An injured woman lay for six hours at the foot of a disused mine shaft because safety rules banned firefighters from rescuing her, an inquiry heard yesterday. As Alison Hume was brought to the surface by mountain rescuers she died of a heart attack.
A senior fire officer at the scene admitted that crews could only listen to her cries for help, after she fell down the 60ft shaft, because regulations said their lifting equipment could not be used on the public. A memo had been circulated in Strathclyde Fire and Rescue stations months previously stating that it was for use by firefighters only.
It's kind of amazing: I'm sitting here not(yet at least) saying the things I ought to. I guess because I can't think of a truly fitting way to describe the people involved in this. And the ending of the article makes it even better:
A firefighter, Alexander Dunn, was lowered with oxygen and first-aid equipment. He was with Ms Hume for four hours until the mountain team arrived. He told the inquiry that the time taken to rescue her was “excessive”. Mr Dunn, 51, who is retired, was critical of the subsequent fire service debriefing, saying it failed to address key points.
So one of the bastards was actually down there with her, but they couldn't manage to find enough of what's left of their testicles to pull her out... Because deity forbid they should disobey the fucking memo...
Usually I don't say things like this, but I thank God some of my ancestors got the hell out of Britain long ago, while more of the people there still had their testicles and ovaries.
2 comments:
Fire Brigades and old mines is a thorny one. Yes, if it was a straight lift, they should have done it, and bollocks to the "Safety" bullshit, which on first reading sounds as though it is mis written and mis understood.
By all means, only fire brigade people to operate it, and by all means, no sending people for joy rides on it, but for fuck sake use it to rescue someone who's life is at risk.
The danger with sending fire brigades under ground is they really can't be expected to understand the risks as well as the volounteer cave and mine rescue teams do. in that environment they're a risk to themselves and every one else.
FB,
It is my firm belief that the American Revolution would have never happened if it was left up to the Americans we have today. Doing "what is right" has been left by the wayside. Now it's "doing what someone tells me too". And you can see this in the news almost every day. Sometimes we see a news article that highlights that people of our founder's spirit still exist, but it's the exclusion, not the rule. Disappointing to say the least.
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