Fire Captain Visibly Upset

[scannerboy02]

We were in the process of doing a life jacket safety story when this drowning occurred right in front of my crew. Sac City Fire Captain Jim Doucette (a good friend of mine) was very upset that this occurred just hours after talking to my crew about trying to prevent this kind of incident as you can see in the video. The girl in this story was dead on arrival at the hospital. Before the fire units cleared the scene kids were back in the water without life jackets.


http://www.kcra.com/video/16306941/index.html

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- A family was left frantic and a fire captain visibly upset after a near-drowning Friday afternoon at Discovery Park.

An 11-year-old girl was pulled from river waters at Tiscornia Beach on Friday.

She is listed in grave condition.

The Sacramento Fire Department said it received a call at 3:44 p.m. of a possible drowning.

Park rangers arrived first and jumped into the water to look for the girl, followed by other fire rescue workers.

The girl was found underwater at 4:11 p.m. by firefighters. She was not wearing a life jacket.

She was taken to the UC Davis Medical Center.

The girl's name has not yet been released.

"The sad thing is, I had done a piece today with Channel 3 and I had told Tom DuHain we'd be back here this summer. And I didn't expect it to be today. It's crazy. I don't know what to do. We try to let people know that they don't need to be in this [the water]. We try to do public service announcements and it just didn't work. Hopefully, I mean, the chances of this girl surviving aren't very good. Just keep your fingers crossed. That's all we can do, I guess,” Capt. Jim Doucette said.

A 2-year-old boy almost drowned in a backyard pool earlier in the day.

 

[scannerboy02]

So far today we have had 4 near drownings in the Sacramento area. 1 or 2 of them may turn into drownings. People will never learn that you don't float nor can breath under water. The worst thing about it is that the fire department will give you a free life jacket to barrow for the day and most of the popular beaches have them hanging in the parking lot.

 

[scannerboy02]

May 16, 2008
For Immediate Release
Incident No. 0826891

Captain Jim Doucette
Phone: 916-216-0316​

jdoucette@sfd.cityofsacramento.org
Date/Time of Occurrence:
May 16, 2008 - 3:44 p.m.
Type of Incident:
Drowning
Location:
400 Jibboom Street, Sacramento
Eleven Year Old Drown at Discovery Park
Sacramento- at 3:44 p.m. today a child was reported to have gone under the water at Tiscornia Beach in Discovery Park. The Sacramento Fire Department responded and Firefighters, along with Sacramento County Park rangers quickly began a search of the water.

At 4:11 p.m. a Sacramento Firefighter found the eleven year old girl under the water near where she was last seen. Sacramento Firefighters transported her to a local hospital. Her condition was grave.

The child had been swimming with other children. It was unclear if any adults were watching the children. She was not wearing a life jacket. Ironically there are two life jacket loan stations near where she was swimming.

DBA:
Tiscornia Beach
City Council District:
District 1: Councilmember Ray Tretheway
First in District:
14
First in Company:
Engine 14
Battalion:
1
Incident Commander:
Battalion Chief Rich Payan

 

[scannerboy02]

May 17, 2008
For Immediate Release
Incident No.

Captain Jim Doucette

Phone: 916-216-0316​

jdoucette@sfd.cityofsacramento.org
Date/Time of Occurrence:
May 17, 2008 - 6:12 p.m.
Type of Incident:
Drowning
Location:
7759 La Riviera Drive, Sacramento
Third Drowning Accident in Two Days in Sacramento
Sacramento- a 20 year old man was pulled from the American River near the Howe Avenue boat ramp this afternoon. The victim, who cannot swim was reported to have been wading in the river when he got into deeper water and then lost his footing.
A 17 year old unidentified relative, attempted to rescue the man, when the 17 year old got into trouble. Fortunately the 17 year old was able to get to shore safely. About 10 minutes later, bystanders found the 20 year old victim under water. They got him to shore where he was unresponsive. Bystanders did C.P.R. on the victim with the assistance of Fire Dispatchers via phone.
Firefighters were able to get the victim to the Howe Avenue boat ramp, where an ambulance transported him to a local hospital. He is in grave condition. The victim was not wearing a life jacket.


DBA:
Howe Avenue Boat Ramp
City Council District:
District 6: Councilmember Kevin McCarty

 

[scannerboy02]

May 17, 2008
For Immediate Release
Incident No. 0827189

Captain Jim Doucette
Phone: 916-216-0316​

jdoucette@sfd.cityofsacramento.org
Date/Time of Occurrence:
May 17, 2008 - 7:11 p.m.
Type of Incident:
Drowning
Location:
400 Jibboom Street, Sacramento
Fourth Drowning Accident
Sacramento- a 4 year old boy was pulled from the American River at Tiscornia Beach in Discovery Park tonight. This is the same location that an 11 year old girl drowned yesterday.
The boy was reported to have been in the water with his father, when he went underwater and was momentarily unaccounted for. He was found shortly thereafter and was unconscious.
Bystanders were successful in reviving him. When Sacramento Firefighters arrived, he was breathing on his own. He was transported to a local hospital where his condition is not known.
Again, this young boy was not wearing a life jacket.

DBA:
Tiscornia Beach at Discovery Park
City Council District:
District 1: Councilmember Ray Tretheway

 

[roma]

Another One

Also on the 17th, Sac Metro Fire responded to a drowning (near drowning) near the Sunrise Bridge. The RP was on the opposite bank and reported CPR in progress. BC 13 requested an air unit to help locate the victim, and CHP Air 24 (if I recall correctly) came overhead.

Air 24 located the party and landed. They reported he was concious but had heavy alcohol intoxication and a very severe language barrier which made assessment of what happened very difficult. The airship was going to hop over to a nearby LZ for ground transport, but decided to fly the guy to UCD Med Center.

Fire and park rangers eventually got to the party and while they did rescue the guy, they denied performing CPR. Last I heard on scanner he was OK at UCD.

So...at least three drownings, one fatal, during one afternoon on about 20 miles of river on the first hot weekend of the year.

Adults should know better: ETOH and H2O do not mix, and even without alcohol, the river is cold and dangerous. Parent need to know it is not enough to "be there;" at least one person must be charged with keeping "hands on" or "eyes on" AT ALL TIMES. It only takes seconds...

 

[scannerboy02]

----- Forwarded by Melissa M Chacon/KCRA-TV/Broadcasting/Hearst on 05/18/2008 02:33 PM -----
pio@sacfire.org
05/18/2008 02:29 PM

To: mchacon@hearst.com
cc:
Subject: Sacramento Fire Department and Sacramento Metro Fire Water Safety Campaign



May 18, 2008
For Immediate Release
Incident No.

Captain Jim Doucette
Phone: 916-216-0316​

jdoucette@sfd.cityofsacramento.org
Date/Time of Occurrence:
May 18, 2008 -
Type of Incident:
Announcement
Location:
Sacramento,
Sacramento Fire Department and Sacramento Metro Fire Water Safety Campaign
Sacramento- with the recent wave of Sacramento area drownings, the Sacramento Fire Department and the Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District are teaming up to create a media campaign to educate the public about the dangers of our waters.
Your Firefighters can only do two things regarding water safety. We can attempt to educate you about these dangers and if you become a victim, we can attempt to rescue you. Unfortunately, the vast majority of our water rescues become "body recoveries".
There is a lot to know about water safety; however the two most important factors are that anyone who is on or near any body of water must wear a life jacket. And probably the most important safety item is that all children must have proper adult supervision. Nothing takes the place of a responsible adult. Most of our area’s drownings could have been avoided if there was only proper adult supervision.
This has been a tragic weekend, and your Firefighters are frustrated and heart sick to have to respond to these avoidable tragedies. Remember; drowning is 100% preventable and "Only You Can Prevent Drowning".
Captain Jim Doucette of the Sacramento Fire Department and Captain Christian Pebbles of the Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District will attempt through the local media to get this important message out. A Public Service Announcement is now being produced and should be available within a few days. We encourage all media to run it. THIS IS IMPORTANT!
Both Captains will be available to the media for interviews and live broadcasts. Please assist us in getting this important message out. Below are links to websites with water safety information.
http://www.sacfire.org/indexSub.cfm?page=201168
http://www.smfd.ca.gov/river.htm
http://www.smfd.ca.gov/poolsafety.htm
http://www.bam.gov/sub_yoursafety/yoursafety_h2osmarts.html
http://www.dbw.ca.gov/BoaterInfo/LifeJacket.aspx

 

[kma371]

I saw one of our regular posters in that video...

http://www.kcra.com/video/16306941/index.html