Elfinsafety gawn mad!
OK, it's in the US.
If we post everything ridiculous that happens in the US here the forum will grind to a halt.
If my employers told me off for saving a life, I'd tell them to stick it. Was he supposed to sit there and watch the man die?
Something tells me this man won't have any trouble finding another job!
only valid scenario I could think of was if he left his post (endangering other people) to go and assist with a case already being adequately dealt with. From that report it sounds like he genuinely helped the poor guy/girl, so harsh indeed.
Thank goodness the guy took the initiative* and didn't just blindly adhere to company policy, unlike his superiors it would seem ...
(* i.e. did what anybody would have done in the same situation)
This story is as daft as what we occsaionally hear in the UK media about firemen/policemen not being 'allowed' to help people due to "health & safety" or whatever
Mr Lopez, four months in the job, ran some distance to help the swimmer who had already been pulled out of the water by other beachgoers.He and an off-duty nurse then helped the man until paramedics arrived to take him to hospital. The unidentified swimmer is said to be in intensive care
Sounds like the guy had already been rescued, guess he helped with a bit of resus after the event. He's been sacked for abandoning his post, and putting others at risk by doing so. Harsh maybe, but I can see their point.
Usual creative quoting...he was sacked for leaving his station, and the swimmer had been pulled out of the water by the time he got there, his colleagues had contacted the emergency services by then also. It's nt also clear what he actually did....
Not that he should have been sacked of course, though we don't know the whole story.
guess he helped with a bit of resus after the event
Saving a life though? He had been pulled out, but 'a bit of resus' is hardly negligible is it? It could have saved the man's life.
It's one thing getting someone out of the water, quite another clearing the air ways and performing a heart masssage. A lifeguard knows he can do ti and most people can't. In France if he hadn't gone to help he could have been charged with "non-assistance à personne en danger".
I'd have thought that the off duty nurse that was also there would be of more use than the lifeguard. The sacking does seem a bit harsh though.
Unless the nurse was off duty in uniform, I assume the lifeguard wouldn't have known if he was needed or not until he got there. It seems very harsh.
I would like to know exactly how much authority UK Lifeguards have. I have asked & researched this question before but never found a definitive answer.
My problem is when they put the reg flags up and I have to go cap-in-hand to their jeep and politely explain to them I am an adult, have been surfing for some time and take full responsibility for my actions. Their responses vary considerably some of them seem to think they are the surf police whereas others are fine.
I used to get approached all the time in Devon kayak surfing. They were always polite anf friendly and understood that that some people do know what they are doing. We always tried to find quiet bits outside of the marked surfing and swimming areas. It's normally pretty easy to spot the dangerous bits with rip currents and the like. Kayakers and surfers catch waves differently so it works better to be in different areas if there is space which there certainly is at Saunton.
Anyway, if I was th guy pulled out I would say he did the right thing. I think he can hold his head high from the information we have.