The Lifeguard

It was in the summer of '66 that I got my first job as a lifeguard in open water at the cottage on the beautiful shores of Lake Geneva. This was the beginning of a career that lasted more than 35 years. Of course, a lifeguard has its privileges. Every lifeguard since the beginning of time seems to have always had a girl. I was no different, especially in the summer of 1966. It was this special summer that defined the character as I should be. To really understand the career opportunities I've made is to look back on the story of how lifeguards have evolved over the years.

Speaking of developments in rescuers, we have to return in the late twentieth century when the resorts in places like Atlantic City and New Jersey were becoming a mecca for tourists and beach lovers. As more people flocked to beaches, the number of water-related incidents also increased and many drowned. In the early 1900s, more than 9,000 people drowned in the United States each year. It turned out that to prevent and reduce the number of deaths and accidents associated with water, the movement began to train people to prevent accidental drowning. Therefore, the term was a lifesaver and is still associated with those who are specially trained in irrigation. One of the first was Duke Kahanamoku, who was one of the first original Hawaii fishermen who introduced the board between 1910 and 1915. Ransom was Captain Harry Sheffield South African credited with developing the first rescue float as Incidentally, it is a variation of the original still used today.

But it was the YMCA, which had already introduced guidelines for progressive swimming to swim, which developed the National Rescue Service for Life in 1912. This was followed by the Red Cross in 1914. Both organizations developed their own training programs specifically designed for trains. Individuals not only learn to swim but are better equipped to provide help and rescue in the water. To become a lifesaver, for starters, you should be a very competent swimmer, but he was also trained in rescue techniques involving resuscitation. These educated people or lifeguards were now responsible for monitoring beaches and pool facilities and all other water-related activities throughout the United States.

Initially, the Lifeguard classes near me programs underlined the personal safety of water: how to prevent drowning and how to protect yourself in emergencies. Rescue methods without swimming were encouraged, such as throwing a rope or liquid object with the person in the water. The lifeguards who are considering saving swimming are a last resort because of the danger a frightened swimmer presents in the water. Lifeguard training until the mid-1970s, either Red Cross or YMCA, rigor of qualifying only to be accepted to attend classes to become certified lifeguards was very intense. I remember the swimming test I took to qualify for the class in the early 60s. Swimming control was almost too difficult. Fortunately, even though I was a member of the swimming team, I would never have passed the program. What endures for weeks of intensive training where we had to carry out water rescue in any number of circumstances that did not flotation unit using only our cunning and strength was a miracle that none of us ever apprentices were sacrificing ourselves.

It was this training at the time that prepared me for a race not only for swimming supervision but also for open water rescue. When I look at a life typical pools today in the United States, I am surprised at the lack of competition in swimming with most pools lifeguards today. But then see what they say rescuers in Australia, where his guard's beach is literally amazing in their rapid response to many unforeseen, whether people will be caught in the tide or exposed to too much sunlight, all highlighting rigorous training as they continue.

But in the summer of '66, my term of office as the rescuer was almost free thanks to my whistle confidence and rapid assessment of people in and out of the water. Again, it was the education I received at the time that prepared me for the job that allowed me to have a safe summer and almost without events. I was never a real macho, but as life offered me some rewards.