Water Incident at National Harbor

At about 4:30 pm today Prince George's County Firefighters and Paramedics were alerted to a possible water rescue involving a paddle boat at the National Harbor in Oxon Hill MD.

A family of 4 occupied a rented paddle boat in the Potomac when a strong wind pushed them into a shallow rocky area of the Potomac not far from the shore line. It does not appear the boat overturned but all four occupants ended up in the water after making contact with the rocks. The occupants were assisted by other boaters and bystanders in reaching the shore. One of the boaters, a female in her 20's, could not make it over the retaining wall due to lower body injuries and was assisted out of the water by firefighters and paramedics.

All four family members will be transported to an area hospital for evaluation. The grandmother, 50ish female, was experiencing trouble breathing, a 20ish female with lower body injuries and her two young daughters, ages 1 and 4, for possible hypothermia.

All appeared to be in good condition. Firefighters and paramedics were clear the scene at about 5:10 pm.
In addition to firefighters/medics and rescue boats from the Marine division the Coast Guard and Alexandria had their rescue boats in the area as well.

Mark Brady, PGFD PIO
240-508-7930


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