Look, it’s always tempting to save somebody’s life. The drama. The praise. The needling sense that it’s the right thing to do. But there are a lot of other factors to consider as well. Just ask 21-year-old Thomas Lopez, a Hallandale Beach lifeguard, who was fired for rescuing a drowning Estonian man last Monday. The man was drowning about 1500 feet outside of Hallandale Beach’s established boundaries, and thus, was just not Mr. Lopez’s problem. A spokesman acknowledged that Lopez may have had good intentions but “the city doesn’t provide lifeguards in front of the condominiums up and down the beach …we are not a fire-rescue operation. We are strictly a lifeguard organization.” Which is just a reminder to all of us to not get carried away when we see a person in a desperate situation for which we have gone through extensive training to assist. Moderation, people …
