Friday, 6 July 2012

Summer Madness

Following on from an earlier post on Health and Safety madness in the UK, there has been a story from the USA which matches, or even exceeds, the PC lunacy that has infected us in the UK. In that post, I half jokingly suggested that it wouldn't be too long "before the firemen refuse to enter buildings to rescue people because of Health and Safety concerns, or police let criminals escape because riding a motor bike was too dangerous?".

Tom Lopez - Lifeguard Hallandale Beach, near Miami
Tom Lopez - Lifeguard

Well, little did I realise that it would only be a month ....
 
The scene of this disgrace was Hallandale Beach, near Miami in Florida, when beach lifeguard Tomas Lopez rushed to the scene of a near drowning, on an unguarded part of the beach. When he got there he found that the distressed swimmer had already been pulled out of the water by other beach goers, but he and an off-duty nurse helped the man until paramedics arrived to take him to hospital.

When he got back to his station, he finished his shift, but was later sacked, because his employers felt that he had broken company rules, and could have put other swimmers at risk. Of course the clue as too why all this is happening in the UK and USA, is in the quote from his employers, who said that "We have liability issues and can't go out of the protected area" .... Claims lawyers, and their often greedy clients have made insurance for staff employed in the emergency services difficult, and the risk of liability too great for human kindness or duty, to play a part.
 
Mr Lopez commendably is rather phlegmatic about all this ... "I think it's ridiculous, honestly, that a sign is what separates someone from being safe and not safe", and two of his colleagues agreed, and resigned from the employment with Jeff Ellis and Associates the lifeguard providers.

Not everyone appreciates Jeff Ellis and Associates stance on this issue, and Hallandale Mayor Joy Cooper told TV that Lopez will receive a key to the city, in a morning news conference, and that he has since been offered better paid employment.

As I said last in the last post on this subject, we are not far off people being deliberately sacrificed on the alter of health and safety rules.

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