Police and firemen stand by and watch man drown in the bay after treading water for an hour (Concord: income, live)

[jobert]

Your thoughts and feelings about this incident?

Authorities make changes after first responders watch man drown - CNN.com

[andyadhi01]

Well the police and fire folks are only interested in 6 figure salaries and pensions! They dont care about doing their jobs!

[18Montclair]

Just appauling. They should all be FIRED immediately.

[mayorhaggar]

Constant budget cuts will lead to stuff like this where taxpayers expect services they don't want to pay for. But it's dumb to give the Coast Guard responsibility for water rescues and they aren't even able to do a water rescue.

[Aliooop]

After reading the article, while it is terrible that this man drowned, I can see why the police and firemen were afraid to take action. First, the article says the guy in the water was suicidal. Second, none of the police and firemen were trained to do water rescues, so unless they were confident swimmers or previously lifeguards, they were probably afraid of drowning themselves while trying to drag a struggling man to shore. Third, the policies in place that wouldn't allow them to go in the water: if they violated the policies they would be in danger of losing their jobs, which is a very scary thing in this economy. I'm sure most of them have families and dependents that rely on their income.

What would you do in that situation? Really think about it. You could lose your family's livelihood and your own life trying to rescue a man that does not want to be rescued in an environment you are not used to. I also doubt the fire department keeps any kind of life rafts or floating devices with them. It sucks, but we're all human, even firefighters and policemen.

[humboldtrat]

Originally Posted by 18Montclair

Just appauling. They should all be FIRED immediately.

Just "appalling"

[18Montclair]

Originally Posted by humboldtrat

just "appalling"

lol

[sav858]

Yeah, I mean why would they need to know water rescue procedures when the city is on an ISLAND!

Pretty ridiculous not a single officer or firefighter jumped in the water. Couldn't they have gone to the closest Big 5 and gotten a damn raft, kayak, boogie board, or something? I just don't get how any agency in charge of public safety located along the BAY doesn't have some sort of water rescue policies or skills on hand. I can understand Lafayette or Concord, but ALAMEDA??

[18Montclair]

So they just stood there and watched the guy die.

Dont they swear an oath or something?

[Gentoo]

Originally Posted by Aliooop

After reading the article, while it is terrible that this man drowned, I can see why the police and firemen were afraid to take action. First, the article says the guy in the water was suicidal. Second, none of the police and firemen were trained to do water rescues, so unless they were confident swimmers or previously lifeguards, they were probably afraid of drowning themselves while trying to drag a struggling man to shore. Third, the policies in place that wouldn't allow them to go in the water: if they violated the policies they would be in danger of losing their jobs, which is a very scary thing in this economy. I'm sure most of them have families and dependents that rely on their income.

What would you do in that situation? Really think about it. You could lose your family's livelihood and your own life trying to rescue a man that does not want to be rescued in an environment you are not used to. I also doubt the fire department keeps any kind of life rafts or floating devices with them. It sucks, but we're all human, even firefighters and policemen.

It's possible to attempt a water rescue without actually entering the water, or at least as far out as the guy was. One could throw a rope to the guy for him to grab on and he could be pulled to shore that way. A long pole would do as well but a rope works better as you would throw it passed them and as you pull it they grab on. They watched for an hour so they had time. I find it interesting that this fire department doesn't know of that technique as it was taught to me by a firefighter.