In Search of Lifeguards
By Albert B. Kelly
Every summer season, people ask if there will be swimming at Sunset Lake and as much as I want to answer with an enthusiastic yes, I have not been able to do so but it has not been for a lack of trying. The great challenge to opening up Sunset Lake for swimming, as it has been for the last few years, has been the lack of lifeguards. The whole idea of taking a swim to cool off on a hot summer day is not as simple as it sounds.
If you’re of a certain older age, you likely have memories of going down to a lake or some favorite watering hole and jumping in- splashing and playing in the water and generally enjoying time out in the sun. There may have been a lifeguard on duty at the shore beaches, but just as often there was no lifeguard, especially at the smaller watering holes. Things are different today and opening a beach and inviting the public to swim is not a simple and easy thing.
For one thing, there are standards to be met. The business of lifeguarding has evolved over the last century and included in that evolution are such things as first aid, CPR (Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation), and more recently the use of external defibrillators. In the case of a beach at a lakefront, you need so many lifeguards for so many feet of beach and number of swimmers. In the case of Sunset Lake the minimum number is three lifeguards, but the preference is to have four.
This is a matter of public safety. Estimates by the USLA (United States Lifesaving Association) indicate that lifeguards in this country save roughly 100,000 people from drowning each year. A Center for Disease Control (CDC) report on lifeguard effectiveness points out that approximately 4,000 people a year die from drowning and based on various studies done of specific years a fair number of those victims are children under the age of fifteen.
Beyond the public safety aspect, we are also a litigious society and lawsuits are common even over mundane incidents. Obviously this concern takes a distant second to public safety, but the need to protect taxpayers from costly litigation means that cutting corners on having the minimum number of lifeguards is not an option- it’s all or nothing.
Each year, months before the summer starts, we begin our efforts to hire lifeguards. We also attempt to set up or fund training sessions to help those interested in getting the necessary credentials. Lifeguards need certifications specific to lakefronts. Lifeguards also need CPR certification and AED (Automatic External Defibrillator) certification. In addition to being a strong swimmer, lifeguards need to be able to administer first aid, enforce swimming regulations, and remain calm during a rescue.
For any who may be interested, we pay between $12 and $14 per hour to lifeguards depending on experience. In recent years, the Cumberland Cape Atlantic YMCA offered classes starting in February and continuing into spring. The pandemic interfered with just about everything over the last two seasons, but going forward, anyone interested should contact them about their plans for 2022 and beyond. The Cumberland Cape Atlantic YMCA also holds practice sessions to improve skills and complete pre-screening requirements.
Our short term hope is to be able to have enough lifeguards hired and on duty so that we can open Sunset Lake and invite the public to swim knowing that sufficient help is at the ready should someone get into trouble in the water. Right now the challenge is finding enough people with the necessary certifications willing to sign on and work through the season, but we’ll keep at it.
Finally, beyond hiring enough credentialed lifeguards to open for any single season, a long term goal is to cultivate some homegrown talent from our immediate community. I say that because as a minority-majority community acknowledging the many divisions over race and ethnicity; and also factoring in how those divisions have played themselves out over the years when it came to integrated public swimming, this too may be contributing to some of our difficulties in staffing the lake to required levels. A local effort to address the issue will no doubt involve local high school and college age young people and may well start with something as basic as learning how to swim. Go figure.