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Posted 6/6/11 by Common Good
Legal Idiocy #14: Legal Fear Prevents Rescue of Drowning Man
San Francisco’s ABC News affiliate reports that firefighters in Alameda, CA, were prevented from rescuing a suicidal man—who drowned 150 yards offshore, after being in the water for over an hour—because they were not certified “in land-based water rescues.” And without such certification, a fire division chief explained, the city could’ve been exposed to liability. Rules even prevented the department from recovering the body, a task which was left to a 20-something onlooker.
In June 2011, shortly after the incident, the fire department announced that it was changing its policy to allow firefighter commanders to use their “discretion” in similar future circumstances.