what would you do-swim or stay safe?

[danah]

picture this-
sitting in the cruiser on a nice sunny summer day. you work for, lets say, miami beach pd. you have had hardly any calls all day so you are relaxing and using you radar to clock some cars. all the sudden you get a call to clear people off the beach because there is a shark, possibly dangerous, in the water. when you get to the beach, everyone is out of the water. except you see a young teenager, about 14, getting attacked by a shark. he isn't that far off shore and you are a good swimmer with a lot of ocean experience. btw, no life guards around to help. what do YOU do? go swim and save his life or let him stay out there and either get eaten or drown. besides what your instinct would tell you to do, is there a department policy on it (obviously your safety is at risk)?

hmmmmmmmmmmm.

[Group9]

I'll give you something to think about that might make it easier. We have a lot of shark attacks ratio wise down here in Florida. Some antedotal evidence suggests that sharks rarely attack rescuers of attack victims and in some cases will even swim around rescuers to attack the original victim again. So it might not be as dangerous to assist a shark attack victim as you think.

[Switchback]

Wow, Group! I did not know that. I've had more problems with jellyfish in your neck of the woods, to be honest. Those little buggers suck!

[coucousis]

Is that suppose to make us safe swimming around sharks???
How can I post myself as a rescuer before they take the first bite???

Like I will wear a swimming suit written "Police officer " in the back :D

[Switchback]

I jsut go for a pair of blue or tactical black speedos with my badge on them.

;)

I found the helmet and body armor makes it a bit hard to stay afloat.

[canuckofapeach]

I always thought that old, pot-bellied hirsute men wore Speedos

[Switchback]

Hey! I'm not pot-bellied!

LOL

[coucousis]

Hey Canuck...

What... I'm not pot-bellied either and I don't feel like wearing a G-string... How would a shark know I'm a cop if I wear a G-String...
Would have to check between the butts.....?

[Zwitterion]

Oh comeon, speedo is the way to go when you really want to swim! Not those big floaty shorts feels like you have a parachute around you waist. :D

[Group9]

Hey, this is just what the guys say who have been down here awhile. I, personally, am scared S***less at the idea of going into the water when I already know there is a shark there, much less one that's already taken a bite out of somebody.

There was a story from the panhandle a year or two ago about an 8 year old boy at the beach at Fort Pickens who got attacked and his uncle went in and grabbed the eight foot shark and dragged it up on to the beach to retrieve the boy's arm from it.

At first, I chalked this up to being a good example of why you shouldn't start fights in bars with people you don't know. And then several people told me about the sharks and rescuer thing.

I guess that this is in that "Take it for whatever it may be worth" category.

[danah]

well, we got a lot of speedo talk. btw guys, speedos are for the hairy french tourist. but we didn't get one person to say that they would jump right in so i will assume that we all wouldn't. don't worry though, either would i. the best the kid would get was me shooting a few rounds to try to hit the shark. hehe

[Oldbillplod]

This is why I wouldn't trust a shark