A quick-thinking crew from U.S. Coast Guard Station Fort Myers Beach saved eight lives, including an infant and a child, after a boat capsized Friday afternoon near the Sanibel Causeway in Florida.

Responders rushed to the capsized vessel, executing a rapid, coordinated effort that resulted in every person being safely recovered from the water.

Officials credited the success of the operation to the crew’s “relentless” preparation and teamwork.

AT LEAST 6 PEOPLE INJURED AFTER BOSTON DUCK BOAT OVERTURNS NEAR ENTRANCE TO POPULAR TOURIST ATTRACTION

“A successful mission is measured by the lives brought home safely,” U.S. Coast Guard Station Fort Myers Beach wrote in a statement on Facebook.

The Coast Guard emphasized the high-stakes rescue serves as a powerful reminder of why its crews train constantly and remain ready to respond at any hour of the day or night.

CBP, COAST GUARD INTERCEPT MIGRANT VESSEL HEADING FOR PUERTO RICO; 40 APPREHENDED INCLUDING UZBEK NATIONAL

“When seconds matter, preparation, communication, and teamwork make all the difference,” the Coast Guard station wrote. “We are grateful for the opportunity to serve our community and thankful that this incident ended with everyone returning home safely. Our thoughts are with those involved, and we’re proud of every responder who played a role in this successful rescue.”

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

The Sanibel Causeway is in southwest Florida, just west of Fort Myers on the Gulf Coast.

Maternal health care training

The University of South Florida is sending medical educators into rural Florida communities to provide critical maternal health care simulation training to local hospital staff and first responders. FOX 13’s Briona Arradondo reports. 

TAMPA, Fla. – The University of South Florida is sending medical educators into rural Florida communities to provide critical maternal health care simulation training to local hospital staff and first responders.

Florida rural medical training

The backstory:

Fewer hospitals are delivering babies or providing maternity health care in rural Florida communities, forcing pregnant women to travel hours for care. In response, USF Health launched a state-funded maternal health care training program covering 16 rural counties.

The program is led by a partnership between Florida Center for EMS at USF, Florida Prenatal Quality Collaborative and Center for Advanced Medical Learning and Simulation. It brings high-tech simulation mannequins directly into local patient rooms. These advanced simulators can mimic life-or-death scenarios like seizures, preeclampsia and postpartum hemorrhaging.

“I was really surprised, because my background as a firefighter-paramedic I worked in an urban environment where I had those resources. But going out to the rural communities in the Panhandle, sometimes the transport time is over two hours away,” said Penni Eggers, the director of education and assistant professor at the Florida Center for EMS at USF.

The program has already trained emergency personnel in Calhoun County, and the cities of Perry and Arcadia, teaching critical symptom management from the moment a patient enters an ambulance.

Saving mothers and babies

Why you should care:

According to Eggers, 80% of maternal deaths are preventable, and up to half happen after birth. Providing rural staff with hands-on tools builds the confidence needed to handle critical issues until a patient can be safely transferred to a specialized unit.

Emergency training sentiments

What they’re saying:

“This is actually going to touch more people and save more lives, I think. This is more to me, one of the most rewarding things we’ve ever done,” Eggers said.

She added that after training, “they feel much more confident that they can handle an emergency maternal problem, and they feel that they have some tools now and resources that they can actually do their job.”

Expanding medical simulation

What’s next:

The mobile USF Health training team plans to head to Wauchula next to conduct its next simulation exercises for local health care workers.

The initiative began in 2025 as a successful pilot program in Franklin County. The positive results secured a grant through the Florida Department of Health to expand operations, which will fund the training for the next year or two.