If I had known then what I do now.

[SeaCat]

Today I was involved in a rescue. I had to help a LifeGaurd rescue two men from Rip Currents they had been caught in. It wasn't fun nor was it easy.

After the rescue, while these two guys were being evaluated by the Paramedics they started complaining loudly. They hadn't been appropriatly warned about the dangers with the waters, they were threatening to sue the county.

The Lifegaurd told me he had repeatedly warned them away from the water even though the Red Flag was flying. It was clearly marked on the entrance sign that there were rip currents. They had gone out into the water and got caught. They had fought against the currents quickly wearing themselves out.

It was a rescue as so many of them are, that shouldn't have had to happen.

If I had known before I hit the water what I did after getting my guy to shore maybe I would have taken my time getting to them. Maybe then they would have learned a little lesson al divers know. Don't play games with Mother Nature, you won't win.

Cat

 

[starrkers]

But Cats, it's not their fault they're bloody idiots!
The signs should've been 20 ft high and with flashing lights.

(yes, I'm being highly sarcastic, in case you missed it)

 

[CeriseNoire]

How weird. I was just rolling my eyes at seeing the umpteenth warning on the news about rip currents. I thought they weregetting a bit redundant. Guess not enough.

 

[TE999]

Idiots are like gasoline where waters concerned.

Neither mix with it very well.

You did a brave thing cat. Kudos.

 

[Roxanne Appleby]

Oh, that thread title speaks volumes, and not just about the subject here.

A few months ago, one of our friends here posted this in Blurt:

"Do I allow the current to sweep me along, or do I swim upstream?"

I responded with the following, taken from my own experence as a youth many decades ago:

"That's very abstract so I don't know (obviously, duh, it's your life, and this is just a blurt), but I do have some experience with the real world version of the metaphor, specifically Great Lakes undertows, rip-tides, etc., and trying to fight the current there will get you drowned, while going with the flow will just land you 100 yards further down the beach from where you intended, a minute later than you intended. Which almost certainly is completely irrelevent to whatever you are talking about, but there it is anyway."

Sigh . . . :wistful emoticon:


PS. Our friend said that she actually found this helpful advice.

 

[SeaCat]

But Cats, it's not their fault they're bloody idiots!
The signs should've been 20 ft high and with flashing lights.

(yes, I'm being highly sarcastic, in case you missed it)

Sarcasm is a great thing.

Let me give you a bit of a run down on the situation.

I had gone to a local beach to do som snorkeling. The conditions were rough, waves were washing in at around six feet with heavy rip currents. I had my kit with me. A shorty 3mm wetsuit, a light weight belt, mask and fins.

Now I grew up around the water and have been diving for the last 20 years.

We hit the beach and I geared up after watching the waters and talking with the Lifegaurds. (They know the local conditions.)

I use the currents to do the heavy work, taking me out to where I want to dive. I spent more than an hour in the water with no problems, but then again I know Mother Nature. (She's a good friend of mine.)

I had come back on shore and just pulled off my fins when I saw the lifegaurd out in the water trying to rescue not one but two people. From the way they were moving and the location I knew they had been caught by one of the rips. I told my wife to call 9-1-1 while I grabbed my fins and headed down the beach.

I used the rip to get out to where they were and grabbed one of the guys. This allowed the Lifegaurd to work with the other.

Even though I had left my weight belt on shore and was dressed for the occasion it was a bit dicey. The guy I was trying to rescue was panicked and started fighting me. It took a bit of work to get him subdued but I did it. I dragged him back to shore using the waves to help me hau his ass in.

Maybe I should have allowed Mother Nature to cleanse the Gene Pool? Nah, She may have taken the life of the Lifegaurd as well.

Cat

 

[SeaCat]

Idiots are like gasoline where waters concerned.

Neither mix with it very well.

You did a brave thing cat. Kudos.

I don't know about doing somthing brave, what I did was to help another underpaid person in the carrying out of their duties.

I grew up around the water. I have been in it during conditions that make most people cringe.

Rip Currents don't scare me, I use them to do what I want to do. I understand them. Too bad so many other people don't.

Cat

 

[cloudy]

I don't know about doing somthing brave, what I did was to help another underpaid person in the carrying out of their duties.

I grew up around the water. I have been in it during conditions that make most people cringe.

Rip Currents don't scare me, I use them to do what I want to do. I understand them. Too bad so many other people don't.

Cat

I've had to pull people out of the water before (I have my WSI certification) - it can be a frightening experience, especially when they panic and fight you.

I had to punch somebody once.

Nice job, Cat.

 

[only_more_so]

This reminds me of a story a guy at work told me today. We were talking about doing "exciting" things like roller coasters, then it became sky-diving, bungee jumping, etc. Anyway, this guy said no way would he hang glide. When he was a kid he apparently saw a guy trying to hang-glide and ending up tumbling down a rocky cliff (made it out to be about a 45 degree slope). Anyway he turned to his father and said, "Aren't you going to help him?" His father replied, "He was the idiot who jumped off a cliff."

I am all in favor of the darwin awards and cleansing the gene pool of stupid people. But I just know that if I were in Seacat's position (with his experience in the water) then I would have done the same thing, even knowing the person was in trouble because of his own stupidity.

However that doesn't stop me from being pissed off at people who do stupid things that nearly get them killed and then have to be rescued, often with risk to the people doing the rescuing. Like the "Xtreme" athletes who constantly end up in the emergency room.

 

[elsol]

If I had known before I hit the water what I did after getting my guy to shore maybe I would have taken my time getting to them. Maybe then they would have learned a little lesson al divers know. Don't play games with Mother Nature, you won't win.

Cat

No, you wouldn't have.