Fire Law Blog Fire Service and Public Safety Legal Issues Blog by Curt Varone
A tragic drowning in Alameda California has left the public stunned and the media smelling blood in the water – all because police officers and firefighters stood by and watched.
The incident occurred yesterday, and here is the news footage.
The headline could just have easily read:
- Firefighters blame lawyers for downing death – liability concerns too great or
- Dammed if you do dammed if you don’t – sued by deceased’s family or cited by OSHA, pick your poison
- How far do we go in the name of safety?
One thing is for sure, the government bean counters and tax control fanatics were no where to be found for an interview, and will likely remain in hiding on this one. Left standing to take the brunt of the political backlash are the first responders.
Regardless of how you feel you would have personally acted under the circumstances, the reality is that some policy maker in government made a decision not to provide funding for this kind of eventuality. Like bean counters everywhere they made a conscious decision to roll to proverbial dice. Usually, first responders (particularly firefighters) get them off the hook by risking their lives to overcome the obstacles, be it fighting fires despite being dangerously understaffed, using outdated equipment, or 1970s style safety practices. This time the first responders didn’t take up the slack. Part of me wants to say shame on them… but there’s a bigger story.
I am interested to see if the blame will reach the bean counters this time, or will it stop with the first responders.
