CIty Island Lawsuit Frivolous or not???

[JimmyBlueEyes]

As some of you know I work in Emergency Communications for the City of New York, Roughly translated I dispatch FDNY Fire Trucks up in the Bronx. A few months ago, a couple of teenagers decided to swipe a rowboat, and a small one at that, and sail from City Island over to Hart Island. That's where Potters Field is. Mind you, this was one of the coldest nights of the year and the water temperature was probably in the high 30's. They started taking on water and used a cell phone to dial 911. The operator at 911 wasn't able to get the correct location, and the Enhanced 911 cell phone feature you pay for only comes back to the nearest cell site or tower, which in this case I believe was New Rochelle, not your exact location like other places have. The kid started to say that they were in the Long Island Sound off of City Isl...Followed by We're gonna die. The operator wasn't able to get much more out of the kids before the connection went dead. She then passed it on to her supervisor, probably because of her lack of knowledge of geography in the city, the supervisor, Probably taking the call for a prank, took no action, when he should have notified NYPD Harbor Unit and they should have responded with a boat, FDNY who could have sent some land units to search the shore line, and the Coast Guard, who probably would have been there faster than anyone cause they are based right across the sound by Kings Point. You all know the rest. The supervisor was hooked up and probably lost a few days pay if not more. The 911 operator got a letter of instruction, a slap on the wrist. The first kid came up last week, and the second kid popped up yesterday, and the families of the four kids have filed suit against the city for negligence. Here's my thoughts and base your replies on this.

1) What the fuck were these kids doing out in a boat in the middle of winter without proper equipment (Life jackets, flares,etc.) ???
2)Even if the call for help was processed properly these kids were doomed. The water temperature was so low hypothermia sets in almost immediately and unprotected, a person has maybe a few minutes tops in the water before they lose conciousness from the hypothermia and eventually drown. (I know this from being an EMT at one time and my years with the Coast Guard)The closest waterborne assistance was at most 15-20 minutes away, NYPD Harbor 25-30 and FDNY Fireboats, 45 minutes plus. And that's not counting the time it takes to do the search let alone get there.
3) Why do people find it necessary to sue others for the actions, inactions or plain stupidity of themselves?? While I do sympathize with the families of these four kids for the loss of life, it is a shame that four lives were lost, but hey, you go out on a boat in the middle of the night and in the dead of winter and the boat sinks, you're fucked. This is like the hot coffee lawsuit and the fat kids suing Mc Donalds suit. I believe this lawsuit is a joke, it may bring up some weak points in the Police Departments procedures and communications, along with the need for more accurate cell phone tracing, but you can't blame the city for the actions and stupidity of four kids who thought it would be cool to steal a boat and go camping near Potters Field in the dead of winter.

On a side note if any member of this board is a friend or relative of those who perished, I apologize if this offends you and offer my sympathies for your loss.
Oh yeah sorry for too many words.