Everyone in the gym wears a mask (mandated in our state in the gym) however, one of the guards spent most of the hour I was swimming in the chair (in between breaks) with the mask off, unless she had to speak to the other guard. She's taken short mask breaks in the past, but this was ridiculous. All member have to wear the mask in the gym, while working out, on the deck, etc. and an employee of the fitness center doesn't. I'm surprised the other "main" guard has let this go, since he never removes his mask.
I was shocked that Kurt, an emergency room physician no less, would say such an irresponsible thing. Kurt, as you should know, the lifeguard's job is to WATCH the swimmers at all times.
I honestly don't really think he said anything irresponsible. Of course, each scenario is different. The health clubs with 3 lane, 4' deep pools don't have lifeguards. Used to be 24 hours a day, now it is open 5:00AM until midnight. For many hours throughout the day, no one is in there, and many others, there is only one person. I'm not really sure how a small health club would be able to afford that wihtout raising their fees a lot.
The civic center with a 12' deep pool and 7 lanes does, though they have periods of lap swimming and general free swimming. I think in each case, the staffing is appropriate.
OF course, in the case of the Emory swimmer, I can only guessing she was working out on her own? The age group swim teams don't usually have life guards, the coaches are required to have certifications. And of course the swimmers are very aware of where their lane peers are or should be. The one time we had a guy push it (collegiate swimmer, training with us after he left Auburn via transfer, before he enrolled at Arizona, so very high level), we had a coach in the middle of teh outdoor pool waiting in the water in case he had issues - he was trying to get a full 100M underwater w/o fins. But if someone was free swimming in a typical city sized pool in an open swim case, then yes, lifeguards are a pretty important thing.
If the gal had a pre-existing condition, it was the responsibility of the parent to give the lifeguard a heads-up and explain to the guard that if his daughter rolls on to her back, the guard should jump in and pull her out! The guard probably thought she was just tired and didn't realize she had a medical condition.
Swimmers: If you know that you or your child has a medical condition, explain that to the lifeguard before
you or your child swims! That should be repeated to any new guard at your pool or at your child's pool.
Three points - the condition was known and shared with the host team. The parent or swimmer wouldn't have any access to the lifeguards beforehand. Or for that matter, during, as they would often swap out. Second point, I think it is non-sequitur. THis is a championship level meet with qualifying times. There won't be kids just getting tired in the middle of a 200M swim. And again, the father who was yelling and screaming dove in from across the pool. A coach jumped in close to her (she was by the backstroke flags, so about 5M from the wall). Lifeguard never reacted - and was, FWIW, fired on the spot. Third point - if a kid is so tired that they roll over on their back, then they are obviously in need of assistance, which is the whole purpose of the lifeguard. Besides, the kid was lifeless. She was unconscious when she was pulled from the pool.
Now what I WILL say is that if one has such a medical condition and it is known, then events like a 200Fly are probably not the best choices.
Gotta mark this thread - not often you and I don't see thigns more closely :)
I was shocked that Kurt, an emergency room physician no less, would say such an irresponsible thing. Kurt, as you should know, the lifeguard's job is to WATCH the swimmers at all times.
I honestly don't really think he said anything irresponsible. Of course, each scenario is different. The health clubs with 3 lane, 4' deep pools don't have lifeguards. Used to be 24 hours a day, now it is open 5:00AM until midnight. For many hours throughout the day, no one is in there, and many others, there is only one person. I'm not really sure how a small health club would be able to afford that wihtout raising their fees a lot.
The civic center with a 12' deep pool and 7 lanes does, though they have periods of lap swimming and general free swimming. I think in each case, the staffing is appropriate.
OF course, in the case of the Emory swimmer, I can only guessing she was working out on her own? The age group swim teams don't usually have life guards, the coaches are required to have certifications. And of course the swimmers are very aware of where their lane peers are or should be. The one time we had a guy push it (collegiate swimmer, training with us after he left Auburn via transfer, before he enrolled at Arizona, so very high level), we had a coach in the middle of teh outdoor pool waiting in the water in case he had issues - he was trying to get a full 100M underwater w/o fins. But if someone was free swimming in a typical city sized pool in an open swim case, then yes, lifeguards are a pretty important thing.
If the gal had a pre-existing condition, it was the responsibility of the parent to give the lifeguard a heads-up and explain to the guard that if his daughter rolls on to her back, the guard should jump in and pull her out! The guard probably thought she was just tired and didn't realize she had a medical condition.
Swimmers: If you know that you or your child has a medical condition, explain that to the lifeguard before
you or your child swims! That should be repeated to any new guard at your pool or at your child's pool.
Three points - the condition was known and shared with the host team. The parent or swimmer wouldn't have any access to the lifeguards beforehand. Or for that matter, during, as they would often swap out. Second point, I think it is non-sequitur. THis is a championship level meet with qualifying times. There won't be kids just getting tired in the middle of a 200M swim. And again, the father who was yelling and screaming dove in from across the pool. A coach jumped in close to her (she was by the backstroke flags, so about 5M from the wall). Lifeguard never reacted - and was, FWIW, fired on the spot. Third point - if a kid is so tired that they roll over on their back, then they are obviously in need of assistance, which is the whole purpose of the lifeguard. Besides, the kid was lifeless. She was unconscious when she was pulled from the pool.
Now what I WILL say is that if one has such a medical condition and it is known, then events like a 200Fly are probably not the best choices.
Gotta mark this thread - not often you and I don't see thigns more closely :)
