This was a minor item in the local paper today, and no doubt will go unnoticed by the world at large. A man walked into San Francisco Bay in Alameda Monday, in a mental condition unknown, and waded in up to his neck. And stood there, waiting.
Coast Guard and local Alameda fire officials responded on scene. The Coast Guard boat could not get in close enough to him because of the shallowness of the water. The fire crew could not attempt a rescue because previous budget cuts had forced the fire department to discontinue its water rescue training, and it no longer could maintain wetsuits or other water rescue equipment. I can tell you the first rule of search and rescue is responders are trained not to do things they don't have the equipment and training for, or they will become the next victims. As such, the fire department had been forced to adopt a policy that their crews were not allowed to attempt a rescue.
Finally a bystander waded in and grabbed the man -- but it was too late. Apparently hypothermia had overcome him, and he was dead. Government did not work to save this man's life; it failed him, because of the basic degradation in rescue services to save some money, presumably so we can continue to not raise our precious Prop 13 property taxes here in California, or save the top income tax brackets at the federal level. It was not government workers, public servants, but the penny-pinching in a time of crisis and human need. Full story and commentary on the flip.
This story has nuances and gray areas, which is another reason why it seems likely to me this man's death will go without comment in the political sphere. Was he mentally ill? Demented? Did he have services available to him previously, and had lost them through a cut in funding there? We'll probably never know. Even his name was withheld from the news account.
Some small-government conservatives may point out to this as a failure of government, because the fire fighters were not allowed to attempt a rescue by policy, and a civilian who happened by did finally take the initiative while they stood by. I confess as a first responder myself, I'm torn. You really want to jump in, your instincts are all to get to that victim. But you have to follow policy for a reason -- because the policies set in place about not attempting rescues for which you are not qualified are there to save your own life and often the lives of others who might have to rescue you. I know of colleagues who have lost their own lives because they didn't follow these rules. So I don't blame the fire fighters one bit here; the waters here are dangerous, cold, and the bottoms are treacherous. When you're dealing with a possibly suicidal person, there's no guarantee that if you try to grab them they're not going to take you under with them. That's why such rescues require safety harnesses, thermal protection, and gear for safely taking the victim ashore.
There might've been trained life guards available, since it was on a State beach, but due to cutbacks in the State Parks budget, there were none. Just a sign posted that said "Swim at Your Own Risk."
I'm saddened for the victim, but I'm especially saddened for my fellow Coasties and the firefighters who had to witness a death, perhaps preventable. But it was not due to the bureaucratic indifference of our safety services. It was due to funding cuts, pure and simple.
Maybe I'm being overdramatic, but I see this incident as a microcosm for the break in the social contract the right wing in this country is accomplishing. They literally believe in every man for himself; that governments should stay out of the affairs of people, even for vital services such as rescue, if it means taxes would have to go up, or just back to the levels they once were. This will be but one example of a murder, a thousand murders, ten thousand murders by societal indifference that will continue and be on our collective heads unless we turn this around.
Full text of article below: San Jose Mercury News, 1 June 2011, p. B5. Link to on-line version of article here.
On-line version:
SAN FRANCISCO—Fire crews and police could only watch after a man waded into San Francisco Bay, stood up to his neck and waited. They wanted to do something, but a policy strictly forbade them from trying to save the 50-year-old, officials said.
A witness finally pulled the apparently suicidal man's lifeless body from the 54-degree water.
Interim Alameda Fire Chief Mike D'Orazi said Monday's incident is troubling. He has directed staff to write a new policy that would allow water rescues in the city of about 75,000 people across the bay from San Francisco.
The previous policy was implemented after budget cuts forced the department to discontinue water rescue training and stop maintaining wetsuits and other rescue gear, D'Orazi said Tuesday.
"The incident yesterday was deeply regrettable," he said. "But I can also see it from our firefighters' perspective. They're standing there wanting to do something, but they are handcuffed by policy at that point."
A witness, Perry Smith, told a television station the man was visible from the shore of Crown Memorial State Beach and was looking at people.
"We expected to see at some point that there would be a concern for him," another witness, Gary Barlow, told KGO-TV.
The Coast Guard was called to the scene, but the water was too shallow for a boat, Alameda police Lt. Sean Lynch said. Police officers didn't have the gear for the cold water and couldn't risk being pulled under.
"Certainly this was tragic, but police officers are tasked with ensuring public safety, including the safety of personnel who are sent to try to resolve these kinds of situations," Lynch said.
D'Orazi said crews may have decided it was too risky to attempt the rescue, even if they had not been shackled by the restrictions on water rescues.
In addition to the new policy, Alameda fire personnel will receive training in water rescues, and rescue equipment will be inspected to make sure it is not damaged, D'Orazi said.
There are no lifeguards at the beach, said Isa Polt-Jones, a spokeswoman with the East Bay Regional Park District. Signs at the park advise swimmers to enter the water at their own risk.
Printed version:
Alameda - New Policy after crews watch man die in bay
A 50-year-old man waded into the San Francisco Bay, stood up to his neck and waited. A Coast Guard boat couldn't get into the shallow water, and fire crews said they couldn't rescue him because of a policy that strictly forbade such attempts.
Finally, a witness went in after him, pulling is lifeless body from the bay.
Alameda officials said Tuesday they'll change the city's water rescue policy after the apparently suicidal man died in the 54-degree water.
Interim Fire Chief Mike D'Orazi called Monday's incident troubling and said he directed staff to write a new policy that would allow commanders at the scene to attempt a water rescue.
The previous policy was implemented after budget cuts forced the department to discontinue water rescue training and stop maintaining wetsuits and other rescue gear, D'Orazi said.