MIAMIVILLE, Ohio — Clermont County fire and EMS crews launched a multi-unit water rescue Sunday morning after a report of a possible drowning near the Miamiville boat launch on the Little Miami River, according to emergency rescue personnel.
Central Joint Fire and EMS units were dispatched shortly after 8 a.m. on a “near drowning alert,” with crews initially told two people were stranded on an island in the river and were not in the water, according to officials.
Once crews reached the area, the two people were conscious, breathing and had no visible injuries. An officer on scene told dispatchers it appeared to be the same island involved in a prior incident.
Fire officials requested rescue boats — one launched from Kelly Nature Preserve and a second sent downstream — as a district commander coordinated the response. Crews also asked dispatchers to notify the Ohio Department of Natural Resources about two kayaks, described on the radio as blue and orange, that had drifted downstream and were unaccounted for.
A boat crew located one person and worked to bring them back to the Kelly Nature Preserve landing by motor. A medical helicopter and a ground ambulance crew were placed on standby near a landing zone at the nature preserve while the rescue was underway, officials said.
Crews later reported the person was successfully transported, and the incident commander cleared the scene. Boats were reported off the water within about a half-hour of the initial alert.