My career as a swimming pool lifeguard began in the summer of 1973. I was hired by a local municipality and paid $3.00 with the promise of a $0.25 per hour raise each year (minimum wage was $1.65). I got a “real job” in 1984 but continued lifeguarding here and there until 1995. In all these years, I helped a lot of people, made some rescues, and even revived a few. I remember every rescue and first aid situation I was involved in and I can look back on my lifeguard years with pride and a sense of accomplishment. You could say that I’ve stayed active with training lifeguards and swimming instructors in part as a way of connecting to my past and as a way of helping others to be ready to experience what I did when I was younger.
In particular, I have a strong recollection of my first and last rescues. Like every rescue in between them, they were each unique, as different as people are different, and at the same time, in a subtle way, familiar. The most remarkable thing to me is that I learned so much about being a lifeguard from each incident and, even as I compare my first rescue to my last, despite my many years as a lifeguard and a trainer of lifeguards, that I still could learn from the experience.
My First Rescue
My first rescue happened on my first day as a working lifeguard (my baptism of fire). The city where I worked had scheduled a preseason excursion by a local preschool that bordered the park and pool. The pool was “Z” shaped with a diving area extending in one direction off the main pool and a 2-foot deep “tot pool” extending off the main pool in the other direction. The only part of the pool open was the tot pool. Four lifeguards, myself included, were stationed around this tiny pool, one on each side and another lifeguard stated in the water just outside the safety line that marked the slope down to the 3.5-foot area of the main pool. About 25 children were in the water and parents and teachers stood on deck alongside the lifeguards on each side, creating a crowded feeling, at least to me.
All of a sudden, a parent was screaming “save my baby, save my baby.” I looked around but couldn’t see anything amiss. The other lifeguards were looking also, but they didn’t see any struggling child. The pool manager was talking in my ear. “Make the rescue,” he said. “Where?” I answered. He just answered: “get in there!” I came to realize later that he didn’t see the victim either!
As I looked around again, I saw a small girl “swimming” directly toward the deck where I was standing. She was about in the middle of the pool, stroking arm-over-arm, but not breathing. Suddenly, that seemed unusual to me. I reacted, entering the water and picking up the child. Instantly, I could tell she was out of breath and scared. I verified she was breathing and passed her to her mother. Apparently, she had fallen forward in the water and could not recover back to a standing position. To the casual observer, it looked like swimming. What an unusual first rescue!
My Last Rescue (So Far)
The last time I made a rescue, I was not working as a lifeguard. It was 2002 and I had been snorkeling by myself at Wood’s Cove in Laguna Beach, CA. There were two lifeguards stationed at the cove and others on the beach sunbathing and enjoying the beach. Wood’s Cove is nice for scuba and snorkeling because there is a sudden drop at one entry/exit point close to shore that makes putting on and taking off equipment easy. I was exiting at that point and had my mask and fins in hand when I noticed a boy about 7 or 8 years old who appeared to be treading water in a part of the water a foot or so over his head and no more than a few feet away from safety. I would have walked right past him except that his eyes were wide open like saucers and he was staring toward Catalina Island, struggling hard to stay afloat. “Do you need help?” I asked the boy. He immediately shook his head in the affirmative. So I scooped him up and placed him on the sand. I found out his name was Jason and that he was at the beach with his mother. Looking around, I observed that the two Laguna Beach lifeguards were talking to each other; they had not observed my rescue. I looked over where Jason said his mother was, and I saw that she was reading a magazine, unaware of my interaction with her son. I said goodbye to Jason and stopped briefly to ask Jason’s mother to watch him more closely. She appeared mildly perturbed by my comments, but she did not answer. I said nothing to the two lifeguards (though I should have).
Conclusion
I started this blog by saying that I found it remarkable to learn so much from every rescue, especially this last one. In this last rescue, I wasn’t looking for victims as I exited the water at Wood’s Cove that day, and it was only Jason’s eyes, such a small signal, that led me to believe he needed help. It is astounding and troubling to me that there were three people on the beach that day that should have seen him before I did. That has taught me to be an advocate for water safety and never to assume that someone else is probably watching.
And, as for my first rescue, even I had no experience, somehow, I was equal to the challenge. I analyzed a situation and acted. I believe that this began a pattern for me that served me well as a lifeguard. Keeping focus, following one’s instincts, and being decisive builds confidence to act in the future. My first rescue, and the others in between, prepared me for my last rescue. And because I am still upon the earth, I am prepared to help in my next, if another situation should present itself.
