Reacting When It Counts
Interesting where this thread has gone. I think mapping scenarios ahead of time helps a lot; however, we all know that everyone responds differently when it counts. I’ve seen some fairly stalwart folks - well skilled, well practiced - struggle with decision making during crisis. I’ve seen others - both skilled and unskilled - naturally respond calmly and really think about the situation. While the scenario planning helps a lot, I think how someone responds depends just as much on personality and how they are wired as a person as it does skill. Does that make sense?
As for the guy who jumped in for his dog. It wasn’t the perfect move by any strecth, but he did two things right: he had enough presence of mind to throw the lifering in the water first and to make sure I saw exactly what he was doing so no one would miss him. This would have been really interesting had it happened on a dark, misty morning on the water. This morning’s commute was compeltely fogged in with perhaps 10 foot visibility. Back to the lessons learned: that’s where the whistle becomes handy…and everyone on the ferries always where’s a whistle 
Personality & stress response
That’s where teamwork and honest self-asessment can be a big help. If you know that you tend to fixate, get tunnel vision, get over-excited, or in some other unproductive state, you can ask your partners to watch for it and nudge you back to center.
If you’re alone, having a script in your head can help keep you centered. “…blood everywhere. Doesn’t matter. What’s first? ABC. Airway. Gotta check his airway. You can do this. Just like we practiced…”
I hate the feeling of seeing something bad happen and not knowing what to do. It’s gut-wrenching. That’s why I’m trying to learn some basic rescue and first-aid skills – not to be a hero, but so I’ll know how to do something useful, no matter how minor.
Wear whisle? Actually, I do.
When I ride the ferries to the islands in Lake Erie, I wear my own PFD, with whistle attached. Yes, I get “looks”, but I’d rather be a live wimp.
If the ferry didn’t stop for the dog
I bet they would, at the very least, have radioed for someone else in the area to respond and look for the dog.
Thistleback
OK I’ve done this
I did something stupid and tried swimming to help my son who was in trouble in surf pounding onto a jetty with tide surge going into a channel. I should have known better but an instinct to try and help quickly kicked in and just as quick we were both in big trouble. It's easy to second guess what you would do in an emergency but with seconds to act sometimes people who should know better make poor choices. Eventually we figured it out and got ourselves out of trouble. Which was good because onlookers were just as stunned as we were with our predicament.
I was wearing a helmet and a PFD and I did manage to push him away from the sea wall where the waves were worse but as soon as I started swimming, and I felt the current suck me into the tiderip a voice in my head from my Boy Scout Days was screaming REACH, THROW, ROW, GO. Go should be the very last choice.
I think people who don't swim in the ocean in cold water have very little concept of what it would be like to try and jump off a ferry, recover and swim hundreds of yards in cold water. He should have said there was a child in the water and rang the alarm.
And then what happened?
Stupid Dog = Stupid Owner
Well if my dog was that stupid then I think I would let it drown. Survival of the fittest. A rather Darwinian thought.
They say people ‘look’ like their dogs.
Well I guess people ‘think’ like their dogs two.
The owner was as stupid as the dog.
Sorry if I offend election year blues.