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Post by crazy4scraps on Jun 3, 2016 4:38:37 GMT
What drowning looks likeI was a lifeguard for several years WAAAYYY back in the early 1980's and I still "scan the pool" with a pattern whenever I am around water. I have pulled up more than a few children and an adult who were starting to struggle in the water over the past few decades even though my lifeguard certification expired in 1988. Water parks with the big wave pool with the people on those inflatable rafts? My gosh, those lifeguards at those wave pools certainly earn their money!!! Ha ha, back in my lifeguarding days, when kids did that, ^^^^^^ they had to sit out a swim period and also pick up trash in order to "earn back" the next swim periods!!! Good times, good times. My little brother almost drowned at a wave pool place when he was about 11. Some kid stole his raft while the waves were going and the lifeguard never saw a thing. I saw it happen and was struggling to fight against the waves to get over to him, and if my older brother wouldn't have dove in and pulled him out, he surely would have died. Definitely not the way you want to end a family vacation.
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Post by auntkelly on Jun 3, 2016 5:19:46 GMT
We've always had a pool, so we were asked to host a lot of end of season pool parties when our kids were growing up and playing sports. I always said "Sure, but we need to take up a collection so we can hire an off duty lifeguard to help us watch the kids while they're in the pool."
I always used the same kid and he jumped at the chance to work my parties because we paid him more for a two hour party than he made working at the local pool all day (someone at the local pool was always willing to trade shifts with him). I sat him up on the side of the pool that was furthest from our house so he wouldn't be distracted by the parents.
The other parents were good about watching their own kids while they were swimming and I always stayed outside and watched the swimmers as well. However, it was nice to know there was a lifeguard on duty whose sole job was to watch the kids and make sure everyone in the pool was safe.
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MerryMom
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,562
Jul 24, 2014 19:51:57 GMT
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Post by MerryMom on Jun 3, 2016 13:16:09 GMT
I watched a parent jump into the pool, fully clothed, to save her 5 year old swim when the YMCA swim instructor did not notice one of his five students slipped under water and wasn't close enough to the edge to grab it. It takes more than one person with eyes like a hawk to keep swimmers safe. I saw this happen when I was at lessons for my younger son just last summer. The parent made it out of the observation area, across the pool deck, into the pool, and had that kid back out of the water before the instructor noticed and made it back to the edge of the pool. (I'm not knocking the instructor at all. They are out in the water holding or helping another child, so obviously their focus isn't entirely on the kids who are waiting their turn at the edge of the pool.) My son was having one on one lessons, and I still watched the entire time. While giving a swim lesson, there should still be a lifeguard on duty to watch everyone as the instructor's focus is on one person. That is why when I was a WSI, the kiddoes had to be out of the pool sitting "criss cross applesauce" 5 feet from the side of the pool. No legs dangling in the water, etc.
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Post by melanell on Jun 3, 2016 14:50:52 GMT
I saw this happen when I was at lessons for my younger son just last summer. The parent made it out of the observation area, across the pool deck, into the pool, and had that kid back out of the water before the instructor noticed and made it back to the edge of the pool. (I'm not knocking the instructor at all. They are out in the water holding or helping another child, so obviously their focus isn't entirely on the kids who are waiting their turn at the edge of the pool.) My son was having one on one lessons, and I still watched the entire time. While giving a swim lesson, there should still be a lifeguard on duty to watch everyone as the instructor's focus is on one person. That is why when I was a WSI, the kiddoes had to be out of the pool sitting "criss cross applesauce" 5 feet from the side of the pool. No legs dangling in the water, etc. There were 2 lifeguards actively watching at the time, but the parent was in the observation area closest to where the child's group was located and they were focused on only one child---their own. So they simply were the first to see it happening.
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