There have been many past tort cases involving questions of whether pools had sufficient lifeguards at a pool to avoid a drowning. The City of New Orleans could face a rather unique tragedy where a fully clothed man drowned at a party for lifeguards with 100 lifeguards partying around the pool at the time.
Jerome Moody, 31, was found on the bottom at the deep end of a New Orleans Recreation Department pool at the end of the party. He was not a lifeguard but it was an end of season party for over 100 such guards. He was not found until lifeguards were clearing the pool at the party’s end.
A civil lawsuit could look at the level of supervision and staffing issues surrounding the party. It is an interesting question as to whether the guards at the party were “on the clock” or simply on their own time. I assume the latter. However, the number of trained staff at the pool raises the question of the murkiness or cloudiness of the water (a common problem in such cases, particularly in the deep end) as well as the conditions of the party (and whether they interfered with the ability of the guards to fully observe swimmers).
Here’s the tragedy of drowning:
A drowning person cannot thrash or call for help. You need air to do so. A drowning person will have glassy eyes, be in shock, and the instant their mouth gets above water it’s all they can do to try to get a little air before they go down again, and if they can’t get completely above the water, they suck in water. There is no sound.
There are many heartbreaking stories about kids drowning right next to their parents int he ocean. The parents later say that they had no idea their kid was in any trouble at all. I knew someone who jumped into his parents pool, in the middle of a BBQ, to save his drowning little brother who was down at the bottom of the deep end. Surrounded by adults, all chatting and talking and music. The little boy didn’t make a splash when he went in, sank straight to the bottom, without a single sound. No one was swimming, so no one looked at the pool. The music wasn’t even loud.
I also nearly drowned in the ocean as a young child. I can tell you, I never reached the surface to call for help. I was at the bottom until an adult saved me and got the burning water out of my lungs.
Pure fluff from JT, Infotainment……Or maybe he’s just taking a cue from Trumpus Maximus and just lie about everything cause nobody cares about the truth anymore.
Even if the 100 lifeguards were off duty, any time there is a swimming pool there should have been one or more lifeguards on-duty to keep an eye on the pool. I vote liability. It is certainly foreseeable that someone could fall in the pool. It should have either been covered, fenced off, or had an on-duty lifeguard stationed there.
With a hundred people milling about a pool, when one goes in it seems odd that someone didn’t notice, lifeguards or not. Splash!!! Of course if the moon and some stars were in alignment, the space shuttle was reentering the earth’s atmosphere directly overhead (yeah I know), and a 66 Cuda backfired right next door…….
Nancy – my guess is that the party, which included drinking, did not include swimming in the pool. You have 100 people milling around the deck, not expecting to be on guard, so there is no liability for the guards. I vote accident.
If the employer, the City of New Orleans, set the date, time, location of the party AND if they provided liquor/beer at same, I would think 1) they were on the clock and 2) there would be clear liability. It is not clear from what I read whether the part was in the pool or just around the deck; that would have an impact on visibility. Being the man was fully clothed, perhaps the part was not one involving the use of the pool. Questions, questions!
Plus, this story is from 1985???
http://www.nytimes.com/1985/08/02/us/victim-at-lifeguards-party.html
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
Yes, they’re dredging up this story from 1985. It’s not that there’s not plenty of real news and important information to convey, but when you want to divert the public’s attention from real news, you have to resort to pulling stunts like this.
So, as a public service, I will address some real news that the media will not: the Wells Fargo Fraud.
If you ever wanted to see a classic case of how the corporate-political corruption operates, see the media coverage of the Wells Fargo Fraud. First, the media does NOT interview nor even question the mastermind behind the fraud: Warren Buffett. Yeah, I know, the media loves Warren Buffett and they work hard — like the presstitutes they are — to present him as a lovable, friendly, and charitable multi-billionaire, none of which is true (except the multi-billionaire part). But the reality is that he is a vicious, greedy, corrupt weasel, mega-billion dollar tax deadbeat, and promoter of the Clinton (who, of course, is in the pockets of the bankster-scum, as well as other assorted scum, like the Saudi-scum).
Let’s just say, when you’re dealing with the corporate-political corruption, you’re dealing with a lot of scum. So, naturally, the prestitutes give Buffett a free pass, as they do for Wells Fargo’s CEO John Stumpf, another bankster-scum weasel.
Meanwhile, the top-level bankster scum FIRE the small time Wells Fargo employees that carried out the fraud ordered by Buffett-Stumpf. Well, somebody’s got to play the patsies in the game of corporate-political corruption.
And, finally, there’s the proverbial slap on the wrist by the political whores in the US Government, who serve the interests of the MIC and their bankster-scum subsidiaries. As usual, the big fish get away.
Has Berkshire Hathaway purchased a controlling interest in Wells-Fargo?
JT
I think the link for this story is wrong, because it goes to the football story.
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter