Aibu to think that RNLI shouldn't launch.....

[AJPTaylor]

I live in East Sussex. Yesterday our local lifeboat launched in the middle of the worst storm in years for a feckin idiot surfer who chose to throw himself into the sea in search of a thrill.
You have probably seen the footage of the lifeboat being thrown on it's side at launch.
Or should there be a feckin idiot surcharge?

People can be incredibly stupid and reckless though. You can't have someone assessing each call that comes in for worthiness. Yes they are volunteers, and they do an amazing and brave job. They know what it entails though, and that it can be dangerous.

As an avid watcher of 'SavingLives AtSea' I'm always shocked at how many of the rescues involve dogs. The crews of the lifeboats always seem so gracious about it when they are being filmed but you wonder what they really think. I know people really love their dogs but it seems crazy to call
out the lifeboat because of a dog. I really really hope anyone who has had their dog rescued by the RNLI repays the cost of the rescue.

Surely this is Darwinism?

Only if the idiot dies before having children.

interesting thread. That amazing state of the art boat 'Richard and Caroline Colton' is under two years old and was funded by the biggest ever bequest to the RNLI, the sale of two Ferraris! They land it by running it up the beach so that tells you the conditions, they couldn't return to Hastings and had to go to Eastbourne. Donations to the RNLI allow them to keep crews as safe as possible in conditions such as these.

The busiest RNLI station is Tower, on the Thames - a large proportion of their custom are the drunk and the stupid, but they also provide extra first aid cover for the riverside and the boats, and suicide watch. Their crew stay in the station through their shifts as no-one could possibly live near enough to be on call - two paid staff and a volunteer. Like all stations, they cannot and do not differentiate between reasons for call outs.

Although I do agree that it should be 'humans only' - I do not donate to the RNLI to retrieve yet another barking messy nuisance! However they probably know that if they were to refuse the call, they'd end up rescuing the human as people will happily risk death for their dogs, not caring about their human dependents.

I'm sure the lifeboat crew would have given him a major telling off. But they will not introduce fines etc as they don't want to put people off calling them out. Hopefully he'll realise how stupid he's been and the footage will make other people think twice before being so stupid.

*There will always be a small element of risk but if trey thought they was an actual risk to their own lives they wouldn't have gone out.

They know what they are doing.*

They will still go out. Just look up
The Penlee disaster. The Coxwain knew the risk as he wouldn't take two people from the same family. Because the rescue was so dangerous.

The advice re dogs is to call them because they know people will, do and have died, risking their lives for dogs.

Luckily, it’s the skipper’s decision not the internet’s.

Luckily, it’s the skipper’s decision not the internet’s.

Oh, I don't know, I'm sure there's a reality show in it somewhere.

The skipper has just been on the midday news.
he was so calm, and refused to call the guy an idiot, or say if it was stupid to be in the sea. He just repeated that their job was to save lives.

“Oh, I don't know, I'm sure there's a reality show in it somewhere.”

We can vote that they drown if they’re an idiot!

They are just doing what they do. The scandal is that it's not funded from the Exchequer.
One of the few charities I donate to regularly.

To the poster saying the boats they use are unable to capsize not true. You are assuming they all use the type of lifeboat you see on this footage. Each lifeboat station around the country has different boats depending on the conditions.

You can definitely be at serious risk in any of the boats, take a look at the D class for example.

"Does anybody know if the RNLI do ever sometimes say "actually, we can't even attempt this rescue. It's too dangerous." ...?"

Very rarely IME. Pager goes off and off they go. They volunteer to take these very real risks to save lives.

"The scandal is that it's not funded from the Exchequer."

They don't want that. It would be the end of the RNLI as we know it

If they were funded by the taxpayer, it might just lead to more idiots thinking they're entitled to be rescued.

The RNLI do not want to be funded by the government, as they don't want the equipment they use etc to be Limited by government constraints. They want and need the best state of the art equipment.

as a plus, there's a facebook donate appeal going round with the footage. Last time I looked it had raised £18k!

Why are marketing and accounting professionals worth so much more?

Because, cynically, they are the reason that the RNLI has great equipment. The crews don't want government funding but good charity funding means they can carry on their work. And thank goodness they do.

I'm all for the custard pies though. Good fundraising and a good lesson.

What I do think is that they should be a fully paid emergency service

A former colleague who was an RNLI volunteer told me that most of them wouldn't want to be paid. They reckoned that as soon as they became "staff" they wouldn't be allowed to do half the stuff they did then because it would contravene H&S at work rules, and that would make the service less effective.

This makes sense. I know of cases where firefighters have done things that were very brave, and been disciplined because the brave thing was dangerous.

You can't fine or charge people for being idiots

It also strikes me that it would be a bit unfair on the idiots who do adventurous things that are dangerous, when we're awash with everyday idiots who thinks it's ok to have a quick bath while the chip pan's on or have a lit candle on a window ledge where the slightest breeze will blow a curtain into it.

@KitKat1985, as another E Sx resident, can we also include all the eejits that go right to the edge on the Seven Sisters, despite all the warning signs? (Other cliffs are available).

When one crashes to their death in a rockfall, I shall be demanding that the costs of recovering their body and their inquest are met from their estate.

I know of cases where firefighters have done things that were very brave, and been disciplined because the brave thing was dangerous.

I read an interesting article years ago about this. American fire fighters had a high death rate because of heroics but their statistics for saving people were no better than more 'cautious' services in comparable countries.

The Saving Lives at Sea programme did explain the dogs rescuing - as a PP said they would rather rescue a dog safely than wait for the call out to rescue the person who is now stuck/drowning because they tried to rescue the dog.

I don't think that it is practicable to be deciding who should be rescued before launching. And it is clear the lifeboat crews don't want to do so - I suspect the mentality of lifeboat crews may not make much sense if you are not from that community! They will be making a judgement call as to whether they think they can do a rescue and they will no doubt call it off if they can't (but they will try damn hard)

I am not sure about the surfing community but certainly in sailing clubs (even inland ones) you will almost always find RNLI collection boxes because experienced water users know that one day they may be the ones needing to call for help. I do hope this surfer donates. Certainly on the TV programme you see people going to the lifeboat station to say thanks and giving donations (though I am sure not all of them do).

I know of cases where firefighters have done things that were very brave, and been disciplined because the brave thing was dangerous.

If a firefighter takes a risk, and gets into trouble, it needs another firefighter to then take a risk to save them. Quite aside from the way it looks, that's now 2 firefighters who can't actually save any members of the public.

I am not sure about the surfing community but certainly in sailing clubs (even inland ones) you will almost always find RNLI collection boxes because experienced water users know that one day they may be the ones needing to call for help*

And sailing clubs (including windsurfing) usually offer RYA courses, which include a good dollop of level and age appropriate safety advice. Checking local conditions, correct equipment etc etc.