Editor: On Dec. 15, the San Diego Lifeguard River Rescue team members were holding a deployment briefing prior to an imminent storm. Fifteen minutes before they were to deploy, they were given a new standard operating procedure imposed by the fire chief. The new SOP had several changes, one being that SD Fire Dispatch would now handle inland calls for water emergencies. Not all of the changes are without merit, but some changes create numerous problems.
The Lifeguard supervisors group was not consulted and there was no tabletop exercise to test for problems that may delay our response or cause confusion. The new SOP routes calls from police to a fire call taker, which takes 1-2 minutes or more. The call taker then sends it to a fire dispatcher queue where it waits in line, this can take several more minutes. Due to this change, we are adding precious minutes to our response. The old procedure was simple; water calls were transferred from PD to Lifeguards. Lifeguards started units in 15 seconds, then requested Fire units if needed. This issue has been studied several times. Each time it was concluded that Lifeguards should continue dispatching water related emergencies. A 2007 BPR study stated: There is a good argument for having trained lifeguards perform lifeguard dispatch functions over civilian dispatchers. Aquatic emergencies are very time critical and immediate rescue response is necessary. We often hear the term “best practices,” which means that this is how others do things. As a Marine and a 28-year Lifeguard in a para military organization, I can tell you that making changes to an emergency system that has been in place for over 35 years without discussion, training and proper testing Is not “best practice.” Since the change, there have been several delays to emergency calls. One call occurred Jan. 21 when a woman sustained traumatic injuries when she was washed off the rocks by large surf in La Jolla and Fire dispatchers did not transfer the call to Lifeguards for more than five minutes. It is important to note that Lifeguards were only four blocks from the scene of the incident. Teamsters 911 represents Lifeguards. They have filed a grievance that will soon be heard by the mayor. Ed Harris Former City Council member for District 2 and a current lifeguard sergeant