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Prosecuted for Saving a Life

You're probably sick and tired of reading of the latest bureaucratic turn of the screw but we were talking about getting authorisation and clearance for this and that.

Recently we were discussing a hypothetical question of what you would do if you were not certified in a critical situation, e.g. a Health and Safety issue.

Imagine you were at your local swimming baths and a regular swimmer sees a child in difficulty at the bottom of the pool. There are a handful of locals around but the pool attendant is up the stairs at this second and as the swimmer knows, pools are noisy and the attendant is out of range. The swimmer is not technically qualified (lifesaving certificate long out of date) but he realizes that the action needs to be fast.

He gets the nearest person to go (walking, not running) and get the attendant, he calls out if anyone's a qualified lifesaver but no one's listening, of course. He jumps in and remembering his lifesaving drill when he was a kid, he manages to get her up to the surface, just as the pool attendant takes over.

He's prosecuted for assuming duties he's no longer qualified for and has to face up to the local magistrate.

Would you have dived in like that or would you have done it differently?