Posted on 06/01/2011 5:55:51 PM PDT by wac3rd
When a fully clothed, apparently suicidal man walked into the San Francisco Bay from Shoreline Drive, in Alamdea County, all the would-be rescuers could do was watch. For about an hour.
Why their boots stayed dry is a matter of debate Wednesday, the day after 57-year-old Raymond Zack was pronounced dead at an Alameda County hospital.
The water's depth and temperature may have played a role. As did budget cuts.
The Alameda Fire Department's water rescue program was discontinued in 2009 because of budget cuts.
"(The) Alameda Fire Department does not currently have, and is not certified, in land-based water rescues. The city of Alameda primarily relies on the United States Coast Guard for these types of events," a police spokesperson said.
But the Coast Guard couldn't operate in water that shallow, according to their own statement. And the water was too deep for police and fire personnel.
At a hearing Tuesday evening, the policy that prevented trained people from intervening and rescuing people in distress was changed.
One man told the board during the meeting, "It just strikes me as unbelievably callous that nobody there with any sort of training couldn't strip off their gear, go in the water, and help this person."
Zack's body was recovered by an off-duty nurse who swam out 50 yards to get him.
(Excerpt) Read more at nbcbayarea.com ...
Your government at work...firemen being paid SIX FIGURES for LIFE with CPI/COLA increases, with LIFETIME HEALTH PLANS...stand on the beach while someone drowns, 50 yards away.
sick freaks
And they get to retire at 50. Sickening.
Clearly, this calls for a federal program. A trillion dollars should fix it.
The SanFranSickos needed something titillating to pump them up for their carnal carnival that evening. What better than to watch, with glee, a human being die before their very eyes.
This is pretty heartless. I am a vol ff we would have tried something. Fast water and cold water rescues present challenges but it sounds like this victim was not in either circumstance.
Unionized “Not My Job” Losers !!
Sack everyone at the scene and their Chief as well.
This is disgraceful.
This is so foul it is beyond words.
I wonder if God is “certified” to forgive such evil?
And it is evil - nothing less.
You can walk out almost 100 yards almost before it gets waist deep to fish for shells. They could have driven a firetruck out 100 yards to get him. There are parts of the bottom that are paved from roads leading out into the bay along there in the 1920s which were abandoned coz they sank. There have never been any lifeguards nor lifeguard tower chairs there since 1965 when I lived there near the beach. This guy had to walk a long way in a mucky bottom to drown. He probably had to sit down to drown.
I live(d) in Oakland and know exactly what you are talking about...it’s a giant sand/mud bar...
Ultimate Beauracracy at work.
“Won’t someone do something.. I can’t because my hands are tied by city hall!”
Just save the guy and worry about it later idiots!
DUMBASS POST OF THE YEAR
I am not a vol FF or anything -
but I would be damned if i let a guy drown 150 feet from shore, “Because I was not trained.”
WTFO?
Please expound.
There are lots of places, where one can drive 100 feet off shore.
Dunno if this is one.
Foreshadowing Obamacare.
This is a sterling example on why American leftists will never go door-to-door and disarm Americans.
They’re bloody cowards. That includes Marxist, gutless cops.
If these San Fran leftists can’t bear to get their tootsies wet, imagine them trying to round up armed Americans.
Good grief! The man’s dead body was pulled in by a nurse. God bless her.
If these wimps want war, they’ll be hanged from sea to shining sea.
“’ealth & safety, mate, ‘ealth & safety” has crossed the pond
Wait until they're running healthcare
I used to run on that beach.
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