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.

[Stoat]

Nanny State Socialism: It doesn't matter if a young girl would have died, you broke our rules and so we will hound you out of the job that you love.

Disgusting.

[Stoat]

Coastguard sacked for daring clifftop rescue of 13-year-old schoolgirl as boss says 'We don't want dead heroes' News This is London

Hero: Coastguard Paul Waugh with Faye Harrison, whom he rescued from the cliff ledge

Danger: Waugh climbed down the cliff in gale force winds

[max americana]

I read the initial story sometime ago. It is the management of the UK coastguard who should have their heads imagined when they simply CANNOT understand and do their jobs which is to save lives FIRST, ASK QUESTION 2ND.

That is their job and they AUTOMATICALLY put their lives at risk you dumb wankers! Aaaaaargh

[Stoat]

Happier days:

Two Given Awards For Showing Bravery (from The Northern Echo)

 

BRAVE ACT: Paul Waugh, left, with fellow coastguard Gordon Hogg and Faye Harrison, who they rescued from cliffs near her home

Last January, in strong winds and freezing cold, with darkness setting in, Skinningrove coastguard Mr Waugh climbed down a cliff without safety equipment to rescue Faye Harrison, 13, who had become trapped.

Faye was left clinging to tufts of grass as the ledge she was standing on gave way.

As they awaited a helicopter and winch, Mr Waugh positioned himself with his arms around the teenager so she would not fall over the 300ft drop and reassured her for 30 minutes.

Coastguards Eric Lorrains and Gordon Hogg were also involved in the rescue.

Coincidentally, it was the second time Mr Waugh had helped the teenager.

She was rescued by him last year when she became trapped by the tide.

Mr Waugh was nominated for the award by his wife, Sue.

She said: "The young girl sent him a letter saying she had planned her funeral in her head before he rescued her and thanked him for saving her life a second time.

"Paul's the kind of man who is always helping people.

"He and the team have saved everyone, from dog-walkers lost in the fog on the cliffs, to children trapped by the tide."

The 40 Christmas Wishes competition was organised by Park Group, the Christmas savings company, to celebrate its 40th anniversary. It gave 40 prizes of vouchers worth a total of £40,000.

Managing director Gary Woods said: "Paul and Elliot's stories are a testament to the bravery which goes on all around us and is often unacknowledged."

 

[Virginia Ridgerunner]

A spokesman said that the rules were in place because the agency did not want any “dead heroes”.

Well, now they've got a disillusioned former hero.

England is finished as a great country. Now it is run by ninny bureaucrats who put following the rules ahead of saving lives. Now the Brits have lost an outstanding Coastguardsman because of their own stupidity. England is soon going to be consumed from inside by its ever expanding Mulsim population, so in the long run, I guess it doesn't matter, since the 13-year old girl in question would have been tossed over the cliff anyway for not being escorted by a man and for not wearing a burqa.

[bikerman]

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.

[RobbyS]

Good grief! His bosses should be fired for terminal stupidity. Better suited for running a day nursery than a rescue agency.

[RobbyS]

Good grief! His bosses should be fired for terminal stupidity. Better suited for running a day nursery than a rescue agency.

[Stoat]

Rest assured that the news of his being hounded out of the service has already spread throughout the UK Coastguard and beyond, and now NOBODY is going to risk squat without having sixteen pages of lists checked, countersigned and the appropriate equipment requisitioned from across the country if necessary.

And when children die horribly because the crew was waiting for the “correct” equipment to arrive, as proscribed by the manual, which may or may not have been entirely necessary, the public will be told that they were “following procedure” and it was a “successful call”.

[RobbyS]

Were you there? If an animal falls into a pitt on the Sabbath, do you wait till sundown to haul it out?

[Doogle]

Coincidentally, it was the second time Mr Waugh had helped the teenager. She was rescued by him last year when she became trapped by the tide.

..this girl needs to find a playground...inland

[Stoat]

I agree on all counts, but I think that deference should be given to the crew on the ground at the location. All of the training that they receive should entitle them to be allowed to make judgement calls when necessary.

If they break the rules, perhaps some extra training or a quiet word from the Commander might be in order, but surely not hounding the man out of his job.

[johnny7]

Correction:

'We don't want dead heroes'

[Stoat]

..this girl needs to find a playground...inland

LMAO

Yes, let's hope that she's a bit more careful from now on   :-)

My experience in the fire service taught me that a great many calls, perhaps most, are due to people doing stupid things.

If nobody ever did anything stupid, a whole lot of people would be out of work   :-)

"snicker"

[MaxMax]

Good thing he didn't save her from being raped and killed,
he'd be in prison right now... Backwards idiots.

[knarf]

The result of PC, nanny-state thinking ...

Preservation of life is the most gut-level response in a human being. Whether your own or others.

When you're in a job that focuses on preservation/salvation of a human life, the training that promotes instantaneous thought and action, with the uncontrolable adrenaline that accompanies an emergency, you tend to do amazing things.

[max americana]

Reminds me of the Border Patrol with the Compean Ramos travesty. They were doing their jobs BUT the beaurucrats handcuffed them out of pc-ness and “regulations”.

Paul Waugh definitely is the HERO here.

[The_Media_never_lie]

Glad he saved her, she’s a keeper.

[Stoat]

To All:

If you feel moved to contact Bridlington Coastguard and let them know how you feel about this, you may do so here:

Bridlington Coastguard

H.M. Coastguard Bridlington - Maritime Rescue Sub-Centre, Limekiln Lane, Bridlington, YO15 2LX

Tel :- 01262 606925

[RobbyS]

A bit like court-martialing Audey Murphy for some of the mad things he did. Or the Hadfitha Marines are acting as though they were at war. Sad to see that the brass are always the brass.