Coastguard who saved girl twice quits over health and safety row ("We don't want dead heroes")

Times Online (U.K.) ^ | January 12, 2008 | Steve Bird

[Stoat]

Coastguard who saved girl twice quits over health and safety row

 

 

Steve Bird

A coastguard who risked his life to save a teenage girl stranded on a cliff ledge has resigned after he was criticised for breaching health and safety rules during the rescue.

Paul Waugh, 44, was so concerned for the 13-year-old girl that he clambered down to her in gale-force winds without waiting to fit safety harnesses.

The father of three, who was hailed as a hero and received an award for stopping the girl from falling 300ft as she waited for an RAF rescue helicopter, announced yesterday that he was leaving the service after 13 years.

Officials at the Maritime and Coastguard Agency said that Mr Waugh, from Cleveland, had breached health and safety regulations because he had not been roped up for the descent. A spokesman said that the rules were in place because the agency did not want any “dead heroes”.

Mr Waugh said: “I am very sad that I have had to leave because I loved my job, but it is one of those things. You save a life and this is how they treat you. I am sorry, but I would not leave any 13-year-old girl hanging off a cliff.

“Saving her life was the important thing. The cliff edge was crumbling away and I didn’t think I had time to wait. It was pitch black and all you could see was a little girl’s frightened face. She was even planning her own funeral. If I had left her and ran back to the vehicle, got the safety equipment and then ran back, she could have fallen. She had been stuck there for 45 minutes and the cliff ledge had actually gave way so she was hanging by her arms off tufts of grass.

“If she had fallen and I had stood watching her, my life would not have been worth living.”

The former miner gave up as a volunteer for the agency, blaming “immense pressure” from management at Bridlington Coastguard.

The girl, Faye Harrison, had been walking with three friends along the cliff top at Brotton last January when they followed the wrong path down the cliff. As it got dark they became disorientated and stranded. A dog walker raised the alarm after hearing their screams for help.

Mr Waugh was paged by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, and with two others went to the scene. Because of a locked farm gate they could not get the rescue vehicle, which contained harnesses and ropes, to the cliff. Mr Waugh clambered down to Faye and held her to prevent her from falling. About 30 minutes later they were winched off by the helicopter.

Mr Waugh said: “I broke a rule and did not use the kit but I saved a life. I don’t call myself a hero. I would have helped even if I had not been in the coastguard. If I had done nothing I would have got slated, but I saved her life and I still get slated.”

Faye, now 14, from Saltburn-by-the-sea, east Cleveland, said that Mr Waugh, who also rescued her on another occasion when she was trapped by the tide, was a “true hero”.

“I am disgusted by the way Paul has been treated,” she said. “If he hadn’t been brave enough to climb down to me I don’t think I would be here today. I was terrified and started thinking about my funeral. Paul is a hero.”

The girl’s mother, Michelle Bint, 38, said: “I know Paul wasn’t sacked, but the coastguards left him no other choice but to quit. It’s hard to believe that health and safety guidelines come before a human life.” She said that Mr Waugh was a popular figure in the area and that she knew that he would “never stand by and let Faye suffer”.

A spokesman for the Maritime and Coastguard Agency said: “We wish Paul well in his future endeavours and the MCA is very grateful for his past activities and work in the Coastguard Rescue Service. However, the MCA is very mindful of health and safety regulations, which are in place for very good reasons.

“Above all our responsibility is to maintain the health and welfare of those who we sometimes ask to go out in difficult and challenging conditions to affect rescues. The MCA is not looking for dead heroes. As such, we ask our volunteers to risk-assess the situations they and the injured or distressed person find themselves in, and to ensure that whatever action they take does not put anyone in further danger.”

Mr Waugh was named hero of the year by a national Christmas savings club, won a Vodafone lifesaver award and was nominated for a national newspaper’s bravery award. The MCA relies on 3,200 volunteers working in 400 teams, and 64 full-time coastguard staff manage operations.

[verga]

Having been in the Coast Guard,not having on safety gear not only endangered his life but also the girls life he was lucky he didn't loose balance in the winds and they both fell while he was trying to get her back up.It would have been a very hard discussion to make but for the life of both safety first.

Ignore what the others on this list ar saying you are 100% correct. Fire fighters don't go into a building with out the proper safety gear and this man should not have either.

Perhaps those of you critisizing bikerman would consider a possible alternative story:

Coastguardsman slips attempting rescue, kills self and 14 year old girl

A thirteen year veteran of the Coastguard attempted to rescue a fourteen year old girl but was unsucessful when he ignored safety protocols and attempted to rescue her with out the proper safety gear. He leaves behind a wife and three young children. In a related story the girls parents are sueing the Coastguard and the mans family.

[Popman]

I would imagine that her parents will have her on a very, very short ‘leash’ for quite some time :-)

Based on the way she is dressed, I doubt Mum or Dad have a great deal of influence on her at the present moment.

She 14 years old after all, and at least in her mind, the smartest person in the world.

[Stoat]

Wonderful poem, entirely relevant.  I've always loved Kipling.

Thanks so very much!

 

 

[Stoat]

I would imagine that her parents will have her on a very, very short ‘leash’ for quite some time :-)

Based on the way she is dressed, I doubt Mum or Dad have a great deal of influence on her at the present moment.

She 14 years old after all, and at least in her mind, the smartest person in the world.

Sadly true, unfortunately.

"sigh"

I would imagine that her parents will have her on a very, very short ‘leash’ for quite some time :-)

Based on the way she is dressed, I doubt Mum or Dad have a great deal of influence on her at the present moment.

She 14 years old after all, and at least in her mind, the smartest person in the world.

[Washi]

Perhaps those of you critisizing bikerman would consider a possible alternative story:

Oh! I want to play too:

Teenage Girl Falls to Her Death While Awaiting Assistance from Coast Guard.

"It is unfortunate," said Coast Guard spokesman, Lester Nanny, "but the important thing is that all of our health, safety, and clerical guidelines were followed."

[Tax-chick]

Saved her twice? Says something about her.

Yes, it does ... as does the outfit she's wearing.

[Drawsing]

Question: Do you like Kipling?

Answer: Well, I don't know...I've never Kipled!

[toddlintown]

13? Wow.

[Stoat]

Question: Do you like Kipling?

Answer: Well, I don't know...I've never Kipled!

 

 

Question: Do you like Kipling?

Answer: Well, I don't know...I've never Kipled!

[DTogo]

13 ... going on 21? What’s with that outfit?

[Stoat]

What’s with that outfit?

You ask a question like that of someone who looks like this?

I'm no fashion expert  :-)

"snicker"

(but I'm guessing that she dresses as someone does who is accustomed to making mistakes......)

[Roccus]

Anybody remember the jetliner that hit a bridge and crashed into the Potomac in DC a few years back? Remember the (at least one) passerby that dove into the ice swollen river to save the girl who had lost her grip while being dragged to shore by a helicopter?

Now, this is by NO MEANS meant as a slap to first responders....just an example of someone doing what must be done WHEN it needs doing.

[doggieboy]

Yeah. Probably not the sharpest knife in the drawer though.

[nevergore]

Absolutely, the rules are there for good reason however they do not dictate nor plan for all conditions.

The situation was dire and imminent. The CSG rescuer, at his own volition and peril, made the correct decision for him and the girl.

Overall, you want your force to use good judgment when in stressful situations and that why you have procedures and training. Sometimes, certain situations stray outside those bounds.

[Stoat]

Agreed wholeheartedly. From the press accounts, it appears that he made a split-second judgement call, which, thanks to his 13 years of experience and training, worked out well.

To be hounded out of his job as a result of that does not do the Coast Guard proud.

[WorkingClassFilth]

I was working in a fire/rescue station earlier this week and saw a notice on the wall that read something like this: ‘There is no fire task or mission so grave as to do it without proper equipment/procedure.’

I thought about that for a second or two and imagined a situation just like this one. Safety and SOP only go so far...and then real life situations intrude.

This man should be reinstated as the supervisor of the idiots that wanted to sack him.

[Stoat]

however they do not dictate nor plan for all conditions.

I'm guessing that this is a concept that Socialist bureaucrats have a tough time getting their minds around.

[HANG THE EXPENSE]

I guess the CG in england doesnt like real men.Really sad. Rules are sometimes meant to be bent or broken.

[Stoat]

I guess the CG in england doesnt like real men.

Nor do the schools, it seems:

Great Britain Schools told to encourage boys to play netball and dance to 'balance gender'

[Stoat]

Safety and SOP only go so far...and then real life situations intrude.

Exactly right.  That's why some people excel at such jobs as this and some don't....there is a great deal that hinges upon ability and judgment; things that are difficult for bureaucrats to quantify and regulate.  Equipment is quite often only a very minimal part of a rescue operation, and the experience and proper judgment of the rescuers can make all the difference in the world, which a truckload of gear would sometimes have had absolutely zero bearing upon..

This man should be reinstated as the supervisor of the idiots that wanted to sack him.

I would love to live in such a world where there is such justice.  "sigh"

Safety and SOP only go so far...and then real life situations intrude.

Exactly right.  That's why some people excel at such jobs as this and some don't....there is a great deal that hinges upon ability and judgment; things that are difficult for bureaucrats to quantify and regulate.  Equipment is quite often only a very minimal part of a rescue operation, and the experience and proper judgment of the rescuers can make all the difference in the world, which a truckload of gear would sometimes have had absolutely zero bearing upon..

This man should be reinstated as the supervisor of the idiots that wanted to sack him.