The section of the Heron River near the Village of Milford in Michigan is a popular canoeing section. It supports at least two canoe liveries. A well-established trail, there are even rollers to portage the canoes around Ford Dam.
On May 21, 2011, two fatalities occurred in the hydraulic behind Ford Dam on Hubbell Pond. Names have been changed. This case study provides an actual scenario for students to study and to assist in accident prevention
This incident is viewed from the perspective of Max, the volunteer leader of the Service Brigade, leader of the canoe trip, and father of his 16-year-old son, Jack. Jack had paddled this stretch of the Heron River several times on previous trips. He was one of the two victims. Seventeen-year-old Rickie was his canoeing partner and flushed out of the hydraulic behind the dam unharmed. The second victim was Dick, a bystander, who attempted a rescue of Jack and Rickie. Church related, the Service Brigade is organized similarly to the BSA.
This case study has a lot of twists. Max’s son drowned in the hydraulic behind the dam. Then Dick’s estate sued him, claiming that the trip didn’t have proper supervision. There should have been two leaders. He looked at the world around him. He had every reason to think that he was doing everything right. He looked to the service brigade, a national organization. It offered little guidance regarding leader to participant ratios. He looked to the canoe rental company. They rented canoes primarily to individuals and families. They were most likely unaware of a higher standard of care for youth groups or organized trips. He looked to the past. They had always led the trip the way he did. For Max, the question became as a volunteer, how can he be sure that he was providing appropriate leadership and an appropriate standard of care?
In addition, there is the issue of sovereign immunity. The dam is owned by the Village of Milford and has sovereign immunity. They had placed numerous barriers and warning signs around the dam. They had placed a cable and warning signs in the backwash area of the dam, but had removed them eleven years before the incident. Four deaths occurred in the interim. After this incident, the cable and warning signs in the backwash area were reinstalled and no fatalities have occurred since then. The case study asks the following question. If the Village didn’t have sovereign immunity, would they have been negligent?
1 окт 2024
