Drowning Doesn't Look Like Drowning

Fortunately I don't lifeguard anymore - but I remember when I did, there were several parents who had their children in serious trouble within arms length of them - and weren't even aware. Had to push them aside to rescue their child. Printed your article out - thanks so much. My son is the head guard & a site manager over the city swim lessons this summer - hopefully he'll share this with the others there as well. Hope it helps! I ran a pool in an area of FL that hadn't had a pool in over 20 years, the residents had no understanding of pool etiquette, and few swimming skills. It was a "wet" pool, meaning the guards were constantly wet from making saves, we had 26 saves the first month we were open, it was nuts! But it also gave us huge insights into what a drowning person looks like; that article was spot on, it requires a ton of vigilence to keep people safe, much more than most of us were taught in our guard classes.

Fortunately I don't lifeguard anymore - but I remember when I did, there were several parents who had their children in serious trouble within arms length of them - and weren't even aware. Had to push them aside to rescue their child. Printed your article out - thanks so much. My son is the head guard & a site manager over the city swim lessons this summer - hopefully he'll share this with the others there as well. Hope it helps! I ran a pool in an area of FL that hadn't had a pool in over 20 years, the residents had no understanding of pool etiquette, and few swimming skills. It was a "wet" pool, meaning the guards were constantly wet from making saves, we had 26 saves the first month we were open, it was nuts! But it also gave us huge insights into what a drowning person looks like; that article was spot on, it requires a ton of vigilence to keep people safe, much more than most of us were taught in our guard classes.