When to jump in
'Look before you leap.' (John Heywood, 1546)
The wind grew cold as the sun set yesterday evening. Pete and I sat on a bench beside the river warming ourselves with bags of hot chips. Pete noticed a man nearby stepping onto railings and behaving oddly. I didn’t see him as he was behind me and then, apparently, the man walked away. Some minutes later, we heard a strange splash in the water. Now feeling concerned, we went quickly to investigate. Leaning over the railings and peering into the murky water below, we couldn’t see anything. We called out. No response. Called out again. Silence. Had it just been a swan?
Straining over the railings now, I saw what looked like a pair of training shoes just below the surface. ‘There’s someone in there’. Pete called the Police while I climbed over the railings to get a better view. There was a man below floating in the water. ‘Are you OK?’ No response. I could see he was breathing. Confused at what he was doing, I grabbed a life buoy ring and lowered it, by rope, down the vertical pier into the water beside him. ‘You’re OK, mate. Help is on its way. You can grab hold of the float if you need it.’ Still no response. He lay there, eyes closed and completely motionless.
Within moments, a Police officer ran up to us and immediately started shouting at the person in the water to get hold of the ring. His voice seemed to jolt a response and, for a moment, the man instinctively took a loose hold of it. ‘I can’t swim’, said the Police officer to us, quietly. I felt an instant dilemma. Do I jump in and risk 2 of us becoming trapped (or worse) in the cold water, or do I wait until further help arrives? I decided that, if the man turned over or started to sink, I would brace myself and leap in. I was surprised at my own hesitation. Was it fear, indifference…or a learned response?
Within minutes, more emergency service professionals arrived and the man’s life was saved. As I drove home, I reflected on what had happened. As a younger man, I would have dived straight into the water in rescue mode. Moreover, it would have felt like the right and courageous thing to do. What has changed? Through years of work in coaching and OD in humanitarian organisations, I have learned to pause, weigh up options and choose a response. To jump in is a judgement call with wider implications. When do you 'jump in' and when do you hold back? What drives your response?
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3 年Thanks for this Nick. My work focuses primarily on implementing trauma informed care and racial equity (by way of anti-racism). I'm three years into my "formal" OD career and paradigms. This affords me a lot of creativity for what action looks like. Over time, "jumping in" for my implementation consulting has looked different, but remains pretty proactive. The questions I pose, my willingness to at least state that I recommend we come back to an incident/statement/concern, an emphasis on posing questions about meaning and connection to mission//vision, asking systems-thinking type questions about how actions at one point will affect other stakeholders/functional areas. Sometimes, it seems people swimming in the water of the system don't need a savior as much as a guide to remind them of where they are, what they have, and what they want to become.
Nick, there is so much wrapped up in your story! For me, it's a reminder that sometimes the best way we can help others is to create the environment for them to solve their own problems or have other experts help. I've seen too many people want to help so badly they're not intentional about who is the best person to help and don't unravel the dynamics at play and implications, which lends itself to dealing with only the surface instead of the root cause.
As an ex-RLSS Lifeguard and lifesaver trainer/examiner, you did exactly the right thing as a non-professional rescuer, Nick. You never put yourself in more danger than is absolutely necessary or that you can handle. Your safety comes first, and it's better to have one casualty than two. You made the casualty safe by giving him the buoyancy aid, and waited for professional help whilst being prepared to take additional (riskier) steps if the situation deteriorated. Thumbs up!
Bupa, Aviva and Cigna Recognised Counsellor - Practices at The Eaves, Godalming and Nicholson House, Weybridge
3 年You did a wonderful thing Nick. You made a difference when that man was at his most vulnerable.