Lifeguard Loses Job Trying to Save Drowning Person’s Life

This is purely a hypothetical, but I wonder if this could happen here.

Let’s say you’re a lifeguard in Ocean Grove. You see someone flailing about in the water, albeit out of your watch area…perhaps one beach over, say, in Asbury. You, along with some others, answer the call and try to save that person.

Do you feel you should be fired for leaving your post to try and save that life?

If your job is to save lives (hence “lifeguard”…then doesn’t it stand to reason that if someone is drowning outside of your watch area, you’re also responsible for that person as well?

You would think…but that’s not the way it went down according to this report:

Tomas Lopez was relieved of his duties after rescuing a man outside of his jurisdiction, according to a report by ABC News.

Lopez reportedly responded to a man drowning 1,500 feet south of his post on Hallandale Beach, Fla. The firm that fired him said lifeguards leaving their designated areas present a "liability issue."

Aware he had broken the rules, Lopez told ABC News he acted instinctually when he attempted to save the man who he said was blue.

Six of Lopez’s coworkers said they would have reacted the same way and in a sign of solidarity either quit or did something to warrant firing as well.

Zoard Janko, a fellow lifeguard who supported Lopez’s decision, told ABC News, “What we're basically supposed to do is watch them die.”

According to another source:

A spokesman for Jeff Ellis and Associates, the aquatic safety contractor that fired Lopez, said in a statement that "We have liability issues and can't go out of the protected area."

"Usually when the municipalities hire someone to [lifeguard], those organizations are not only taking on the responsibility of the job, but a lot of the liability," said Tom Gill, a spokesman for the United States Lifesaving Association.
But, he added, "It seems unfortunate that a guard would do what he's trained to do and be fired for it."

By the time Lopez arrived on the scene, other beachgoers had dragged the unconscious man ashore and started CPR.

Lopez said he didn't think about the consequences of his instinctive run "until after it was said and done."
"[We] should have jurisdiction to help someone without worrying about losing our jobs," he said.

Again, as a lifeguard, I would think your primary responsibility is to save lives. No matter wherever, no matter whenever…even if off duty.

UPDATE: Fired Florida Lifeguard Offered Job Back, Declines It [VIDEO]