BSO Hosts First-Ever Southeast Florida Maritime Incident Response Team Training

On July 21st in the year 2025 a distress call was received regarding an airplane crash near Port Everglades with over 30 individuals on board.The responders swiftly moved into action to locate and aid any survivors, from this incident.This training exercise served as a moment for the Southeast Florida Maritime Incident Response Team to come together and refine their abilities as a unit. The training session took place two miles away from Port Everglades on Wednesday and engaged over a dozen agencies from Broward County as well as Miami Dade and Palm Beach counties with a mix of local and federal involvement too. During the exercise rescue teams weren’t looking for individuals but rather used mannequin models and floating devices to simulate victims that needed assistance in the water. Every simulated victim was tagged with a note describing the extent of their injuries, for the training purposes. Upon boarding the rescue ship emergency responders carried them to a pier where Broward Sheriff Fire Rescue personnel started attending to their injuries and transferring them to hospitals. “We handled the situation as we would in an actual emergency scenario setting up our joint command with participants from various agencies present, at the command center ” explained Captain Mike Majhess of BSFR. “We permitted the boats to react to handle the situation by looking for survivors and bringing them ashore before transitioning into a situation where they were treated and transported to proper medical care.” Adding to the difficulty was the seas; rescue boats had to navigate through choppy waters to reach the site of the incident as a powerful current was carrying the victims northward in the water below them.In the sky above them BSFR Aviation maintained its position. Directed rescue teams, towards those who required assistance.” “There’s no controlling the weather; so when the weather turned bad like it did; I believe it brought challenges that ultimately made our teams stronger ” shared Sgt Ted Elliott from the Palm Beach Sheriff’s Office.”It was a learning experience, for them.” Another interesting aspect of the training involved pairing fire rescue members with law enforcement officers on board law enforcement vessels. The law enforcement member was able to concentrate on steering the boat while paramedics searched for victims in need of rescue and started administering medical care to them. In the video shared above are interviews, with BSO Sgt Matthew Gioielli (pronounced Joe Ellie) BSO Marine Patrol Broward Sheriff Fire Rescue Captain Mike Majhess (pronounced May Jess) PBSG Sgt Ted Elliott and PBSG Marine Unit personnel.