Coroner hopes lessons learned in Gosport lake tragedy could save lives in the future
22/2/12_SB Assitant Chief Fire Officer Andy Bowers. Picture: Steve Reid (120634-183)ASSESSMENT Assistant chief fire officer Andrew Bowers
THERE was a very slim chance a man left floating in a shallow lake by firefighters could have recovered, a coroner has said.
But David Horsley, the coroner for Portsmouth and South East Hampshire, said the decision to leave Simon Burgess in the water at Walpole Park was not a significant factor in his death.
He has now called on emergency services to improve their training in case faster reactions could save lives in the future.
And Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service (HFRS) has pledged to review its policies and training.
Simon Burgess was pronounced dead after being pulled from the water at Gosport’s Walpole Park in March last year.
The 41-year-old, of White Lion Walk, was feeding the swans at the lake when it is thought he suffered an epileptic seizure. He was seen entering the water before ending up face-down and motionless.
A two-day inquest at Portsmouth Magistrates’ Court heard that the first firefighters to reach the lake decided there were no visible signs of life and did not go in to get him.
Instead they waited 11 minutes for a specialist unit to arrive from Fareham.
Mr Horsley yesterday recorded an official verdict of accidental death.
He said: ‘I believe there might have been a chance, albeit a very slim one, that he might have recovered if he had been removed earlier.
‘I can’t say it would have been more likely than not in this case.
‘In this case the delay in arrival of the specialist team has not been a significant factor in this tragic death.
‘Therefore all this evidence leads me to the conclusion that Simon’s death was due to an accident.’
However Mr Horsley did say a speedier recovery could save someone’s life if a similar incident ever arose.
He has now called on the emergency services to review their training on how to deal with water incidents.
‘Looking at the evidence I did not feel it was open for me to conclude that a more speedy recovery would have saved his life,’ he added.
‘However a more speedy recovery could make a difference in someone else’s survival.
‘I’m going to request more effective training be given to personnel.
‘I am going to request they get together and re-examine the protocols jointly to ensure the protocols give the best possible guidance for situations like this where a life may hang in the balance.
‘I hope we will ensure Simon Burgess’s death has not been in vain.
‘Simon’s family and friends have suffered so much due to the loss of his life.’
Medical evidence from pathologist Dr Brett Lockyer revealed a person cannot normally survive after being underwater for between five and seven minutes.
But the inquest heard that under rare circumstances, such as in icy conditions, the survival time could be prolonged.
The inquest heard a police officer volunteered to enter the water to retrieve Mr Burgess but was advised not to by the firefighter in charge and his own control room.
A paramedic also suggested he should enter the water but did not after it was pointed out he had no equipment.
HFRS denied claims its firefighters had refused to enter the water for health and safety reasons.
It said firefighters would have waded in immediately if they thought they could save Mr Burgess’ life.
In a statement released after the inquest, a HFRS spokeswoman said: ‘As a learning organisation we take this very seriously and accept the coroner’s verdict.
‘This was a tragic incident and our thoughts remain with the family and friends of Mr Burgess at this difficult time.
‘The decisions taken at Walpole Lake had nothing to do with health and safety or the depth of the water.
‘On arrival at the scene, the officer and crews saw a body face-down and submerged in the water. That person was unresponsive and showing no visible signs of life.
‘Our officers and staff clearly stated if they saw any signs of life and the individual could be saved, they would have gone in to the water and followed rescue procedures.
‘HFRS fully supports the decisions and actions of its officers and crews on that day.’
Fire chief says service will look at improving policies
ASSISTANT chief fire officer Andrew Bowers said the fire service would now work with experts to improve firefighters’ knowledge of this kind of incident.
Mr Bowers said Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service had already looked into ways of improving water rescue policy after the Walpole Lake tragedy.
The fire service will now look at other points raised by the inquest to look at better ways of training crews.
Mr Bowers said: ‘The next step is to re-examine our policies.
‘We have begun to improve our policies anyway.
‘We will discuss it with our police colleagues and South Central Ambulance Service.
‘We will come to a conclusion between us in terms of what guidance we will give.’
Mr Bowers said setting down a time limit as to how long a person could be immersed in water before drowning could be too restrictive so a more general training option could be explored.
He said firefighters currently have access to two documents which give details of underwater survival times.
But he said the service would now consult with medical experts following the inquest to look at better ways of training fire crews in how to deal with these situations.
He added: ‘What we don’t want is members of the public thinking firefighters can’t rescue them.
‘Unfortunately as a result of this incident firefighters have been abused and accused of many things.
‘It was a tragic accident and our thoughts are with Mr Burgess’ family and friends.’
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Portsmouth
Friday 25 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 13 C to 25 C
Wind Speed: 22 mph
Wind direction: East
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 13 C to 23 C
Wind Speed: 24 mph
Wind direction: East
Comments
There are 27 comments to this article
Page 1 of 2
KBoy
Monday, February 27, 2012 at 12:39 PMHaving been a watch manager on a station where we had a Water Rescue unit attached,NOT Hampshire i may add, a few questions come to mind. If the crew knew their station ground,they would have known the depth of that water,whether it be winter,more water,or summer,when there could be less,or is it tidal,or is it a constant depth all year? I do believe that The motto of the Fire Service iswas. 1.Save Life 2.Save Property. 3.Render Humanitarian Services In my opinion,you failed in all three,your'e watch manager is a bloody disgrace,and should resign,he is paid to make decisicions. I dont blame the firemen, they HAVE to do as they are ordered on the fireground. Your ACFO looks very uncomfortable facing the press, and looks like a bag of S***e from the neck upwards, and a scruff. Thank goodness i'm out of it, what next, let the big highrise in Basingstoke burn down cos we turned off the risers. BLOODY DISGRACE!!
dave3974
Saturday, February 25, 2012 at 05:21 PMwhat an utter disgrace and what utter arogance shown by this so called ff sam. How many ff``s on £ 30k does it take to watch a man die
bjankins
Friday, February 24, 2012 at 08:04 PMWhat I can't understand is why they just didn't go in and try. "if there had been signs of life we would have gone in and carried out a rescue. As there were no apparent signs of life it was a retrieval so we had to wait for a specialist team" or words to that effect. I could understand if it was a car hanging over a cliff or something equally difficult, but this was a body, life condition unknown, in a couple of feet of water. No excuse for not trying, The man in charge should be sacked for a total lack of judgement and leadership skills.
Duck House
Friday, February 24, 2012 at 04:26 PMThis was a basic rescue-recovery, it is not a new procedure, the pond is on Gosport’s station ground so they would have known the depth of it, a fireman with a line attached to him could have carried it out, with no danger to himself. As a retired fireman (sub officer) not in Hampshire Fire Service. I am not an armchair critic, over 40 years ago I carried out a rescue with another fireman on an upturned car in a flowing river. The Fire Service has gone down hill, even their assistant chief can’t be bothered to put his cap badge on straight (see photo)
The Jazz Funkster
Friday, February 24, 2012 at 09:16 AM@ Fire Fighter sam, the point is you and your service have failed in your duty to the people of Gosport and from the action of the members of the fire service who attend this incident, we the resident expect you to do what is says in your title Fire & Rescue. I think that you should “Get a grip” and listen to what the comments are saying the Hampshire Fire Service!
Duck House
Thursday, February 23, 2012 at 10:33 PMThere is no comparison between the incident at Shirley Towers and the one at Gosport. There are jobs a lot more dangerous than being a fire fighter, Armed Forces, Deep Sea Fisherman, Miner, to name a few. Anyone joining the fire service will know the dangers, and they will learn on the basic course what the job entails, and the qualities a fire fighter needs to have. The duties of a fire fighter are. Save Life, Protect Property, Render Humanitarian Services. Gosport boating lake is on Gosport’s station ground so the crew would have known how deep it is. As for bystanders going in to help, it may be that there was no one at the scene able to help. But on the arrival and a professional rescue service, the recovery of the person should have been carried out immediately; it is a small boating lake not the Atlantic Ocean. Possibly it was too late but an attempt should have been made.
rickey
Thursday, February 23, 2012 at 10:12 PMbadass---Yeh you are a real bad ass. So you think the 'old hag' should have made the rescue instead of your so called hero's. At least she is having sleepless nights at not attempting. I guess she thought the rescue unit were in fact a rescue unit but she soon found out they were only a recovery unit.
rickey
Thursday, February 23, 2012 at 10:09 PMFire fighter sam- I wondered when somebody like you would pop up to tell us about hero fire fighters and in most circumstances I would agree but not in this instance. The fact is that they were on site and did nothing so stop trying to defend the indefensible.
badass
Thursday, February 23, 2012 at 10:07 PMComment removed by moderator
seejay32
Thursday, February 23, 2012 at 09:33 PM@ 17: Fire fighter sam said : The fire service was there over 15 minutes from initial sightings of the man face down. That's what I based my comment on. Whoever else they may have saved in the past, and I agree they may not have saved Mr Burgess, but NO ONE TRIED! That's the problem. If you read my comment properly, you'll see that I referred to the Coroner's statement and the one from the assistant chief fire officer. If they say that training needs to be improved and that lessons need to be learned, then who am I to argue?
badass
Thursday, February 23, 2012 at 08:51 PMseejay32... if u attended the incident or the inquest for that matter you will know that emergency services were called at 1217, and were in attendance by 1219. get your facts right. also a quick thought provoking question... the crew that attended that day... how many lives between them do you think they have saved over what im sure are many years of experience?? and for some armchair hero to abuse them via a commenting page for this extremely poor reporting newspaper is dispicable!
seejay32
Thursday, February 23, 2012 at 07:36 PM@14: In that case, why did the Coroner say that training had to be improved and your assistant chief fire officer Bowers has apparently agreed? If the appliance took 15 minutes to get from Privett Road to Walpole Park, what was the hold up? An expert has said that it was feasible that Mr Burgess could have survived longer than the normal 5 to 7 minutes. This tragedy took place in March after a particularly cold winter, so that could have been the case. We have to remember that this isn't the first time that people have died due to inaction of professionals who could have saved them. Please let it be the last.
rubberman
Thursday, February 23, 2012 at 07:32 PMOh SAM I would not compare this debacle to Shirley Towers
Fire fighter sam
Thursday, February 23, 2012 at 05:20 PMAre you all really that stupid to think that Fire fighters do not risk life and limb on a daily basis. They kiss their wife and kids before going to work just incase the worst happens. The FACT of the matter was that the poor soul who lost his life, did so with approx 15 bystanders watching well before any emergency responders attended. Why then, did no one attempt to help the man when it would have really made a difference ??. The fire service was there over 15 minutes from initial sightings of the man face down. He was sadly gone by then. Too easy to blame the fire service, who see death and destruction often, then go home and attempt to function normally. Lest we forget my friends James and Alan who gave their lives at Shirley towers in Southampton recently. Get a grip !!!!!.
Duck House
Thursday, February 23, 2012 at 03:37 PMOn arrival of the fire brigade, a line should have been tied to a fireman who would have gone in to recover the person, never assume death unless certified by a doctor. Can't believe all this health and safety can apply to the fire service, possibly they may not have saved the man, but at least they could have tried. Is the fire service role no longer, save life, protect property, and render humanitarian services.
Page 1 of 2
Your view
Please sign in to be able to comment on this story.