Health and Safety? My A**E!!!!

[Bee_Jay]

This really winds me up, I have known the lads involved for many years and this is absolute madness.

Health and Safety gone mad? More like Health and Safety needs sectioning...

http://www.thisissouthdevon.co.uk/news/Rescue-boat...

article said:

A SEASIDE South Devon village has reacted with fury after coastguard bosses 'confiscated' their life saving rescue boat because the volunteer crew ignored health and safety rules to save a drowning girl.

The Hope Cove crew were forbidden to launch their 5.5-metre inflatable rescue boat to save the girl, even though she was struggling in a potentially deadly rip tide just 150 yards in front of them.

Instead, they were told the Salcombe inshore lifeboat was being sent to her rescue — six miles and at least 20 minutes away.

The Hope Cove crew claim that at about this time they suddenly lost radio contact with the coastguard nerve centre at Brixham, and launched anyway to save girl.

Three hours later coastguard officers turned up at Hope Cove, hitched up the village's rescue boat and towed it away to Kingsbridge, where it has been kept under lock and key ever since.
Click here!

Today, a coastguard spokesman warned that the Hope Cove volunteer team could face disciplinary action for what they did.

[The Curn]

I sincerely hope that the person/s responsible for confiscating the boat, are the same people who next get into difficulties in this stretch water. Their subsequent death through drowning would be most satisfying and amusing.

wrs.

[scorp]

Even if they did break some regulation you would hope they would have the humanity to let it slide. This is Britain though, so we all know what will happen.

[Bee_Jay]

How anyone could expect someone to just stand on a beach and watch a kid wash out to sea when you have the equipment and experience to hand because someone told you not to is inconceivable.

I wish I knew who it was made that 'decision' so I could go and have a word...

[magpie215]

living by the coast as I do I would hope in those circumstances our local lifeboat lads would ignore the rules and launch out too.

Presumably the girl in this story was rescued and no one was injured in the process if so fair play to the voluteer crew for making a judgement call on the basis of them being on scene and making an impromptu risk assesment and launching anyway.

[Pesty]

only in this country would something like this happen

[johnnywb]

I don't know the guys involved, but i know a lot of the Salcombe lifeboat crew and the Hope Cove guys are no different to them. Thankfully, none of them are jobsworths and all have enough common sense intact to know what the right thing to do is.

It reminds me of the story a few months ago about the coastguard who got reprimanded for going over a cliff to save a girl without waiting for a proper set up, which, had he waited for, would likely have meant the girl would have fallen to her death.

Ridiculous. Thankfully there's still decent people out there.

In the same vain it infuriates me that despite being a trained first aider as a divemaster and sailing instructor, when working as a ski rep in the winter, if on duty, i'm not allowed to give first aid as i'm not insured by the company. WTF??!?!?!?!?

[tomTVR]

Pesty said:

only in this country would something like this happen

And what is worse its genuinely starting to not suprise me any more.