As a country we have allowed ourselves to kowtow so much to Nanny's fear of risk that we now even allow people to drown, lest we flout a health and safety edict.
An ongoing hearing at Portsmouth Coroners’ Court has heard how in March 2011 Simon Burgess drowned in a 3ft deep lake in Gosport, when a policeman and a paramedic were ordered not to try to rescue him.
Mr Burgess was allowed to float face face down as emergency crews watched.
Seemingly health and safety rules stopped them going in to try to save him.
According to a doctor, Mr Burgess’s life might have been saved (a slim chance) had he been removed from the water quickly.
To the credit of both the police constable and the ambulance worker who arrived at the scene they both volunteered to go in to rescue him. However, they were firmly ordered by fire station watch manager, and by the police control room not to do so (the rationale being that it was assumed that Mr Burgess was already dead).
The inquest heard that there was a 28 minute delay before Mr Burgess was pulled from the water after the first phone call was made.
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‘To the credit of both the police constable and the ambulance worker who arrived at the scene they both volunteered to go in to rescue him.’
ReplyDeleteI don’t think either should get any credit at all. It is not a question of volunteering; it is all about getting on and doing something.
If you, I or any other normal person were to come across someone floating face down in water we would pull them out. We would not stand watching, assuming that they are beyond help. It is as simple as that. We wouldn’t stand around ‘volunteering’.
These morons are paid to do a job, but that should be secondary to them acting like normal human beings.
Sometimes rules have to be ignored.
Perfectly put. I was going to say exactly that - you have beaten me to it.
DeleteOrdered not to go in? What the F*$K happened to humanity?
Bastards - I hope they choke. If it had been their Dad/Brother etc, would they have stood & watched then?
Thought not.
Yup; my reaction would have been to have waded in and fished the chap out. At which point I probably would have been charged because I am not qualified as a paramedic or somesuch. This is one of the reasons I live overseas: in Bulgaria; a place that has a very bad reputation in Britain. However, in Bulgaria, as there are almost no regualtions whatsoever, most people seem to manage rather well.
DeleteSomeone on a national newspaper's website that reported this, made an excellent comment;
ReplyDeleteThe Fire and Rescue Service is only any good if you're standing in a puddle with a candle.
Here are my thoughts; I would go in and attempt to rescue the person whether I feared they were dead or not, but I am human.
It appears to me that many of our emergency services(sic) are not services at all. Some members of these so called services, put the fear of being disciplined ahead of saving lives. I would say just do it and then, if disciplined by PC managers, go to the media, you WILL get the support of the public and the jobsworths will back down because they hate publicity.
Once again, spot on Ken
ReplyDeleteThe bigger picture shows that this is also true for all other public services - surgeries mistreating patients, PCT bureaucracy denying patients acces to health care, social workers not assisting child abuse cases, police keen to book speeeding motorists and not catching criminals, HMRC taxing people who don't earn enough, DWP killing disabled people .... and on it goes ... criminal behaviour by a criminal hierarchy
Interesting that you can't make construction work risk free, nor transportation work, agricultural work, logging, mining, etc., but somehow you can make the work of "emergency" response risk free.
ReplyDeleteHow could this be? Oh, I see, by prohibiting emergency responders from doing anything other than watching from a safe distance.
Sorry, but as a nurse I have a legal and professional responsibility should I witness, or come across someone, in need of first aid. I can't be forced to identify myself as a professional and be made to intervene, but if I do so I am held to the higher standard of practice than the average 'man on the street'.
ReplyDeleteThat is in a situation where I am off-duty. If I walk past a patient in my care (which includes everyone in my place of employ) in need of assistance whilst on duty then I would, quite rightly, face professional conduct hearings and probable prosecution as guilty of contributing by omission to the death.
Here we have supposed professional emergency services staff who stood by discussing whether to even attempt to rescue and save this person. They were on duty, in uniform, were designated to help this particular person - and chose not too for some spurious reason.
They should face both an investigation into their professional conduct and face legal prosecution for both failing to do the job for which they are paid and for contributing to the death by omission. In fact, if there is evidence that he could have been saved, they should be charged with manslaughter. These are not people walking by, unable, unequipped, untrained, who stood by and watched a man die because of some made-up rationalisation about H&S, they utterly disgust me!
"They should face both an investigation into their professional conduct and face legal prosecution for both failing to do the job for which they are paid and for contributing to the death by omission. In fact, if there is evidence that he could have been saved, they should be charged with manslaughter. These are not people walking by, unable, unequipped, untrained, who stood by and watched a man die because of some made-up rationalisation about H&S, they utterly disgust me!"
ReplyDeleteWell said, Able. The ambulance worker and police constable in question should hang their heads in shame, as should the jobsworth that gave the order not to rescue the man. Why, oh why can't some of these people show some bottle? How different the reaction, a few years ago by two teenage brothers, bodyboarders, who, upon seeing someone in difficulty in the sea, rescued them and two others who had tried to help and found themselves in difficulty as well, by using their boards. The boys in question quite rightly received an award for their bravery and appeared on the ITV programme recognising acts of personal courage.
If current elf'n'safety dictats had been in place in 1939, Hitler would have just strolled into the country with no resistance whatever.
if standing around while london burned or some one was in trouble
ReplyDeletewas an olympic event the police force would be up to their freckles in medals