"Police and firemen in Alameda, California watched a man drown on Monday," wrote Stephen C. Webster at rawstory.com, "after realizing they did not have proper certifications for water rescue, leaving them open to possible lawsuits if they attempted a rescue."
Several things about that are extremely disturbing: (1) Are we to believe that none of those first responders knew that they lacked water rescue certification BEFORE they got to the scene of the drowning? (2) Even with certification, any first responder is "open to possible lawsuits" from litigious a-holes. (3) Even though I am not certified for water rescue, I would have tried to save another man's life rather than just watch him die, possible lawsuits be damned.
It is distressing to think that the first responders of Alameda, California are so ill-informed of their own certification status and so afraid of possible legal action that they are essentially nothing more than useless lumps of human waster on the public payroll. Perhaps the most bizarre aspect of this entire story, however, is the fact Alameda is an island city, yet its first responders are not certified to do water rescues.
It's being reported that the 53-year old drowning victim was thought to be suicidal as he waded out "about 150 yards into cold waters off of Crown Beach in Alameda. It's said by witnesses that it took nearly an hour for him to kill himself.
ABC Local reported that the Alameda firefighters "could not even go into the water to get the body, so they waited until a woman in her 20s volunteered to bring the body back to the beach." ABC added that "Alameda fire officials say they are going to have a serious discussion about why Alameda, as an island city, does not have the ability to save people in danger in the water." More at KGO TV, with video...
RELATED:
Emergency Officials Watched As Man Committed Suicide In Frigid Waters WITN
Drowning Death Pushes Alameda Officials To Address Water Rescue Training - KTVU
AUDIO: Police/Fire Fingerpointing Begins in Alameda Drowning KGO-AM
