These 40 people rescued in Tenby.....
Discussion
Just watched an interview with these three life guards on the tele....
At face value from the reports, it seems like these guys should get a medal and maybe a movie deal.....
http://www.birminghampost.net/news/west-midlands-n...
But some things are just not stacking up to me:
Where are the reports from the gratefully rescued, from the families of the children?
4000 people on the beach and no ones got actual footage of the rescue?
Many indeviduals swept under the water but no one needing prolonged re-sus?
No queue of ambulances ferrying victims to intensive care.....
According to the story, a number of fully clothed individuals where swept under the water and got "dragged under" by the raging waters.....
Um, so how exactly have 2 guys managed to save all these people from drowning? (despite reports, the girl from the RNLI wasn't actually on the scene).
I understand they are even saying some could have succumbed to hypothermia. On a sunny beach in Wales on a warm day..... (I've sufferred hypothermia in Tenby before, but apparantly the weather was reasonable)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/jul/26/tenby-you...
Surely, if some organisation (this 'Action Camp') had tried to drown 36 youngsters who "could barely swim and many had never even seen the sea" then there would by now have been arrested by the Police...? Ah, some beardy nutters - lets release the H&S attack dogs on them..... bunch of wiredos.
I just think this is being 'media-exagerated' way beyond the real truth.
I fear that this story is making a Health and Saftey mountain out of a molehill, and the real victim might end up being Tenby itself, where apparantly the very sand can be swept away from under your feet and leave you drowning in seconds..... You can go from 'ankle depth' to out of your depth within a blink of an eye (really? I dont think so, not on tenby's beaches - not without some kind of tropical storm, anyway).
Oh, and as an aside, I also think that RNLI rescuer 'Coral Lewis' will shortly be offerred a couple of pages in 'NUTS' or 'ZOO' magazine. Sweet little thing.
At face value from the reports, it seems like these guys should get a medal and maybe a movie deal.....
http://www.birminghampost.net/news/west-midlands-n...
But some things are just not stacking up to me:
Where are the reports from the gratefully rescued, from the families of the children?
4000 people on the beach and no ones got actual footage of the rescue?
Many indeviduals swept under the water but no one needing prolonged re-sus?
No queue of ambulances ferrying victims to intensive care.....
According to the story, a number of fully clothed individuals where swept under the water and got "dragged under" by the raging waters.....
Um, so how exactly have 2 guys managed to save all these people from drowning? (despite reports, the girl from the RNLI wasn't actually on the scene).
I understand they are even saying some could have succumbed to hypothermia. On a sunny beach in Wales on a warm day..... (I've sufferred hypothermia in Tenby before, but apparantly the weather was reasonable)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/jul/26/tenby-you...
Surely, if some organisation (this 'Action Camp') had tried to drown 36 youngsters who "could barely swim and many had never even seen the sea" then there would by now have been arrested by the Police...? Ah, some beardy nutters - lets release the H&S attack dogs on them..... bunch of wiredos.
I just think this is being 'media-exagerated' way beyond the real truth.
I fear that this story is making a Health and Saftey mountain out of a molehill, and the real victim might end up being Tenby itself, where apparantly the very sand can be swept away from under your feet and leave you drowning in seconds..... You can go from 'ankle depth' to out of your depth within a blink of an eye (really? I dont think so, not on tenby's beaches - not without some kind of tropical storm, anyway).
Oh, and as an aside, I also think that RNLI rescuer 'Coral Lewis' will shortly be offerred a couple of pages in 'NUTS' or 'ZOO' magazine. Sweet little thing.
Edited by Tony*T3 on Monday 27th July 08:49
Lifeguard said:
Johnson said: "As I got there all 40 of them were on the sandbank and about knee deep in water. Then the sandbank shifted in the tide and suddenly a lot of them were out of their depths.
The Guardian article said:
Bill Fitzgerald, the leader of the group, thanked the lifeguards for their help – but claimed the incident had been exaggerated. He said that only two young people had been out of their depth. Of the two who had needed medical treatment, one had simply swallowed a mouthful of water. The second was a strong swimmer who had asthma. Both were fine, he said.
The girl is quite cute though.Tony*T3 said:
I understand they are even saying some could have succumbed to hypothermia. On a sunny beach in Wales on a warm day..... (I've sufferred hypothermia in Tenby before, but apparantly the weather was reasonable)
You'd be amazed how quickly you can succumb to cold water, and how quickly the water can get cold.Three young, fit and healthy men drowned in Ullswater a couple of years ago on a hot and sunny day. Up to waist depth the water was reasonably warm, though once you swim over the deep shelf you get hit by a sudden burst of cold water that really does shock you.
I was swimming in Ullswater a few weeks ago during the hot stretch we had, and it was amazing the difference in temperature in sections of water literally 2 feet apart.
Shirley its a bit awkward to suppose this without knowing the conditions? On Saturday it was sunny where I was in Wales a but it was nippy, I would not have stayed out long without a jacket unless I was being active. And not taking into account the local conditions such as water temp and the sand bank and have to ask were you there as I can find no mention of 4000 on the beach?
dirkgently said:
There was also a mention of one of the victims suffering secondary drowning,I have never heard of secondary drowning. Do you have to have primary drowning first?
http://www.firstaidtopics.com/secondary-drowning/Given that the RNLI are not usually given to exagerating what they do, and that the person organising the trip is probably trying to save his own backside, I know which account I would lean towards believing. People constantly underestimate the sea and find themselves in danger that they sometimes do not appreciate until it is too late.
jmorgan said:
Shirley its a bit awkward to suppose this without knowing the conditions? On Saturday it was sunny where I was in Wales a but it was nippy, I would not have stayed out long without a jacket unless I was being active. And not taking into account the local conditions such as water temp and the sand bank and have to ask were you there as I can find no mention of 4000 on the beach?
the '4000' on the beach came from the TV report this morning. Tenby has large beachs and if the weather was reasonable then this amount of people on the beaches at this time of year would be fairly accurate i'd guess.I'm not knocking the RNLI so much as the media coverage. The TV headlines over the weekend were that 36 children and 4 adults were rescued and were in immidiate life threatening danger. I'd suggest the reports that maybe one of two kids got a bit distressed is more accurate. Without doubt the presance of the RNLI staff stopped this from escalating into a national disaster, but did this actually occur, or was it merely prevented? bit of a differance.
Without doubt the guy leading the group is covering his backside to some extent, but given the headlines, he'd need to, wouldnt he....?
el stovey said:
Lifeguard said:
Johnson said: "As I got there all 40 of them were on the sandbank and about knee deep in water. Then the sandbank shifted in the tide and suddenly a lot of them were out of their depths.
The Guardian article said:
Bill Fitzgerald, the leader of the group, thanked the lifeguards for their help – but claimed the incident had been exaggerated. He said that only two young people had been out of their depth. Of the two who had needed medical treatment, one had simply swallowed a mouthful of water. The second was a strong swimmer who had asthma. Both were fine, he said.
The girl is quite cute though.IGNORE IT FFS!!!
Tony*T3 said:
jmorgan said:
Shirley its a bit awkward to suppose this without knowing the conditions? On Saturday it was sunny where I was in Wales a but it was nippy, I would not have stayed out long without a jacket unless I was being active. And not taking into account the local conditions such as water temp and the sand bank and have to ask were you there as I can find no mention of 4000 on the beach?
the '4000' on the beach came from the TV report this morning. Tenby has large beachs and if the weather was reasonable then this amount of people on the beaches at this time of year would be fairly accurate i'd guess.I'm not knocking the RNLI so much as the media coverage. The TV headlines over the weekend were that 36 children and 4 adults were rescued and were in immidiate life threatening danger. I'd suggest the reports that maybe one of two kids got a bit distressed is more accurate. Without doubt the presance of the RNLI staff stopped this from escalating into a national disaster, but did this actually occur, or was it merely prevented? bit of a differance.
Without doubt the guy leading the group is covering his backside to some extent, but given the headlines, he'd need to, wouldnt he....?
The report on line looks like a camera on a long shot, it does appear to be devoid of people on that part of the beach. The flare smoke is horizontal straight off the top of the flare. I have been to Tenby a few times but not for a long while so cannot say that the life guards are wrong and must ere in their favour. In a group that large I would hazard a guess that a fair proportion would be useless in the water on a good day at the coast. Some of the rip tides close to shore really shift and once footing has gone its a toss up as to survival. Maybe.
el stovey said:
Lifeguard said:
Johnson said: "As I got there all 40 of them were on the sandbank and about knee deep in water. Then the sandbank shifted in the tide and suddenly a lot of them were out of their depths.
The Guardian article said:
Bill Fitzgerald, the leader of the group, thanked the lifeguards for their help – but claimed the incident had been exaggerated. He said that only two young people had been out of their depth. Of the two who had needed medical treatment, one had simply swallowed a mouthful of water. The second was a strong swimmer who had asthma. Both were fine, he said.
The girl is quite cute though.Gassing Station | News, Politics & Economics | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff