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Mon Aug 10 14:29:19 BST 2009

The impression I get from reading the story is that the reporter was very selective in choosing the facts that he choose to print:

"accident victim who was drowning in just 18 inches of water,"
"ten police officers who attended the emergency also failed to rescue father-of-three,"
"His body lay there for three hours,"
"health and safety restrictions are preventing the emergency services from fulfilling their most basic duties,"
"Mr White admitted that he could not be ‘100 per cent sure’ that Mr
Malton was dead." etc.

However, I find nothing about the risks that emergency workers face, why risk assessments are important or any of the human costs borne by the emergency services in learning the lessons that have lead to stricter health and safety regulations. A lay person reading the story might even get the impression that health and safety regulations are put there with no regard for getting the job done, rather than trying to make sure that we all get to go home in one piece at the end of each shift.

Given the facts presented in the article, this could be the scenario that the fire officer had in front of him:

It's dark - after 11pm, which makes it difficult to assess the hazards. The bank that they would have to climb down to access the patient is reported to be steep and unstable. The first fire crew arrive 51 minutes after the initial emergency call (response times 14 minutes for 1st ambulance, 31 minutes for 2nd ambulance, pat. not located until some time after that) and the patient has been in the water for some time, even longer when you consider the additional time it would take to gain access to the patient, which means they are almost certainly looking at a body recovery rather than a rescue. I can see why the IOC might have reason to be conservative in his risk assessment and decision making.

Obviously, I wasn't there and don't know what actually happened. Just presenting another way to interpret the facts as presented in the story, giving the emergency workers the benefit of the doubt.

Regards,
John Annen

________________________________
From: "Gross, Ronald" <Ronald.Gross at baystatehealth.org>
To: Trauma-List [TRAUMA.ORG] <trauma-list at trauma.org>
Sent: Monday, August 10, 2009 2:46:04 PM
Subject: RE: Health and safety row over man who died in 18in of water..

YIKES!!!  I wonder if those "rescue workers" are able to look at themselves in the mirror.  And if they can, that is a whole other level of dismay to lend to this story.....assuming that all of the facts are correct.

Ron

-----Original Message-----
From: trauma-list-bounces at trauma.org [mailto:trauma-list-bounces at trauma.org] On Behalf Of S Schecter
Sent: Saturday, August 08, 2009 3:12 PM
To: Trauma &amp, Critical Care mailing list
Subject: Health and safety row over man who died in 18in of water..

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1203501/Health-safety-row-man-dies-water-ditch-999-services-stood-waited.html

snip...A senior fire officer banned his men from using ropes and ladders to
climb down a 15ft bank to the victim after carrying out a 'risk
assessment'...snip
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Health and safety row over man who died in 18in of water..