South Florida lifeguard fired after saving life

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.

"I'm not going to put my job over helping someone. I'm going to do what I felt was
right and I did it," said Lopez.

You're Fired

Saw this.  Dude deserves a medal from the Haulover city commissioner and that private firm needs to be "let go".   Putting their policy above a human life shows what really matters to them and it ain't the beachgoers.. especially when other guards had Lopez' assigned area covered while he responded to a life endangering situation.  Common sense ain't so common these days

anyone else read thouse numbers? $334,000 dollars a year for 4 lifeguards and 1 supervisor ???!!! someone is pocketing some extra cashola!

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R I P Mama G.

read this earlier on the huffington post. such bullshit. another classic example of $$$/People. corporations will ruin this country/world.

really really sad. good on this dude for sayin f u to the job and upholding his morale!

that's only a bit less than some lifeguards get in Newport Bch, ..SoFla is the new Cali! Can you really pay them enough, tho?

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And Bob will ALWAYS be my numero uno. -Tiffanys

Year round positions right?
Say $25K for each lifeguard and $40K for the supervisor,
$140K x 2 for benefits, training and equipment, taxes, etc.
About $300K /year rough estimate?
Stuff costs money.

edit: and forgot to say good on the guard
and fire the super.
Saves $80K right there.

Liability issues??? I guess it's better to let someone drown while you watch. Looks like some other guards quit to support their co-worker. Good for them. Hope they find new jobs.

someone i spoke to said liability issue too but isn't there an act put in place that
protects us as citizens in this case? regardless, this is what should have been
done. whenever someone is the witness of a crime that is harming another human,
that witness can be taken to jail for just watching and letting it happen

and i could only assume that the same would happen if a lifegaurd was watching
someone drown

911 wouldn't had responded fast enough

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hey, i don't know if you read this yet ----------> I <3 16streets.com

thank you Sean O'hare

The contractor, Jeff Ellis Associates, is likely taking the biggest cut, and probably isn't providing benefits to their lifeguards.

It is the good samaritan law. Basically in a "liability case" that the company feared it would give the jury the options to say dude saved a life, we will not hold the company liable.  In fact, it really requires that the guy save the life, rather than stand there and watch if he is trained and able to do so.

 

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Serf Therapy

 

Curiously enough, the site
www.­jeffellismanagem­ent.­com
is down today. I wonder how they're trying to spin this one.

As other cities consider outsourcing to save money, I hope the word spreads enough that Jeff Ellis Managem­ent never gets another contract, from any city, EVER.

Congrats and full support to the lifeguards who did the right thing.


Edit: If you read this link:
http://www.wptv.com/dpp/news/s...agement-prompts-outcry

you get this

which makes it sound a little like Jeff Ellis is claiming distance from what happened,

but then it goes on:


Straight from the horse's mouth. Boycott Jeff Ellis.


Edit: Alternate link for Ellis: https://www.jellis.com/

Edited: 07/05/2012 at 10:41 AM by RegularJoe

Public Facebook page (complete with annoying timeline!)
supporting a boycott of Jeff Ellis Management.
http://www.facebook.com/Boycot...BeachSupportTomasLopez

Interesting article with a picture of the man of the hour....

http://www.aquaticsintl.com/2009/feb/0902p_ellis.html

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Formerly rippinsurfer01... Ride or Die.

Just an indication of what you get when you privatize services! Next time you are in need
of an ocean rescue.... call a lawyer! We made rescues all the time off our stations. You would
call so that your tower would be covered and go to make the rescue. Never any question
with the City of Miami Beach.

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You'd think that lifeguards, like Doctors, would take some type of oath. Let's say in the case of life guards, swear to save anyone from danger in the water regardless of who they are or where they are. And it would over ride any and all political semantics...

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 It's spring time, for Hitler, and Germany...

 

Every lifeguard takes that oath silently and privately once they are in their first training course.
Because every lifeguard ... experienced, or in training ... realize they will do whatever they can to prevent a drowning.
Doesn't matter when or where ... on duty or off duty ... a lifeguard will react.

Like da Hodad, I was an ocean lifeguard.
For me, it was on one of those south facing Outer Banks beaches, know for notorious afternoon rips. "Protected" swiming areas were roped off with thick rope and buoys supported by pilings out thru the surf. We sprinted many times up and down the beach away from that marked zone to rescue anyone in need. Saved many, lost a few.

The lifeguard made the right decision and a life was sparred.
Today I learned they offered the job back to him, but he refused.

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... positioning and selection

Its a good thing BCOR isnt run that way. Were only held liable for what happens in our protected areas but that doesnt mean we cant go outside of it in response to an emergency. lve done that several times and was never even threatened to get fired. I guess thats what hallandale gets for contracting a company from orlando of all places run by non beach guards. I dont see how one person leaving the designated area is a liability problem if there is backup in place like there should be as most other ocean rescue agencies have. 

been in Florida long? what makes sense elsewhere is quite often the opposite here, and its usually due to regulations.

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And Bob will ALWAYS be my numero uno. -Tiffanys

We used to say " a good lifeguard doesn't get wet." meaning that you manage your water
and keep people out of the rips and runouts by using your whistle, flags and bullhorn if you
had one. Most often the active rescues were in the "unguarded" areas that you couldn't
manage.

One of my favorites was during spring break... one tower at 79th street and one at 74th street.
A rip had been pulling at 77th street for days but it was so rough that no one was swimming
there. I spotted a group of teens heading directly out from the street end and called my buddy
at 79. We knew what was going to happen. He took two buoys and I lugged a resuscitator
and two buoys (all 150 lbs of me) toward 77

The kids had put their stuff down and hit the water immediately... we were half way out to them
by the time that they realized they were in trouble. There were 5 teens and 4 buoys with one
heck of a current. We maintained a calm demeanor and asked for their assistance in swimming
together southward , parallel to the beach and out of the rip. Man, we were all tired by the time
we got to shore.

I say this was one of my favorite rescues because we anticipated the necessary action and
had active, young victims to work with. All of our rescues didn't turn our so well but no matter
what we would bust our butts to make a save wherever it was.

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