Last Saturday, four workers carrying out riverbed construction work in Pachang Creek
But a helicopter never showed up and the four were finally engulfed by the muddy waters in front of a horrified audience, including TV viewers nationwide.
While the government and the public are busy examining and condemning various people or agencies for the delay in dispatching a Sea Gull Helicop-ter Rescue Team
Pan -- who participated in the Sun-Moon Lake rescue operation
Pan also said it would have been a very difficult rescue even the helicopter tried to save the workers by dropping a rope down to them, because such ropes are hard to control.
The best thing would have been to launch two to three life rafts (the more the better) near the four people, or to toss or drop life jackets or other life-saving equipment to the group while waiting for a helicopter to arrive.
Nevertheless, from the TV coverage of the tragedy, we saw a brave man jump into the river to try to save the four, even though he didn't have any life-saving equipment himself. The man never reached the forlorn group and was seriously injured by the sharp rocks on the riverbed.
Although we can admire his courage, his actions were a bad example for everyone because a rescue worker should never jump into the water to try to save someone without proper protection, thereby putting his or her own life in danger.
This Pacheng case clearly shows that many rescue team members may lack the professional knowledge and life-saving skills they need. They not only don't know how to use lifeboats properly but they don't know the importance of wearing life jackets or other equipment.
The lack of training to dealing with such an emergency may have contributed to the failure of the rescue mission.
Take the training program at the Central Police University
Unfortunately, many water accidents, including the Pachang Creek tragedy, do require professional rescue skills both on or under the water as well as the skills to operate life-saving equipment such as life boats.
To prevent a repeat of the tragedy, the Central Police University along with other fire departments and rescue teams should improve their training programs as soon as possible.
We cannot let the four workers who died on Saturday be sacrificed in vain.
Yang Yung-nane is a professor in the department of Administrative Management of the Central Police University.
Translated by Eddy Chang
When US budget carrier Southwest Airlines last week announced a new partnership with China Airlines, Southwest’s social media were filled with comments from travelers excited by the new opportunity to visit China. Of course, China Airlines is not based in China, but in Taiwan, and the new partnership connects Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport with 30 cities across the US. At a time when China is increasing efforts on all fronts to falsely label Taiwan as “China” in all arenas, Taiwan does itself no favors by having its flagship carrier named China Airlines. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is eager to jump at
The muting of the line “I’m from Taiwan” (我台灣來欸), sung in Hoklo (commonly known as Taiwanese), during a performance at the closing ceremony of the World Masters Games in New Taipei City on May 31 has sparked a public outcry. The lyric from the well-known song All Eyes on Me (世界都看見) — originally written and performed by Taiwanese hip-hop group Nine One One (玖壹壹) — was muted twice, while the subtitles on the screen showed an alternate line, “we come here together” (阮作伙來欸), which was not sung. The song, performed at the ceremony by a cheerleading group, was the theme
Secretary of State Marco Rubio raised eyebrows recently when he declared the era of American unipolarity over. He described America’s unrivaled dominance of the international system as an anomaly that was created by the collapse of the Soviet Union at the end of the Cold War. Now, he observed, the United States was returning to a more multipolar world where there are great powers in different parts of the planet. He pointed to China and Russia, as well as “rogue states like Iran and North Korea” as examples of countries the United States must contend with. This all begs the question:
Liberals have wasted no time in pointing to Karol Nawrocki’s lack of qualifications for his new job as president of Poland. He has never previously held political office. He won by the narrowest of margins, with 50.9 percent of the vote. However, Nawrocki possesses the one qualification that many national populists value above all other: a taste for physical strength laced with violence. Nawrocki is a former boxer who still likes to go a few rounds. He is also such an enthusiastic soccer supporter that he reportedly got the logos of his two favorite teams — Chelsea and Lechia Gdansk —
RSS