Imagine if lifeguards stationed at Hanalei Beach Park had hesitated and worried about jurisdictional or liability issues before jumping onto their jetski to respond to a distress call around Pu’u Poa Point at Princeville. With worries like these, the total
Imagine if lifeguards stationed at Hanalei Beach Park had hesitated and worried about jurisdictional or liability issues before jumping onto their jetski to respond to a distress call around Pu’u Poa Point at Princeville.
With worries like these, the total lives lost to drowning on Kaua’i this year could easily have doubled. A Mainland visitor did drown off the Queen’s Bath area of Princeville last week, the first Kaua’i drowning death this year, but lifeguards from the Hanalei Pavilion tower saved another man, traveling far away from their area of responsibility to reach a visitor in need.
If for no reason other than those latest heroic efforts, argues state Rep. Ezra Kanoho (D, Waipouli, Lihu’e, Puhi), the bill granting county lifeguards immunity from lawsuits should be approved during the current legislative session.
“We’re talking about saving lives,” and the immunity bill’s caveat allowing for lawsuits if gross negligence or disregard can be proven won’t even come into play with Kaua’i or other counties’ professional lifeguard force, he said.
“Negligence is not a problem. Lifeguards are very dedicated, conscientious,” said Kanoho, who knows a few things about public safety professionals. Of his four sons, two are Kauai Police Department officers, and the other two are firefighters, one on Kaua’i and one on O’ahu.
The bill is also necessary, argued Kaua’i’s senior state legislator, because the presence of lifeguards on beaches automatically makes counties liable for any deaths or injuries that take place while lifeguards are on duty. So, without immunity, there won’t be lifeguards on any beaches.
Lifeguards are professionals, and need total immunity, both on county beaches where towers are regularly manned, and at non-county beaches that have histories of drownings such as Polihale, Lumaha’i, Ke’e and Hanakapi’a, he said.
Staff Writer Paul C. Curtis can be reached at mailto:pcurtis@pulitzer.net or 245-3681 (ext. 224).
