Editor's note: Mr. Saunders writes in response to the letter South River firemen stood by as pet dog drowned says owner.
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To the editor:
A letter was published in BayToday, describing the sad events of a family in South River whose dog fell through the ice and drowned. It also told of the family's call to the local volunteer fire department, and how they declined to do anything to rescue the dog.
My immediate reaction upon reading this was disbelief that a department that has the responsibility of dealing with emergencies would not have assisted.
However, as I re-read the details of the incident, I came to the realization that indeed the fire department probably acted in accordance with the rules of their operating procedures.
If one can picture the events that transpired that day, it's easy to see that things could have ended in a more tragic conclusion. The lives of the fireman, and indeed of the homeowner, could well have been placed in danger.
If we accept the description of the events as set out in the family's letter, I would say that the chief should probably have spoken in a more empathetic way to them, given the emotional scene that was occurring. But that said, things probably transpired the way they should have.
I assume that volunteer fire departments must operate under a written set of standard operating procedures that address various emergency situations that present themselves. (A recent survey revealed that only 4% of emergency calls to which fire departments responded were actually fires.) And because water rescue operations present a significant danger to fire department personnel, the safe management of these operations is especially important.
So what can be learned from this family's sad story?
Well, for a start, perhaps it makes sense for the village to make its citizens aware of the responsibilities of the three services in place to deal with emergencies (fire, police, ambulance) and which of these should be summoned when an emergency occurs.
Ian T. Saunders
North Bay
See related: 'Substantial risk of serious injury to our firefighters' in saving dog says South River Fire Chief
