Update on last week's pool drowning: lifeguards were told about woman not resurfacing, chose not to - Polidicks

[quote]FALL RIVER, Mass. (AP) — A 9-year-old boy told two lifeguards that a woman had not resurfaced after entering the murky waters of a public swimming pool and appearing to struggle, his mother said. The body of 36-year-old Marie Joseph was found in the Veterans Memorial Pool two days later, on Tuesday night. Officials have been investigating how she could have been in the pool for so long without being noticed. The boy's mother told the Boston Herald for its Sunday edition that the woman had bumped into her son on a pool slide before she disappeared underwater. "He did tell two lifeguards — one said she was on break, and had to leave and the other told him they were going to do a pool check," the woman told the newspaper. "But he told me they never did." The Associated Press, which does not report the names of children who may be witnesses to a crime, is not identifying the woman to protect the privacy of her son. The state Department of Conservation and Recreation is investigating issues related to Joseph's death, including the clarity of the pool water and whether quality protocols were followed. No one has been charged in the drowning. His mother said her son is undergoing counseling. The Fall River pool is 12 feet deep and employs 12 staffers, six of whom are lifeguards and are certified by the Red Cross. All six were on duty last Sunday, the Herald reported. "Those lifeguards need to be fired," the boy's mother told the Herald. "He's stressed out. He keeps crying, and he thinks he could have saved this lady." The medical examiner's office has labeled the death an accidental drowning. Commissioner Edward M. Lambert Jr. with the state Department of Conservation and Recreation said they don't know whether any of the lifeguards looked for Lambert. "We hope to learn that from the investigation," Lambert said. "We are as anxious as anybody to get answers to this." An initial investigation showed the water in the pool was murky from the time the pool opened for the season last Saturday. Visibility tests conducted Wednesday revealed a diver couldn't be seen at a depth of 3 1/2 to 4 feet below the surface of the water. Joseph was a hotel housekeeper in Newport, R.I. She was from Haiti and had five children. Her body was discovered after it floated to the surface shortly before some youngsters sneaked into the pool for a clandestine swim Tuesday night.[/quote] [url=http://news.yahoo.com/mom-boy-begged-mass-guards-aid-sinking-woman-151605072.html]Source[/url] Something smells fishy here, and it's not just the corpse.

The lifeguards at the local pool don't give a shit about anyone, they just sit around and talk while kids go running by or when a 3 year old falls in the pool. Seriously, they did jack-shit when a little kid fell in; the only reason he didn't drown was because someone pulled him out

Wow, that's horrible. And to the above poster, you have a shit pool place. Because the one's I've been too, I got yelled at all the time.

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[QUOTE=Psychokitten;30877125][url=http://news.yahoo.com/mom-boy-begged-mass-guards-aid-sinking-woman-151605072.html]Source[/url] Something smells fishy here, it it's not just the corpse.[/QUOTE] it's a government coverup :tinfoil:

Sounds like somebody managed to piss off the local don.

In the last thread I said I thought it was odd that the kid didn't say anything about her not resurfacing, guess this sort of confirms my suspicions that something was awry here.

[QUOTE=Sobotnik;30877484]Sounds like somebody managed to piss off the local don.[/QUOTE] They would have said something about concrete overshoes.

[QUOTE=Swilly;30877422]Wow, that's horrible. And to the above poster, you have a shit pool place. Because the one's I've been too, I got yelled at all the time.[/QUOTE] The pool is at a Lifetime gym, I've even complained to the manager and all I got was the bullshit "We'll investigate your claims but our lifeguards are handpicked blah blah blah bullshit" I'm thinking some hidden camera recording is in order

Jesus christ. Why aren't these people already being charged with criminal negligence?

[QUOTE=Turnips5;30877530]Jesus christ. Why aren't these people already being charged with criminal negligence?[/QUOTE] They're "looking into it."

[QUOTE=Psychokitten;30877545]They're "looking into it."[/QUOTE] Read as "Ignoring the issue completely"

"if they don't come out immediately there doing it for attention"

[QUOTE=Esrange;30877389]The lifeguards at the local pool don't give a shit about anyone, they just sit around and talk while kids go running by or when a 3 year old falls in the pool. Seriously, they did jack-shit when a little kid fell in; the only reason he didn't drown was because someone pulled him out[/QUOTE] This is so true. I was at the Navy base pool as a kid and went down a slide which I didn't know led to the deep end. The lifeguard was just standing on his high chair asking me "Can you swim? Can you swim?" but I was bobbing up and down trying to stay afloat so he thought I was saying yes. I would have drown had it not been for some random person who jumped in and swam me to the edge of the pool.

That's pretty fucked up that nobody went to help her, especially after some kid told them someone was drowning

[QUOTE=Metanar;30877516]In the last thread I said I thought it was odd that the kid didn't say anything about her not resurfacing, guess this sort of confirms my suspicions that something was awry here.[/QUOTE] I feel really bad for the kid. That has to really suck. It wasn't his fault, though, he's just a kid! How was he supposed to drag an adult woman and resuscitate her? That would be the lifeguards' jobs, who should be fired.

This is worse than what was originally reported. A lot worse.

The condition of the pool is key. Figure that no one is going to pay attention to what some kid says. It could be a joke for instance. So if some kid says "Hey, someone is drowning over there" what do you do? Take a quick look over there and see. You don't even have to get out of your lifeguard chair. But if you can't see into the water, now there's the problem. Now you actually have to jump in the water, go over to that area, and dive under water searching for someone who may not even be there. Meanwhile, who is watching your area of the pool for other swimmers in trouble? So maybe you take a quick look, see nothing unusual on the surface, and blow it off.

[QUOTE=cecilbdemodded;30879086]The condition of the pool is key. Figure that no one is going to pay attention to what some kid says. It could be a joke for instance. So if some kid says "Hey, someone is drowning over there" what do you do? Take a quick look over there and see. You don't even have to get out of your lifeguard chair. But if you can't see into the water, now there's the problem. Now you actually have to jump in the water, go over to that area, and dive under water searching for someone who may not even be there. Meanwhile, who is watching your area of the pool for other swimmers in trouble? So maybe you take a quick look, see nothing unusual on the surface, and blow it off.[/QUOTE] Kid walks into police station, reports shooting. Cops look outside window, see nothing. Two day's later in the news, women is shot to death, kid had reported it but the cops didn't do anything because they thought the kid was joking and didn't want to get off their couch. The condition of the city is key here, there were all these buildings in the way so the cops couldn't see the shooting going on, now there's the problem. Now they actually had to jump into their police vehicles and go over to that area, dive in to the alley searching for someone that might have been/might be getting shot at. Meanwhile, who's watching your area of the police station for trouble?

[QUOTE=Esrange;30877389] Seriously, they did jack-shit when a little kid fell in; the only reason he didn't drown was because someone pulled him out[/QUOTE] How stupid of them Anyone with first-responder training (lifeguards, EMTs, paramedics, pretty much anyone with official CPR training) who refuses to help when they can is actually able to face criminal charges It's not a matter of losing your job or something, you could end up in front of a judge

[QUOTE=Zeke129;30879297]How stupid of them Anyone with first-responder training (lifeguards, EMTs, paramedics, pretty much anyone with official CPR training) who refuses to help when they can is actually able to face criminal charges It's not a matter of losing your job or something, you could end up in front of a judge[/QUOTE] Not in 'Murrica, no sir-ee! :downs:

I almost drowned at a wave pool as a kid, I grabbed onto a nearby ladder gasping for air afterwards and a lifeguard strides over and told me not to hold onto the ladder.

[QUOTE=mobrockers2;30879257]Kid walks into police station, reports shooting. Cops look outside window, see nothing. Two day's later in the news, women is shot to death, kid had reported it but the cops didn't do anything because they thought the kid was joking and didn't want to get off their couch. The condition of the city is key here, there were all these buildings in the way so the cops couldn't see the shooting going on, now there's the problem. Now they actually had to jump into their police vehicles and go over to that area, dive in to the alley searching for someone that might have been/might be getting shot at. Meanwhile, who's watching your area of the police station for trouble?[/QUOTE] You missed my point, not the first time someone has. If the pool was clear, as it should have been, the people(everyone, not just the lifeguards) would have seen her down there. Who ever has the final say "Yeah, people can swim here today" or "No, the pool is closed" is the negligent party here. That pool should have been closed. It is impossible to do your job as a lifeguard if you can't see under the water. Of course it could turn out that one of the lifeguards is the one who decides if the pool is open or not, if so that lifeguard should be in big trouble.

I'm a lifeguard and it really is difficult keeping track of everything. I'm not defending them, because they should have investigated, and the pool should have been closed if water clarity is an issue, especially if the pool is 12 feet deep.

[QUOTE=CSOD;30877424]I think I spotted the first problem here, pretty sure pool water is not supposed to be murky. In any case it's really awful, how could someone like a lifeguard be so negligent.[/QUOTE] Heavily chlorinated water is murky, and they usually add extra to kids pools for usual reasons. Apparently they just didn't notice how murky it was. :/

[QUOTE=RAG Frag;30880306]Heavily chlorinated water is murky, and they usually add extra to kids pools for usual reasons. Apparently they just didn't notice how murky it was. :/[/QUOTE] It's also excruciating if you get any in your eyes. :argh:

Sounds like the lifeguards at my pool. My sister was almost drowned and killed by a group of bullies and the lifeguards didn't do shit. The one I told just glanced over and basically told me that everything looked fine and I should go away. All the Lifeguards are just high school kids though, so it's not surprising they have such an apathetic attitude to their surroundings. Oh, and for those who are wondering, the "leader" of the group was arrested and convicted for the incident, so it's not like he got off easy. The lifeguards might not do their job, but the cops do.

[QUOTE=Mr. Someguy;30880455]Sounds like the lifeguards at my pool. My sister was almost drowned and killed by a group of bullies and the lifeguards didn't do shit. The one I told just glanced over and basically told me that everything looked fine and I should go away. All the Lifeguards are just high school kids though, so it's not surprising they have such an apathetic attitude to their surroundings. Oh, and for those who are wondering, the "leader" of the group was arrested and convicted for the incident, so it's not like he got off easy. The lifeguards might not do their job, but the cops do.[/QUOTE] What did they have against your sister? The usual school chickenshit?

"lol no, we aren't deathguards, we're lifeguards! :smile:"

[QUOTE=Psychokitten;30880498]What did they have against your sister? The usual school chickenshit?[/QUOTE] I don't remember, I think they were just jerks who took it a step too far.