Sidney’s Law

The Issue

On June 10 2020 my 17 year old son drowned at Cutler Lake in Blue Rock State Park. https://ycitynews.com/17543/news/teen-who-drowned-in-cutler-lake-identified/ Had there been adequate staffing there could have been a ranger patrolling Blue Rock specifically that could have responded to the incident and recovered and resuscitated my son. The location of Blue Rock State Park makes emergency response difficult by local agencies and therefore it is vital to have ODNR staffing rangers to parks like Blue Rock so they can respond faster in an emergency than 911 enables in such a remote location. At this time the rangers are stationed out of Dillon and there are only 3 rangers under direction of a Lieutenant patrolling a wide area and multiple parks. There need to be more rangers so they can be assigned to patrol continuously during operating hours at each park for emergencies. There were no Rangers at Blue Rock that day. A law mandating presence of rangers at state operated parks trained in lifesaving techniques with the right equipment is necessary to avoid tragedies. If there is not adequate staffing the park should not be open for use until there is staffing.

This petition had 1,820 supporters

The Issue

On June 10 2020 my 17 year old son drowned at Cutler Lake in Blue Rock State Park. https://ycitynews.com/17543/news/teen-who-drowned-in-cutler-lake-identified/ Had there been adequate staffing there could have been a ranger patrolling Blue Rock specifically that could have responded to the incident and recovered and resuscitated my son. The location of Blue Rock State Park makes emergency response difficult by local agencies and therefore it is vital to have ODNR staffing rangers to parks like Blue Rock so they can respond faster in an emergency than 911 enables in such a remote location. At this time the rangers are stationed out of Dillon and there are only 3 rangers under direction of a Lieutenant patrolling a wide area and multiple parks. There need to be more rangers so they can be assigned to patrol continuously during operating hours at each park for emergencies. There were no Rangers at Blue Rock that day. A law mandating presence of rangers at state operated parks trained in lifesaving techniques with the right equipment is necessary to avoid tragedies. If there is not adequate staffing the park should not be open for use until there is staffing.

The Decision Makers

Hearcel Craig
Ohio State Senate - District 15

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Petition created on July 5, 2020