A man has fallen into the river in
Think about variables such as the average citizen, what an average city with a river would look like in your nation, the infrastructure, service response times, and how it all comes together in a theoretical rescue scenario—implying your average city would attempt such a rescue at all.
I'll start things off to give an example.
One of the requirements for graduation in Cayucan public secondary education is to learn how to swim and complete a 50m swim test. Ideally this is knowledge that sticks indefinitely, helping citizens to survive a relatively likely accident as a maritime nation.
Once in the water, it's easy for someone to find their way out and back to dry land. Most of the rivers are flanked with solid stone or concrete quays, like the quays found in Amsterdam canals. They are relatively low height and usually feature waist-high iron bar fencing to deter falling in. Municipalities are nationally mandated to have access ladders every 100m at minimum, although it's usually 50m or less. Riversides in urban areas are purposely maintained to ensure accessibility, especially to allow for an exit to dry land. So long as the victim is sober and of an average build and mind, there's little need for professional intervention.
Some circumstances require professional rescue however. Riverside spotting is assisted and completed by police on patrol, emergency call-ins, volunteer lifeboat institutions, and the National Police's public surveillance system. National Police officers are mandated to pass an annual physical test, a 100m swim and basic lifesaving tests being among the physical test requirements. Volunteer lifeboat and affiliated institutions often put up more vigorous requirements for certification and membership. Fall-in incidents are usually dealt with RHIBs and other small, fast boats. In sum, the general response group is competent and reliable with rescues involving the average citizen.
The primary concern is response time. Even with <5 min. response times in urban areas, this is not enough to rescue citizens who are in fatal scenarios like falling in while intoxicated or tangled in material. Tabloid newsletters and other sensationalist media usually latch onto these incidents as a means to a quick buck, which inevitably flares up a debate on the potential underlying issues for a newscycle.