I was perusing old topics referencing lifeguards, particularly how they can often be lazy, inattentative, and put patrons safety at risk. I am a lifeguard at LA Fitness in NY and I work 18 hour shifts. The private company that LA contracts out to manage their pools only employs one lifeguard. I am completely by myself for every single shift. My supervisor whom manages over 30 different pools is actually banned from entering the location I work at for assaulting a member a few years back while he was lifeguarding. I literally have to meet him at his car in the parking lot when he comes to deliver chemicals. A major problem with this job is that not only is it a one man operation,I do not have to only lifeguard. I am also entirely in charge of regulating the chemical levels(ph, chlorine, alkalinity), temperature, and general cleaniness of the facility(mopping deck, vacuuming pool floor). Obviously this is highly distracting to my, arguably most important job of surveying the water for swimmers in distress. I would gladly close the pool every time I have to step out(usually at least once an hour every hour of the day) but I am not allowed to and would undoubtedly be fired from the massive amount of complaints LA management would recieve. I also am not even provided with a damn whistle or uniform. I honestly do not see my job as a lifeguard. On paper it is but in practice I am really a pool attendent. In an attempt to save myself from liability in case of an emergency while I am absent I leave the "no lifeguard on duty-swimming prohibited) sign visible all day so technically no one should be swimming at all times during operational hours. Obviously I do not enforce what this sign states so everyone ignores it and swims anyway so I am of course quite dubious as to how well that would hold up in court(my guess-it wouldn't). I just want to ask as a swimmer and paying member of an upstanding establishment, how would you feel if your local lifeguard started kicking you out quite frequently during your daily swims? I imagine you would be quite angry. So please, next time have pity on your lifeguard if he in such a poor position as I am, as not always is it his fault. He may not be provided with the proper support he needs to effectively watch over the patrons.
I used to belong to LA Fitness here in the Chicago area. Their pool was a disaster. I'm not too sensitive to the presence or absence of lifeguards, but it would be nice to have a human on deck to send people back to the showers when they show up dripping with sweat after their "dry land" workout. While I was a member, they moved from in-house to contracted pool maintenance, and thus lost the ability to correct problems in a timely fashion. Basically, all they could do was call their contractor and wait for him to show up. To make matters worse, it appears their contractor in our area did something which caused flooding of the retail stores on the first floor. That was, thankfully, after I had pried myself from their clutches. Never again.
I used to belong to LA Fitness here in the Chicago area. Their pool was a disaster. I'm not too sensitive to the presence or absence of lifeguards, but it would be nice to have a human on deck to send people back to the showers when they show up dripping with sweat after their "dry land" workout. While I was a member, they moved from in-house to contracted pool maintenance, and thus lost the ability to correct problems in a timely fashion. Basically, all they could do was call their contractor and wait for him to show up. To make matters worse, it appears their contractor in our area did something which caused flooding of the retail stores on the first floor. That was, thankfully, after I had pried myself from their clutches. Never again.
