Defending Alameda’s Non-Action

This past Memorial Day, Raymond Zack decided to take his own life, and the Alameda (Calif.) Fire Department did nothing to help.

How do you feel about this?

I give credit to the firefighters on scene for resisting the urge to run in and try to save someone in a discipline for which they weren’t trained (and likely not equipped)–and to do so for an individual who didn’t want to be saved in the first place. Had one of the untrained responders acted, the headline could easily have read, “Firefighter Killed in Rescue Attempt of a Suicidal Man.” If that isn’t bad enough, try “Firefighters Killed in Rescue Attempt of a Suicidal Man.”

Because the fact is, in 2011 so far, three firefighters have died in water-rescue attempts.

Some of the “ethics critics” and local and national media personnel have expressed outrage that the firefighters simply stood by and watched a man take his own life. These critics have never stood in a firefighter’s shoes, and many don’t possess the courage to do so. In short, their feelings are misdirected. According to the San Jose Mercury News, the Alameda Fire Department had money for water-rescue training, but chose not to provide such training to firefighters. One can hardly blame the firefighters for not doing a task that they weren’t trained for. (Interestingly, if a suicidal person were standing in the middle of a football field with a gun to his head, we’d never hear about firefighters on scene not doing anything to stop him.)

This story hit home for me because my community is in a similar situation. Lake Granbury is a popular lake south of Fort Worth, Texas, on the Brazos River. It covers 8,310 acres and 103 miles of shoreline. Because this is a rural community, there are also numerous stock tanks (ponds), and firefighters must also respond to incidents at both ends of the river above and below the lake. The fire department has two boats that are in dire need of replacement, and the department’s dive gear consists of 1970s vintage regulators. When I was on the department, there were a handful of personnel who used their own dive gear when the time came for a water operation. As the department is all-volunteer, and the boats are housed in the station, miles from a boat ramp, recovery mode is the norm for operations.

Over the years, the department tried to obtain funding and training for water operations, but the infrequency of the operations (one or two recoveries a year) couldn’t justify the cost. I’m sure the situation is similar in many communities across the nation.

The lesson of the Alameda suicide by drowning is not that the firefighters failed to carry out their job. It is, rather, a reminder that fire and rescue operations require professionals who are properly trained and equipped, and that their training teaches them to evaluate risk vs. benefit. If our communities desire rescuers, they will train and equip them. If they don’t, recovery will be the best option.