Rescue

[Bigfoot]

Saw this on South Today and was thinking long and hard about it. At what point would you deem a sea too tempestuous/unsafe not to save someone else's life ? I would probably try and help any way i could, but the adrenaline felt would potentially cloud judgement and lead to even more of a situation. just a thought. and a moral appeal to see if RIBnetters really are all twisted, bitter and selfish ...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/dorset/7608775.stm

[SeaSkills]

This is one reason why the RNLI system has the decision on whether or not to launch made by people who won't actually be going out in the boat. Hopefully the Launching Authority is better able to take an objective view, taking into account the conditions and the crew capability, without being so influenced by the adrenaline rush. Once launched, the decisions are in the hands of the crew.

The system works well, but it's still an awesome responsibility for the Launching Authority - especially (speaking from personal experience) when the decision involves sending your own family and friends out into harms way

[PeterM]

Only just seen this & being local to the coast I think it depends on experiance & local knowledge. The seas round that area are fine in 'nearly' all weather for the local lifeboat crew in my opinion. I know that if I was on the beach & saw someone I woud have a very differant view.

I guess it all comes down to a good judgement call & do feel that the professionals usually get this correct as they train & train & train so arenot hit by the adrenalin etc of 'normal' person. I have seen last week a RIB towing a yacht & the Ribs engine had started to pack up half way into the harbour.

[jyasaki]

Originally Posted by Bigfoot

Saw this on South Today and was thinking long and hard about it. At what point would you deem a sea too tempestuous/unsafe not to save someone else's life ?

What they always taught us was that the very last thing you want to happen is to become a victim as well. A single rescue/recovery becomes quite a bit more work when you start adding additional victims into the mix.

A recent incident illustrates this pretty well: A family out for a picnic on a beach (one known to local divers as being being a fairly advanced dive due to an odd physical structure); one young teenage girl was caught by a wave and washed in. Several people went in to rescue her, and one guy got her back to safety. Two others who went to her assistance drowned.

I agree that you should do whatever you can to assist, but add that you should not expose yourself to undue risk unless you have a *lot* of support immediately available.

As to how to judge what is and isn't undue risk, well...


jky