Sunday, December 21, 2008
Must see TV: A man and his dog. Along with sheriff's deputies, firefighters and a news crew. Colorado ice rescue turns ugly.
More fire and EMS news from STATter911.com, including another must see video.
Warning! Warning! Warning! This video from Colorado has plenty to offend for those who are bothered by an F-bomb, or two, or twenty. That said, it is well worth watching.
Here is the description that goes with it. It comes from KKCO-TV in Grand Junction and reporter Aaron Luna:
After ignoring Mesa County Sheriffs Officers, a man tries to run into a freezing lake to save his dog and tonight he is behind bars.
A frantic owner called 911 at 3:00p.m. Saturday saying his dog fell through the ice near the Rivers More..ide trail at 32 1/2 Road and D Roads.
When Clifton and the Mesa County Sheriff''s Office got there, they found the dog in the water, and its owners very upset.
As they waited for the Grand Junction Fire Department's Water Rescue Team, the pet's owner, 42-year-old Theodore Wilson, cussed at officials on scene for not trying to save his dog and then made a mad dash for the water in an attempt to do it himself.
The Sheriff's Officers tackled him sending all of them into the icy water.
As the man was led away in cuffs rescue crews arrived on scene.
Moments later the dog was rescued but not before it bit its rescuer on the hand.
Wilson is facing charges of failure to obey a lawful order and obstruction of police and fire operations.
It then escalates from a dog rescue to a person rescue. By saving a dog we eliminate the rescue of a person, in essence we are saving them from themselves. You may not like the logic but there it is.
FYI I've gone into the water to rescue a dog that went through the ice. Fortunately the people were much nicer and not genetically challenged as those in this video.
Glad the doggie survived.
Gerald M. Dworkin, Consultant
Aquatics Safety & Water Rescue
Lifesaving Resources
http://www.lifesaving.com
Also, LEA could have done a much better job at defusing the situation. At least they fixed their own mess. I've been on calls where LEA stirs the pot and then our job becomes a lot more difficult.
That being said, that family wasn't exactly a group of geniuses.
One other item, I agree with the folks stating the FD and PD didn't do much to calm the situation. I'm sure there is some audio that I missed but I never heard much reassurance that they were contacting water rescue or that they were on the way. There is a lot you can do on scene to prepare for the incoming rescue unit that the public sees as "doing something".
Just my $.02
Newsflash, a dog is not high on the priority list.
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