and in national news.......... Alameda California Emergency response FAIL

[grizzly97]

Listen I like to help too but believe it or not there are many people out there that arent strong swimmers. Being in court is stressful and going there with your life and livelihood on the line is unimaginable. Tell me how you'd feel if you went out there got beat up by the guy for a little bit and doggy paddled back with one arm for 45 minutes all the while dragging the guy back with the other, only for him to be pronounced dead. AND THEN get sued by his mother for eleventy billion dollars because you werent part of the emergency personnel present?

Dont tell me it doesnt happen, bc it happens everyday......

I know that not everyone is a strong swimmer. I would be stupid to think that. Like I said it earlier posts, there are other options such as boats.
It would suck to go through all that effort and him still pass away, and be sued by our messed up legal system. And yes, I know it happens every day. It's a true shame. Tell ya what though, as big a headache it would be to be drug through the legal b.s., I'd be able to hold my head high knowing that I did my damndest to try and save someone's life when noone else did. Just because someone is attempting to kill themselves, doesn't mean they are a lost cause and we should let em die. Trust me, been there, done that.

 

[AC37]

Here are a few relevant details from links:


1) The suicider weighed almost 300 lbs.
2) He was described by persons present who spoke to him immediately before he entered the water as mentally questionable.
3) Persons present who spoke to him stated he had a caretaker present.
4) The Coast Guard said it couldn't operate in waters that shallow. It really doesn't make sense they wouldn't have a boat that could operate in waters that shallow (you'd think they'd have an inflatable raft if nothing else), it makes me wonder if they meant they couldn't from a legal perspective, much like the FD.
5) It sounds like the FD evaluated using their ladder to reach him, but it wasn't long enough.


One of the darker sides of a massively litigious, buck-passing society is no one wants to be left holding the liability bag as a group let alone individually, especially for a possibly failed attempt at something outside policy, an attempt that could not only result in termination and loss of pension but massive legal liability, let alone serious bodily injury or even death.

 

[03on22s]

I just got pawned!

haha! That's not what I was going for there. I'm just confused, if a town with a couple of ponds and a couple of lakes has a small boat for shallow water rescue then you would think a state that has a freakin ocean would have something. Paddle out, rope the dumb bastard, and drag him back to shore. There's not even a need to get in the water and come into contact until your back in shallow water. Then tase the piss out of him for good measure.