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Rescue on Ohio River
Below you'll read the report from the paper, then the first hand account of what happened. I took this off another forum (MudMotorTalk.com) the guy rescued is a big contributor on MMT. Were all glad he is okay but read the story, learn from the mistakes!
JASON CLARK / Courier & Press Warrick County Deputy Sheriff Randy Merta, 45, of Chandler, Ind., was rescued from the Ohio River near South Green River Road on Wednesday afternoon.
EVANSVILLE — An off-duty Warrick County Sheriff's Office deputy was rescued from the Ohio River on Wednesday evening after spending more than 30 minutes in the frigid water.
Randy Merta, 45, of Chandler, Ind., was scouting potential fishing sites when his 22-foot boat struck something in the water and he was thrown overboard, according to the Sheriff's Office.
Rescue crews from Knight Township Fire Department, the Sheriff's Office and Evansville Police Department responded to a call at 4:48 p.m. believed to be from an employee of JH Rudolph & Co. Inc.
JASON CLARK / Courier & Press Paramedics stabilize Warrick County Deputy Sheriff Raymond Merta who was rescued after falling from a boat into the Ohio River near a coal dock on South Green River Road in Evansville.
The caller said the man had been in the water for about 25 minutes, and he and others were unable to reach him, according to the release.
Emergency crews sought the assistance of a tugboat from the Ohio Valley Marine Service to get Merta out of the river.
Marine Service worker Cody Wallace said the tugboat was about one mile away from Merta at the time they were contacted by authorities to assist in the rescue.
When they arrived, Merta, who was wearing a flotation device, had reached the bank of the river and was holding onto a flotation device, but he advised rescuers that he was unable to hold onto it much longer.
The temperature of the river was recorded at 32 degrees Wednesday at J.P. Myers Lock and Dam at Mount Vernon, Ind.
He was retrieved from the water near the coal docks off Old Green River Road.
According to police, Merta was conscious and later transported to St. Mary's Medical Center after showing signs of hypothermia.
St. Mary's officials said Merta was treated in the emergency room but not admitted as a patient.
Thu Jan 07, 2010 7:00 am
netman
MMT Pro Member
Joined: Wed Jan 14, 2009 3:48 pm
Posts: 395
Re: Rough day on the river......
Randy Merta aka Netman. I am a current deputy sheriff and have been for 20 yrs and I also commercial fish the Ohio River to pay for my daughters college education. I had installed the 997 yesterday and went to the river to run my nets and get to know my unit.
Upon arriving at the river I turned the unit on and cruised down river with a great big smile on my face. I was checking out all that I could see and was totally impressed. Well I realized that I needed to get on down river to run my nets so I could cruise back because it was getting late in the day. I went several miles and ran a couple sets of nets. I then turned back up river and was slow rolling messing with different buttons checking out the different features. I was getting late and I decided to power up and head to the ramp which was about five miles further up the water. I was in the middle of the river running 44 mph and the water temp was 32.8 when I struck something underwater causing my boat to turn 90 degrees to the left throwing me from the boat. The first thing to come to mind was i hope the boat is going straight ahead. And it was 'right straight at me'. The boat was now doing 40mph circles and this was right on top of me. I know the boat came and struck me several times. I was finally able to swim away from the death circle. Is a long way to the bank not to mention the waves that were being created by my boat were 2-3 feet and rolling over my head. I had no life jacket on and was loaded down with heavy cloths under my Helly Hanson bibs and jacket. I wanted to shed my heavy cloths but went through a struggle to get the jacket off. I then thought I need to splash some air under my cloths to get some floatation. With the bibs on I could not. I thougtht I needed the energy to swim to the bank and not removing cloths. So I back stroked to the bank angling down river. I prayed to God to be with me and give me strength to reach the bank. I then starting thinking of what I needed to do once I got to shore because I knew I was in a remote area. I kept paddling and paddling and went way past where I thought I was going to land on the shore and that caused me concern. I kept on paddling and I thought I heard someone and it was a guy on the bank. He rooted me on and to keep talking to him. He told me help was on the way but the area I was at was a coal/rock loading dock and the bank was behind barges. I struggled to grab something to take a rest but was unable to get ahold of anything. I got caught in a eddy and started going back out into the river. I knew I needed to pick it up and I swam with the current until the guys could get me a throw ring. I gladly caught the ring and took a break. The guy told me a barge was on the way with a rescue crew. They arrived a short time later and tried to pull me up with the ring but was unable. They did not know I weigh 280lbs. They were able to get several guys and pull me up onto the tug. Boy was I glad to say the least. I was shaking so out of control but knew that it was going to be O.K.
Upon arriving at the hospital my core temp was in the low 90's. I was there for several hours and then released.
I know now to never power my boat unless I have a life jacket on and my kill switch cord attached and I encourage others to learn from this at my expense.
The rescue crew told me my boat was sunk and I told them no way and it was out there. While in the hospital they called and said they found it. My wife called my buddys and they went and pulled it home with my rig.
When I got home from the hospital I looked at see what or if there was any sign of damage.
I found my brand new transducer was torn from the boat with part of it still attached to the bracket. There was not even a scratch on the lower unit. The only damage so far is the 997 transducer.
Boy am I glad to be typing this and Thank the Lord for his blessing. I reached the shore approx 2 1/2 miles from where I was thrown out.
Randy Merta
JASON CLARK / Courier & Press Warrick County Deputy Sheriff Randy Merta, 45, of Chandler, Ind., was rescued from the Ohio River near South Green River Road on Wednesday afternoon.
EVANSVILLE — An off-duty Warrick County Sheriff's Office deputy was rescued from the Ohio River on Wednesday evening after spending more than 30 minutes in the frigid water.
Randy Merta, 45, of Chandler, Ind., was scouting potential fishing sites when his 22-foot boat struck something in the water and he was thrown overboard, according to the Sheriff's Office.
Rescue crews from Knight Township Fire Department, the Sheriff's Office and Evansville Police Department responded to a call at 4:48 p.m. believed to be from an employee of JH Rudolph & Co. Inc.
JASON CLARK / Courier & Press Paramedics stabilize Warrick County Deputy Sheriff Raymond Merta who was rescued after falling from a boat into the Ohio River near a coal dock on South Green River Road in Evansville.
The caller said the man had been in the water for about 25 minutes, and he and others were unable to reach him, according to the release.
Emergency crews sought the assistance of a tugboat from the Ohio Valley Marine Service to get Merta out of the river.
Marine Service worker Cody Wallace said the tugboat was about one mile away from Merta at the time they were contacted by authorities to assist in the rescue.
When they arrived, Merta, who was wearing a flotation device, had reached the bank of the river and was holding onto a flotation device, but he advised rescuers that he was unable to hold onto it much longer.
The temperature of the river was recorded at 32 degrees Wednesday at J.P. Myers Lock and Dam at Mount Vernon, Ind.
He was retrieved from the water near the coal docks off Old Green River Road.
According to police, Merta was conscious and later transported to St. Mary's Medical Center after showing signs of hypothermia.
St. Mary's officials said Merta was treated in the emergency room but not admitted as a patient.
Thu Jan 07, 2010 7:00 am
netman
MMT Pro Member
Joined: Wed Jan 14, 2009 3:48 pm
Posts: 395
Re: Rough day on the river......
Randy Merta aka Netman. I am a current deputy sheriff and have been for 20 yrs and I also commercial fish the Ohio River to pay for my daughters college education. I had installed the 997 yesterday and went to the river to run my nets and get to know my unit.
Upon arriving at the river I turned the unit on and cruised down river with a great big smile on my face. I was checking out all that I could see and was totally impressed. Well I realized that I needed to get on down river to run my nets so I could cruise back because it was getting late in the day. I went several miles and ran a couple sets of nets. I then turned back up river and was slow rolling messing with different buttons checking out the different features. I was getting late and I decided to power up and head to the ramp which was about five miles further up the water. I was in the middle of the river running 44 mph and the water temp was 32.8 when I struck something underwater causing my boat to turn 90 degrees to the left throwing me from the boat. The first thing to come to mind was i hope the boat is going straight ahead. And it was 'right straight at me'. The boat was now doing 40mph circles and this was right on top of me. I know the boat came and struck me several times. I was finally able to swim away from the death circle. Is a long way to the bank not to mention the waves that were being created by my boat were 2-3 feet and rolling over my head. I had no life jacket on and was loaded down with heavy cloths under my Helly Hanson bibs and jacket. I wanted to shed my heavy cloths but went through a struggle to get the jacket off. I then thought I need to splash some air under my cloths to get some floatation. With the bibs on I could not. I thougtht I needed the energy to swim to the bank and not removing cloths. So I back stroked to the bank angling down river. I prayed to God to be with me and give me strength to reach the bank. I then starting thinking of what I needed to do once I got to shore because I knew I was in a remote area. I kept paddling and paddling and went way past where I thought I was going to land on the shore and that caused me concern. I kept on paddling and I thought I heard someone and it was a guy on the bank. He rooted me on and to keep talking to him. He told me help was on the way but the area I was at was a coal/rock loading dock and the bank was behind barges. I struggled to grab something to take a rest but was unable to get ahold of anything. I got caught in a eddy and started going back out into the river. I knew I needed to pick it up and I swam with the current until the guys could get me a throw ring. I gladly caught the ring and took a break. The guy told me a barge was on the way with a rescue crew. They arrived a short time later and tried to pull me up with the ring but was unable. They did not know I weigh 280lbs. They were able to get several guys and pull me up onto the tug. Boy was I glad to say the least. I was shaking so out of control but knew that it was going to be O.K.
Upon arriving at the hospital my core temp was in the low 90's. I was there for several hours and then released.
I know now to never power my boat unless I have a life jacket on and my kill switch cord attached and I encourage others to learn from this at my expense.
The rescue crew told me my boat was sunk and I told them no way and it was out there. While in the hospital they called and said they found it. My wife called my buddys and they went and pulled it home with my rig.
When I got home from the hospital I looked at see what or if there was any sign of damage.
I found my brand new transducer was torn from the boat with part of it still attached to the bracket. There was not even a scratch on the lower unit. The only damage so far is the 997 transducer.
Boy am I glad to be typing this and Thank the Lord for his blessing. I reached the shore approx 2 1/2 miles from where I was thrown out.
Randy Merta
COMMUNITY WITH A LARGE
PROBLEM AND A 
PROBLEM.
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