After-Action Report Faults Jargon, Unfamiliarity

A team of consultants hired by the island city of Alameda (N. Calif.) to analyze a drowning incident has issued a report that criticizes the city for eliminating a rescue swimmer program to save money, and notes that fire officers and dispatchers were unfamiliar with available resources from surrounding jurisdictions that might have saved the victim. Raymond Zach, 52, waded out into the water at Crown Beach last May in an apparent suicide attempt. Passersby dialed 911, and arriving police then requested fire department assistance. However, arriving firefighters had no boats and weren’t certified to enter the water because the department’s water rescue program had been cut in a 2008 budget reduction. Firefighters and police officers stood on shore for 31 minutes and could only watch, while city dispatchers requested a Coast Guard response, and telephoned surrounding agencies to determine if they had boats to rescue Zach. The consultants learned that dispatchers used the term “RHIB” when requesting a shallow-water boat from the Coast Guard, which is pronounced the same as “RBS,” a Coast Guard term for a larger rescue boat. When the Coast Guard arrived on-scene, their 25-foot boat couldn’t move into the shallow water to reach Zach. Zach collapsed in the water, and a passerby eventually waded out into the water to pull him to shore. The consultants recommended improved communications between the city’s police and fire departments, improved awareness of available mutual aid resources, and the use of plain English when communicating with other public safety agencies. Download (pdf) the consultants’ full report here.