May is Water Safety Month. This month the City of Hazelwood Parks and Recreation Department is bringing you information on the different aspects on how we keep our pools safe for all patrons. The topic for this week is lifeguards.
At White Birch Bay Aquatic Center, the number one concern is our patron's safety. All of our aquatic staff, lifeguards, head lifeguards, and management are trained and certified American Red Cross lifeguards. Our lifeguards go through extensive training over the course of 30 hours. This training encompasses first aid/CPR, surveillance, and rescues. The biggest test for all lifeguards is to be able to recognize, act, and swim to a victim within 30 seconds, and extricate them if needed within another one minute and 30 seconds. This two minute window is critical for ensuring the chances of survival.
Before training even begins, lifeguard candidates must pass a prerequisite test that consists of a 300-yard swim, treading water without the use of their hands for two minutes, and swimming 20 yards to retrieve a 10-pound brick and then swimming back within one minute and 30 seconds. These swimming prerequisite tests are meant to show the instructor that a person can effectively swim and be able to rescue an individual within the two minute window.
Lifeguards at White Birch Bay Aquatic Center do more than just guard the water. Most of the time lifeguards are risk managers and enforce safety rules to prevent accidents from happening. Many, if not all, incidents can be prevented if the safety rules of the aquatic center are followed. Some safety rules are: no running on the pool deck, rinsing off before entering the water, no diving into shallow water, having appropriate swimwear attire, and meeting height restrictions for rides (48 inches for our water slides). These rules are in place to minimize risk to all patrons across the board.
Lifeguarding is more than just a simple summer job to do while on break from school. This is an entry level job into the medical field, and some individuals go from this job into careers as EMS, firefighters or doctors. Being a lifeguard builds ones confidence up to be a leader amongst their peers, and the community at large.
Overall, being a lifeguard is truly a fun and engaging job, especially at White Birch Bay Aquatic Center. If you are interested in becoming a lifeguard and joining our team, please contact the Aquatic Supervisor Jeff Knowles at (314) 513-5092 or jdknowles@hazelwoodmo.org.