River Rescues

As a former San Diego city lifeguard, I was appalled and shocked to see the Elfin Forest-Harmony Grove Fire Department using dangerous and antiquated river rescue methods that could prove fatal to themselves or rescue victims (July 15).

Unless my eyes are deceiving me, one Times photo shows Fire Department personnel dragging a supposed victim directly into the current with a rope--the wrong thing to do. The pressure of the water on a fixed object attached to an unyielding rope will drag the object under--especially when the rope is coming in at an angle overhead--and can drown the victim. Luckily, however, the current at the Encino Power Plant outfall, where the so-called “rescue training” took place, was only moving at about 6 m.p.h. Had it been moving faster, a serious injury or fatality could have resulted.

Another photo shows a Fire Department trainee diving head first into the simulated river channel. That’s not a good idea either, under any circumstances.

Generally speaking, firefighters aren’t equipped or prepared for rough-water rescue work. But, if they are going to undertake this responsibility, they should be properly trained in these techniques. If the Elfin Forest-Harmony Grove Fire Department is smart, it would contract with San Diego city lifeguards to provide this specialized training--just as authorities in Los Angeles did recently.

RONALD W. JENSEN, San Diego