A pool without lifeguard is NEVER safe
Being a lifeguard is far more than just pulling a person out of the water
They have to be trained to do first aid
All kinds of shit could happen at a pool
Spasm, asthma, hyperventilation
The list goes on
There’s a reason why the law requires a lifeguard to be present
And for larger pools, more lifeguards are needed
Just wanna say
I know a centurion called Naughtius Maximus
Idk. It’s just the pool.
Well we all have our differences I guess…
Off topic, but I just want to say that I’ve never heard this expression before and I love it.
Informal British English. I’d never heard kittycorner before coming to Taiwan.
So you wouldn’t go into your own pool if your house had one? I always go swimming alone at my house in Texas. Everyone does that. It would insane if you had to get a life guard to swim in your own pool.
I saw a girl really struggling during a triathlon race so I grabbed her arm and moved her to the rope in the middle of the lake. She was in a prior wave and I guess I was just lucky to be there when I was because she was in the middle of some really bad swimmers. I knew her! And the bad part? She didn’t even say “thank you” after the race. Oh well.
My nephew basically saved a kid at a watering hole in Hualien last summer. The parents weren’t even watching him. Idiots.
I don’t have any real point except this: It’s dangerous out there and anyone with kids should sign them up for swimming lessons for as long as it takes until they’re strong swimmers.
I’ve been considering getting trained to become a lifeguard myself
I’m planning on having kids and those pools here… I just don’t trust them
Some of my relatives are licensed lifeguards
Me myself were trained to do first aid
Although it was a long long time ago
I’d make sure my family is as safe as possible
I think gettingCPR certified is enough, assuming you’re a competent swimmer. Kids are relatively easy to get a hold of imo. Adults will drown you with them.
the mouth to mouth is not icky ?
If you required resuscitation, there is pretty much zero chance of receiving mouth to mouth from a stranger here. So you will probably die, and therefore it won’t be icky, don’t worry.
Funnily enough, a big chunk of getting Rescue Diver certified is learning how to approach and carry/drag someone struggling in the water so that they don’t drown both of you.
Fortunately, if they’re still strong enough to grab you so you both are at risk of drowning, they’re normally not really at risk of drowning yet: just panicking !
I wasn’t on duty that day, but my sister was working the desk. July 3rd (in the US, so one would think happy summer holiday) It was a little girl and she was in the hospital for over a week before dying. Over half the staff (desk and lifeguard, my sister included) didn’t want to come back the following summer because so many people realized the severity of not being on top of it at ALL times.
Pools are serious business. You think you’re dropping your kid off to play in the water for a few hours only to find out they’re dead. I mean, it could happen anywhere, but the pool has an increased risk.
Nah, big people tend to have a lot of fat and therefore float easily. And a lot of training involves attacking one another in practice rescues so you have the “self-defense” to get a drowning victim to stop trying to climb on top of you. Rescuing athletic people (like practicing with other lifeguards) is a nightmare because they have strength and muscle weight, but even muscle weight doesn’t mean much when you’re in a swimming pool.
It’s not that hard to get licensed. If you’re a decent swimmer, you can easily pass the initial physical tests. You’re taught all you need to know for the written portion (and CPR/ first aid) and most of the classes is practicing different rescues. Holding your breath long enough to carry a brick from one end of the diving well to the other can be a challenge, but breathing practice on your own can train you for that.
The real challenge comes in when you want a job. Any lifeguard team you worth being on is going to have higher standards than the Red Cross certification requires. But if you’re doing it for yourself, by all means. One more person with even a passive understanding of how to rescue someone is good.
Most pools or only 3 feet deep, I guess you must be taller than that.
It’s my understanding that most drownings happen in water that the victim could have put their feet on the bottom and simply stood up in. I believe it.
I def had to explain the concept of standing up in the shallow end to a few of the brilliant people who went to my university. I was never in the mood to have to recuse people who’d never had anything lower than a 4.0 GPA in their lives but thought self-teaching swimming when they’d never been in a pool before was a good idea. 
I live guard can handle people in a 90 cm deep pool, right?
It’s reasonable I guess. A 160 cm person could drown in a 155 cm deep pool.
Thanks for all the tips mate!
I thought it was super hard to get licensed cuz my cousin was super fit and a PE major
She told me she had to stay under the sun for a long time doing some hard ass training
I think perhaps it’s because she was going to be a lifeguard at a beach
Open water is so much more difficult than pools
This reminds me
In a lot of cases it’s the strong swimmers that drowned
They thought they were good enough to overlook the tides and waves and currents
Be sure to educate the kids about the danger in water too
I might just sign them all up for lifeguard training now that I’m on it = =