Treanor said she hopes to raise money for additional units and training throughout Long Island.

"I can't change the outcome of that night," she said. "The only thing I can do is help anybody else that gets into that situation."