Humanity. San Francisco has none.

[Chelsea C.]

And what would happen if that dingy flipped and 1, 2, 3, or 4+ men were now stranded with the original suicidal man? What should the bystanders commandeer then? I'm sorry, but I disagree with your logic. This man did this to himself; he isn't someone who got swept away by an undertow. This is a man who purposely put his life in harms way and demanded others do the same. He died, and that's terrible. However, no one else lost their life in the process, which would have been even more horrendous.

[ZombieMama]

Ignorance to the situation is not commandeering a speed boat, raft, rubber fucking dingy or ANYTHING that could be used to do your job and not stand on the beach watching like assholes. Sorry man, but defending apathy under the pretense of 'oh the water was too cold, we couldn't go in' is complete bullshit. It took an hour for him to die. An hour. Not 15 minutes. Not 40 minutes. An hour. Standing idle and doing nothing is pussying out.

It didnt take him an hour to die. It took an hour before someone went in and got him. Its true that there are several factors that you are not taking into consideration too.
Lik Broomstick and CC said, a suicidal man has gone past the line of sanity and moved onto a very unpredictible field. This man did this on purpose, now that doesnt mean he did not need rescuing, but it means any atempt at rescuing him should be carefully planned. Which wasn't feasable because of those damn cuts.
Look any other suicidal suicidal situations. You cant run at someone and take their gun away when they are pointing it at themseleves, nor can you just casually pull someone off the edge of a balcony. As unfortunate as this situation is, I think a lot of people are seriously missing the big pictue here.
This is seemingly the first incident to occur on those shores since that budget cut was made, and they where lucky it was this and not a serious accident like, say a child falling off a boat. It could have ben much wors.
It's sad that it takes these kind of events to make politicians think things with their minds instead of their wallets, but it could have ben WAY worse.

[Boomstick]

Ignorance to the situation is not commandeering a speed boat, raft, rubber fucking dingy or ANYTHING that could be used to do your job and not stand on the beach watching like assholes. Sorry man, but defending apathy under the pretense of 'oh the water was too cold, we couldn't go in' is complete bullshit. It took an hour for him to die. An hour. Not 15 minutes. Not 40 minutes. An hour. Standing idle and doing nothing is pussying out.

you assume they're were motorized water floatation vehicles around. Also, in the article they tried getting a coast guard boat to him but because where the man was, it was too shallow for the boat to get to him. I don't know the size of the CG boat used in this attempted rescue but I know where I live they use a standard 25ft patrol boat for coastal rescuing. If a 25ft boat can't get to you, not many boats can.

You are right the article stated that it took an hour for the man to die. However given his age, we can estimate that hypothermia symptoms probably started sooner than 20 minutes. It was probably more Likely 15-20 minute mark. But using your logic, lets say that the man didn't suffer from any effects of hypothermia, he had an hour to turn around and get back to shore.

There is definitely such thing as too cold of water. If there wasn't then there wouldnt be a thing called hypothermia and we could all go swimming in the Arctic Circle while sipping on margaritas. Despite the popular belief, First Responders aren't invincible. They are bound to same laws of science as the rest of us mere mortals. Again don't mistake Bravery for stupidity.

[Re1ndeer]

What about the 75 people that just stood there, too. They weren't being stopped by any policies. Were they chickening out by not doing anything also?

[ZombieMama]

What about the 75 people that just stood there, too. They weren't being stopped by any policies. Were they chickening out by not doing anything also?

okay... regular people have an even worse chance of rescuing a suicide attempt than a trained Rescue Personel. It would have been extremely irresponsible for the First Response team to even allow anyone to go in. If no one went in is because they couldnt. Remember these poeple didnt stand around to point and laugh

[Chelsea C.]

okay... regular people have an even worse chance of rescuing a suicide attempt than a trained Rescue Personel. It would have been extremely irresponsible for the First Response team to even allow anyone to go in. If no one went in is because they couldnt. Remember these poeple didnt stand around to point and laugh

I think he was agreeing with us by saying 75 people didn't help because the situation didn't allow it. He was saying that being "chicken" wasn't the problem. The environment and unpredictability of the situation was to blame; not peoples' compassion.

[Osiris]

Well let's not compare apples and oranges. We're not talking about guns and balconies. I'm simply disagreeing with the people whose job it is to save lives, standing around watching based on 'following orders'.

Witness account:

Jenne Olgeirson, from Alameda, said: 'The police arrived while the man was still standing in the water and watched as he drowned.

'He then "bobbed" in the water for at least 30 minutes while they watched with binoculars. They did nothing. There was no boat and the helicopter did not arrive until after he had been pulled from the water.

'He was only 100 yards off the shoreline and the water was not choppy.'

Apathy and policy prevented rescue. Say what you will, I disagree with you.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...#ixzz1OA5Gm3mh
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[Re1ndeer]

I was trying to point out that it wasn't just the first responders not doing anything. I just don't like it that they are the ones getting all the blame. I am a trained lifeguard and I would not have gone in.

Also, we need to remember that he continued to walk out as the hour went on. All he had to do was walk the opposite direction and he wouldn't have died.

[Chelsea C.]

Well let's not compare apples and oranges. We're not talking about guns and balconies. I'm simply disagreeing with the people whose job it is to save lives, standing around watching based on 'following orders'.

Witness account:

Jenne Olgeirson, from Alameda, said: 'The police arrived while the man was still standing in the water and watched as he drowned.

'He then "bobbed" in the water for at least 30 minutes while they watched with binoculars. They did nothing. There was no boat and the helicopter did not arrive until after he had been pulled from the water.

'He was only 100 yards off the shoreline and the water was not choppy.'

Apathy and policy prevented rescue. Say what you will, I disagree with you.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...#ixzz1OA5Gm3mh
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Unless you were there, you can't say they didn't exhaust all resources. From what's been presented to me, I feel they made the right decisions.

[Osiris]

you assume they're were motorized water floatation vehicles around. Also, in the article they tried getting a coast guard boat to him but because where the man was, it was too shallow for the boat to get to him. I don't know the size of the CG boat used in this attempted rescue but I know where I live they use a standard 25ft patrol boat for coastal rescuing. If a 25ft boat can't get to you, not many boats can.

You are right the article stated that it took an hour for the man to die. However given his age, we can estimate that hypothermia symptoms probably started sooner than 20 minutes. It was probably more Likely 15-20 minute mark. But using your logic, lets say that the man didn't suffer from any effects of hypothermia, he had an hour to turn around and get back to shore.

There is definitely such thing as too cold of water. If there wasn't then there wouldnt be a thing called hypothermia and we could all go swimming in the Arctic Circle while sipping on margaritas. Despite the popular belief, First Responders aren't invincible. They are bound to same laws of science as the rest of us mere mortals. Again don't mistake Bravery for stupidity.

Really? Hypothermia? I had no idea that was even possible! Thanks for informing me!

Also, thanks for your assumptions about needing a motorized water flotation vehicle to go onto the water, as well as my intent with the original comment. Show's you were all there when reading it.

Again, don't mistake Apathy for intelligence.