"I was on stand, and guests came up to me and told me there was someone drowning, that people were screaming and so I started running in the direction," Lopez said. "I ran out to do the job I was trained to do, I didn't think about it at all."
Lopez's dismissal sparked near-immediate criticism; two fellow guards quit in protest.
"We are not a fire-rescue operation," Jeff Ellis, head of company that manages the lifeguards, said. "We are strictly a lifeguard organization, we limit what we do to the protected swimming zones that we've agreed to service." The company has provided lifeguards for the area's public beaches and pools since 2003.
"We have liability issues and can't go out of the protected area," Lopez's supervisor, Susan Ellis said. "What he did was his own decision. He knew the company rules and did what he thought he needed to do."
"If we find our actions on the part of the leadership team were inappropriate, we will rectify it based upon the information that comes forward," Ellis added. The review is expected to be completed Friday.
Amid a public outcry, officials in Florida say they plan to review whether the firing of a lifeguard who left his "zone" to help save a swimmer was justified.
Amid a public outcry, officials in Florida say they plan to review whether the firing of a lifeguard who left his "zone" to help save a swimmer was justified.
"We take the safety of all visitors to our beaches very seriously," Hallandale Beach City Manager Renee Crichton said in a statement. "Whether they are in a protected area or unprotected area, we believe aid must be rendered."
No comments:
Post a Comment