The wet stuff: An exploration of the UK's water rescue community from the middle

Abstract

This article seeks to explore the way in which key, specifically situated actors within the UK water rescue community understand and perceive challenges relating to navigating policy and practical challenges inherent to their role. Utilizing Lipsky's notion of the ‘street level bureaucrat’, focus groups and interviews were undertaken with water rescue practitioners who bridge the gap between high‐level strategy implementers and ground‐level operational personnel. Utilizing a grounded theory approach, the research uncovered how these operators conceptualize the boundaries in relation to their work, the role of knowledge and knowledge exchange, the nature of the obligation, especially with regard to differences between statutory and voluntary agencies, and in relation to ever‐changing public attitudes towards risk and expectations of a right to be rescued. This was underscored by consistent reference to challenges posed by funding, resourcing and the contingent nature of both political will and public interest in their work. The findings, drawing on these uniquely situated actors, emphasized the importance of practitioners interacting with and knowing one another, in addition to having a shared understanding of the water environment on the coast and inland, as being a key means to navigate the ‘bureaucracy’ of water rescue. The ways in which Lipsky's model can complement contemporary discussions regarding social identity within the emergency response to promote both vertical and horizontal cohesion and clarity are examined.