Woman rescued from Benson Lock (From The Oxford Times)

As someone who saw much of this occurence whilst out walking I would like to add to this article. It is worth noting that..

The woman did not fall in at Benson Lock but about 1/4 of a mile downstream. As I understand it the lock keeper was subsequently alerted by a passing boat as to the occurence and the emergency services were called. An onlooker reported the police quick to the scene but the woman had already been brought safely to the riverbank. What followed was an arduous over reaction to a crisis passed. Clearly the woman was wet and cold and probably at risk of hypothermia but the subsequent operation to get her from the riverside to an ambulance took in excess of an hour utilising, or not, more than a dozen members of the emergency services and more than 6 vehicles along with a trailered river rescue RIB despatched, I believe, from Kidlington and required to be launched the wrong side of the lock...

Whilst I applaud the police's initial prompt response the subsequent ridiculously overmanned follow up operation was an exercise in just how to waste time, manpower, resources and taxpayers money. I trust the woman is recovered from her ordeal.

Quite right Chris, give them all their P45s, and next time you fall in the drink hope you don't need any more assistance than a bare minimum.

As the person who pulled this lady out of the river I would like to make it known that the emergency services acted promptly. Although arrived in force, they had little information to act upon and the situation could have been a lot worse than it actually was. Better to have enough resources immediately than to muster them too late to be of any good. Can those that have commented previously really put a value on a life. PS, she could have ended up like her second dog lead and floated off down-stream!!

Firstly well done for recuing the poor woman but with respect I have already, as with yourself, applauded the initial quick response of the police in attending. I put great value on life but the entourage arrived after the event and must have known she was safe on shore.. the emergency services have very good comms these days. For some reason it appears that the fire service came from Watlington (at least two full tenders and crew?) rather than the much closer Wallingford station and attending en masse. Not knowing the area they initially set off down the wrong footpath (a dead end). My partner insists I am being too conservative and that as many as 14 people and 7 vehicles attended in total, most of them after the police had reached the scene and knew the woman to be safe on shore. Almost all these people did little but stand around and watch for the whole period, about an hour, as a rescue RIB was called out from Kidlington, towed to Benson cruiser station, launched, taken through the lock, used to pick up the poor woman from the riverbank further downstream (who had just been sat wrapped in a blanket for over 40 minutes by the side of the river) and then taken back through the lock to the cruiser station and ambulance. I wonder could she possibly have been stretchered, or even walked aided, many times over in that period but perhaps the 'risk assessment' said 'no'... I would be interested to know why so many staff were required to hang around for such an extended period, thus being unavailable for other possible shouts, and at a considerable cost I'm sure. I maintain that the follow up operation was disproportionately overmanned and arduously and unnecessarily lengthy - Remember this saga occurred AFTER she was known to be safe.. I'm quite happy to be called cynical but I assure you I was hardly alone in this thinking. Well done again for your part in helping this woman.

Good comms? If they are relying on the 3G network, or even the 1G network once you're outside the Oxford Ring Rd, they will not always be guaranteed a signal. It's better to be safe than sorry. I for one am glad that we still have public servants available to be out in force when needed to help people. THis means more to me than £100 pa off my council tax.

KJ I think you'll find that the emergency services don't simply rely on public mobile networks for comms but spend a serious amount on a dedicated secure system. Equally and yet again, you miss, or avoid, the point - Mass attendance AFTER the crisis, just standing about.

There is plenty of waste in the emergency services, largely at the top end with moronic chief execs and politicians blowing £millions on pricey PFI schemes. It is these sinister figures which are deserving of your ire, not those on the front line who are only doing their job and putting their training into action. I'm sure if there were other shouts to go to they would have been prioritised.