Fla. lifeguard aids drowning man, gets fired
CBS/AP
(CBS/AP) HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - A lifeguard who helped save a drowning man outside of his assigned patrol area was fired by his employer.
CBS Station WFOR reports that Tomas Lopez was fired Monday by Orlando-based Jeff Ellis and Associates because he broke a company rule and could have put beachgoers in his section of Hallandale Beach in jeopardy.
"We have liability issues and can't go out of the protected area," supervisor Susan Ellis told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. "What he did was his own decision. He knew the company rules and did what he thought he needed to do."
The firing of Lopez has drawn harsh criticism; two other lifeguards have quit in protest.
On Monday afternoon a beachgoer had rushed to Lopez's stand asking for help. Lopez said he saw a man struggling in the water south of his post and ran to his aid.
The man had been swimming along an unprotected stretch of beach, Hallandale Beach officials said Tuesday.
"It was a long run, but someone needed my help. I wasn't going to say no," said Lopez, 21, of Davie.
By the time Lopez arrived, several witnesses had pulled the drowning man out of the water. Lopez said the man appeared to be semi-conscious and had water in his lungs.
Lopez and an off-duty nurse helped the man until the city's paramedics arrived.
After the rescue, Lopez said his boss asked him to fill out an incident report, and then fired him for leaving his assigned area.
"They didn't tell me in a bad way. It was more like, they were sorry, but rules are rules," Lopez said. "I couldn't believe what was happening."
The rescue was performed about 1,500 feet south of the protective boundaries set by Lopez's employer.
The unprotected area has signs alerting beachgoers to swim at their own risk.
Other lifeguards watched Lopez's area during the rescue, and were on the phone with 911 operators, the company said. "The beach remained protected at all times," Ellis said.
Two other lifeguards have quit in protest of Lopez's firing. One of them, Szilard Janko, told the Sun-Sentinel, "What was he supposed to do? Watch a man drown?"
Lopez became a lifeguard four months ago after passing the company's requirements, which include swimming and physical exams. The job pays $8.25 an hour, the lifeguards said.
Hallandale Beach began outsourcing its lifeguards in 2003 to save money. The city pays Jeff Ellis and Associates about $334,000 a year to provide four lifeguards and one supervisor at the beach year-round, said city spokesman Peter Dobens.
The company also provides lifeguard services at the city's pools as part of the contract. Its contract expires this year.
The man Lopez rushed to save, whose name was not released due to privacy laws, remained hospitalized Tuesday in intensive care, Dobens said.
Popular on CBSNews.com
- Port Authority releases photo of One WTC workers at dizzying heights 140 Comments
- Thousands of U.S. bridges vulnerable to collapse
- Massive train collision takes down highway overpass
- Washington state bridge collapses 20 Photos
- Texas flooding turns deadly
- Best U.S. beaches 2013 10 Photos
- Missouri train derailment 10 Photos
- Bridge collapse blamed on tractor-trailer 330 Comments
Any decent human being no less a paid lifeguard when face with a split second decision to aid someone in distress once summoned by a member of the public would go to help.
Punished for prudent, proactive lifesaving instinctive reaction in action; yet get fired from a lifesaving job.
Rules are rules.
How utterly pathetic!
Immediately terminate all contracts with such a silly company, hire the now fired lifeguard as new supervisor, and America back on track with an example of reasoned, common sense approach again to doing day to day business by correcting one blundering decision at a time.
Our society needs a lifeguard to save it from cesspool of trendy incompetent management and feeble inaction for all negative reasons.
Good Samaritans acting in good faith need legal protection and support, not cut and run throw them under the bus leadership.
Bet if same lifeguard would also be fired if they followed rules, did not aid or react, and victim died.
Company spokesperson would have a different CYA media response; we fired our lifeguard because they didn't apply their emergency first aid training and simple common sense to assist someone in distress when requested.
I want lifeguards to leap into action to help best they can, when they can.
Rewrite the rules, fire the useless, narrowminded rule makers and enforcers!
_____________________________________________
Those of you demonizing the company, I wonder if the family of a victim who drowned in his zone would feel the same way and not sue the company for negligence due to the actions of their employee. If such had been the case, any attorney could argue this successfully in court and win. Easily. Then the company would be dropped by their insurance carrier and go out of business. The lifeguard's actions jeopardized the entire organization.
What the lifeguard did, for whatever altruistic reason, he left his zone and traveled 5 football fields away, instead of calling in support. It doesn't matter that he had "a couple other lifeguards watch his zone". They have protocols in place for a reason. Break protocol and the whole system falls on its face. It's as simple as that.
BTW, if two lifeguards suddenly must cover the the territory that should be covered by three lifeguards, doesn't that stretch the resources a little thin? So now three zones were undermanned instead of 1.
If I was this kid, I would definitly get a lawyer for pain and suffering after being fired.
bravely and did not coward under a regulation he probaly knew from
orientation. How could he react to a kid's question 'Why did you
not help my dad when he was dying?'. We should all help each other,
especially those in which there is imment danger. We have forgotten
small town values when everyone pulls together as one to watch for
each other. I would truly trust this young unemployed young man
in any job.
No, whether there were two other guards or not is not the issue, the issue is the guard broke the company rules and the idiot who was drowning totally IGNORED the signs that stated "swim at YOUR OWN risk"
**********************
OMG! God forbid that anybody "break the company rules"... After all, "companies" are what run the universe... LMAO! Other lifeguards watched Lopez's area during the rescue, and were on the phone with 911 operators, the company said. "The beach remained protected at all times," Ellis said. Wow! Let's just let somebody die and not try to help because it's "breaking the company rules".. So much for "Corporate America"!!!
Granted the guy "ignored" the signs. Maybe he didn't see them. Maybe he thought he was a better swimmer than he really is. Maybe he had a cramp. So what!! knewsteerrrrr, the only "idiot" here is you.