Posted on 06/07/2022 10:37:52 AM PDT by where's_the_Outrage?
I don’t know. On the one hand, yes water rescue takes certain skills which I don’t expect police to have, and is helped by equipment I can understand them not having. On the other hand there’s a general blasé don’t give a crap attitude in this whole thing, and we’ve seen that in far too many incidents already.
I’m glad I don’t live in your town/state.
I have to say, I do not blame them a bit.
In this day and age, if the deceased was trying to commit suicide and they saved him, he would probably sue them for saving his ass.
If the rescue went south, the family would probably sue them.
If the deceased was a certain minority and the rescue went bad, not only the family but the entire just-us league would be suing, but the Just-us Dept. would probably charge them with any one or all of a dozen crimes.
Nope.
Better to plead “Unqualified” than take risk of the consequences.
I wonder if knowing how to swim is a requirement for a cop. Now, as a public safety officer, did he notify the proper folks that perhaps could attempt a water rescue. If he didn’t then that’s on him.
Where I live there are many resources for rescue, Navy, Coast Guard, there is a Marine rescue unit part of the Emergency Medical Service. Lots of marine traffic, a SOS call if you will, brings a quick response around here.
The drowned one made his own watery grave. He did choose poorly.
It's one thing to attempt a rescue at a beach while in a swim suit but quite another when one is fully clothed. No swimming skills and fully clothed is a recipe for disaster......
I feel for the officers and the guilt they must feel but at least none of them drowned with the victim.
I was about 11 or 12 when I was swimming with a friend who started to drown and no one was in area so I jumped in to try and save him. I had no idea what I was doing. When I reached him he grabbed me and pushed me down and sat on my shoulders. We did not have long to live like that. Fortunately, some angel came by in time to save me and my friend.
I'd agree except for the fact that there were three cops. Three cops couldn't help a drowning man? Something's wrong here.
Me too.
“There are several large bodies of water within the Tempe city boundary. One would think basic life saving skills would be part of their training.”
Tempe has killer bees, one would think that killer bee hive removal would be part of their training.
Tempe has bears, one would think that bear wrestling would be part of their training.
Tempe has strokes, one would think that surgical treatment of ischemic strokes would be part of their training.
“the officer, who could be pulled down by a struggling adult”
Yes, their guns and tasers don’t work in the water, so they can’t be expected to deal with a struggling adult in those circumstances.
911 was never meant to solve every problem on the earth. Police are not lifeguards. This is a county resource and dispatch problem.
Thankfully the police were smarter than the self inflicted dead retard.
“2. Attempting to rescue a drowning person when you haven’t had the proper training will get YOU dead.”
True. If the police weren’t trained, standing and watching was the only thing they could do.
The police should have called a Boy Scout trained before that organization fell apart.
“How about free swimming lessons for citizens...”
Pretty sure they already do that at the local park, at least they do where I live.
911 is a joke.
>>One would think basic life saving skills would be part of their training.
There are also lots of buildings - should they also be required to run into burning buildings as well without the benefit of fireproof turn-out gear and o2 tanks?
I am a WSI and both Red Cross and BSA lifeguard. Here's what we learn:
"Reach - Throw - Row - Go" In that order.
Offer a pole, branch, or rope to pull the person to safety. Throw anything you have that floats. Use a boat or push a surfboard, floatie, etc. ahead of you. Then and only then, IF you are qualified, do you swim for it.
If an adult outweighs me and is in total panic mode, it's a no, even with my training. Two drownings is not better than one.
I have to agree 100%.
In my youth I became a Boy Scout Summer camp staff member, an Eagle Scout and certified life guard. YES, I had a lot of training in lifesaving situations.
Then 8 years later I had to save a drowning person in an ocean surf.
If it wasn’t for life saving skills. As I had my guard down for a second because a close friend was drowning in a rip tide. It would have been a double drowning for sure.
When he grabbed me. It was like the cartoon kitten trying to get out of the water.
There is a good reason Rescue Swimmer is specialty job in the coast guard, navy, or fire departments. Wrangling a panicked drowning swimmer is difficult and dangerous. At most cops probably do swim tests and some survival swimm training, not nearly enough training to expect them to go in after large panicking adults.
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