River rescue shows ‘slavish adherence’ to safety has gone too far
Saturday 1 May 2010
Noted in Herald letters
I was most surprised to read that George Parsonage, who has probably more experience in river rescue than all Scotland’s firefighters, should have been threatened with arrest as he attempted to rescue a drowning woman from the Clyde (“Lifeguard ‘threatened with arrest’ over river rescue bid”, The Herald, April 27). For the fire and rescue service even to contemplate such a course of action is ridiculous.
Has slavish adherence to health and safety guidelines gone too far? The safety of one’s employees is, of course, very important but the traditions of the emergency services have led the public to believe that staff would go the extra mile to save people in danger, even to their own detriment. Along with the recent incident when a woman was left in a mine shaft by emergency services for six hours and ultimately died, it seems that the public can no longer have confidence that this would be the case.
Bob MacDougall, Kippen.
The redoubtable George Parsonage might have fallen into the turgid water created by the dreaded heath and safety legislation, which prevents many professionals in the rescue services from doing the job they signed up for. Mr Parsonage knew what he was doing.
The recent case of the woman trapped in a mine shaft while the would-be rescuers looked up their H&S manual was a tragic example. Volunteers man rescue boats in yacht clubs all round our coasts. They supplement the excellent work of those who man the lifeboats or guard our mountains, and get nothing but job satisfaction for what they do.
Sometimes, these people choose to work outside the “safety threshold”. There are many people who are glad of that.
Alasdair H Macinnes, Edinburgh.
Fire and rescue service’s recent actions are contrary to its performance in the past
On a number of occasions, as a young officer attached to the inquiry department at Govan Police Office, I had to go out on to the River Clyde in a wee boat with George Parsonage and his legendary father to search for missing persons or to recover dead bodies.
Their knowledge of the river, coupled with their dedication and selfless assistance to the police were invaluable.
Govan Fire Station was attached to the police office at Orkney Street and, in the course of my duties, I had to work closely with firefighters.
I welcomed their assistance and admired their bravery – never more so than when I had to assist in stripping the bodies of men I had known well after a tragic accident at a warehouse on the south side of Glasgow.
With this in mind, to read about firefighters demanding that police officers arrest Mr Parsonage after he had rescued a woman from the Clyde beggars belief.
While I agree with measures of protection which health and safety legislation can provide, this incident comes hard on the heels of an inquiry here in Ayrshire into the death of a woman who fell down a disused mine shaft. At that inquiry, a senior fire officer described the attempts by his staff to rescue her as a successful operation.
In the words of an old song: “Has the world turned upside down?”
Jim Miller,
East Ayrshire
Thank goodness for dedicated life-savers such as George Parsonage on the river Clyde
I agree completely with Ruth Wishart’s column (“We need to be rescued from being risk averse”, The Herald, April 28). Two hundred and twenty years ago, a meeting was held in the Tontine Hotel, Glasgow. Robert Burns was probably there the week before reciting his poetry, and the newspapers of the time were full of the revolution in France; the meeting decided how to utilise the princely sum of £200 left in the care of the Faculty of Surgeons of Glasgow by a Glasgow merchant called James Coulter; the Glasgow Humane Society was born 10 years before the city had a police force, let alone fire and rescue services.
George Parsonage is perceived by all river users as the consummate professional and held in the same esteem as volunteers from the RNLI.
Over the past 30 years, George has saved many from potential drowning, some of whom were convinced they wanted to drown that day. In addition, he has assisted the police find and recover bodies from the many secret pools and eddies on the river. He was trained well by his father, Ben, who promulgated safety on the river and personally saved hundreds lives over a
50-year span with the Glasgow Humane Society. Numerous chief constables praised and sought advice from the Glasgow Humane Society over the years; lord provosts by the dozen and the Queen have honoured the officers of the Glasgow Humane Society.
If anyone on the Clyde knows what they are doing, it is George Parsonage. He could not stand by and watch someone drown.
What were our professionals waiting for? A helicopter? Or maybe their flotilla of specially adapted PWCs (personal water craft)? Like the volunteers of the RNLI, the Glasgow Humane Society does not stop to consult the latest health and safety directive before saving lives. Thank God.
Charles Harrigan, Commodore, Royal Scottish Motor Yacht Club, WemyssBay