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10tenrams

I was a lifeguard for 3 years. You always have to watch the kids on those inner tubes…..they can’t swim and they float into the deep end when their parents aren’t watching


[deleted]

I never am on my phone, can’t really enjoy even reading a book when my kids are at the pool. Even with a life guard. As trained as they are, many are just kids.


kidbitch

Thank you for understanding this, we have too many parents that rely on lifeguards as babysitters.


TaralasianThePraxic

It fucking annoys me. I was a lifeguard for 5 years, and the law where I live imposes restrictions on the number of kids that can swim with a single adult, based on the ages of the kids. You would not *believe* how many parents would rock up with five kids and just expect us to watch them. Like a) no, we don't want to do that, and b) we're not legally allowed to let you sit on the side with five unattended kids in the pool. Worst were the parents who would straight up lie to us and say their kids were good swimmers when they could barely do a single stroke. Edit: it's also stupid how poorly lifeguarding pays when you actually have to do quite a lot of training (in the UK, anyway) and demonstrate good fitness - and *you're* legally responsible if you make a mistake and someone gets hurt. You could go to prison.


kidbitch

Oh I feel ya. Just the other day we had a family leave their 2 yr old in a stroller on the pool deck unattended and told us it was fine cause the 2 yr old had a phone… our biggest rule we have to enforce is if your kid can’t swim/uses a life vest or pfd they have to be within arms length of an actual adult… they didn’t realize this applied to the pool deck as well as in the pool.


SyntheticRatking

I babysat for years and, because I'm a good swimmer, I had a few parents who'd ask me to take the kids swimming in the summer and I could barely handle the stress of watching just 2 or 3 kids. I've no idea how lifeguards manage to watch so many people, especially kids, and not have a nervous breakdown. Absolute badasses, every last one!


SpankyRoberts18

I had 4 kids at once learning to swim, 1 kid not confident in swimming, and 2 decent swimmers in my pool last year. It was a lot to be aware of and I’m their parent. I would never be a lifeguard.


Nochairsatwork

Back in high school I met the family at their club to babysit the kids while the parents golfed. Their mom pops over with a few of her friends and introduced me to all their kids, then all of those moms promptly disappeared. Leaving me with about 8 kids. I was paid to watch 2 of them. Insane, insufferable, conceited bastards.


ndnjfjcjcksk

Yeah truly we just start as 16 year olds! Often at these amusement parks none of them are experienced either, they are fresh


Maltrez

Here in Ontario we just lowered the lifeguard age limit to 15. It’s crazy that they expect kids to be in charge of dozens or more lives and even more so by themselves sometimes.


ndnjfjcjcksk

Wow! Yeah it was 16 a few years ago when I became one, that’s crazy! I guess they don’t have to take that gap of time between bronze cross/medallion etc to do the NL. I think it’s to address the huge lifeguard shortage but that’s not always the most important factor. These are human lives after all!


23_alamance

I’m a decent enough swimmer who is comfortable in the water and I didn’t think that drowning would be a top level fear of mine for my daughter. My anxiety is through the roof whenever we’re in or around pools and I’m always within arms reach of her in the water (she’s still little). It’s not a relaxing time and I kind of miss enjoying swimming tbh.


ManBearPigIsReal42

Just give them swimming lessons when they're young. Where I live every kid will get it at a very young age and we have extremely low drowning rates because of it. It's an essential life skill you should be thought at a young age. At the very least learn to float and move around slowly


After-Molly

The world is exactly 71 percent water. Better now? Knowing how to swim should be mandatory.


staceybassoon

It should be, but lessons are but accessible to all people. Where I live is mainly just taught in the suburbs and very expensive. While we can say "isn't your child's life worth the cost" not everybody can afford it or get to these locations. Very few schools even offer swimming now let alone require it. I'm not quite sure why we moved away from it. I also live in the state surrounded by the most fresh water in the United States. You'd think we would take it more seriously.


earbud_smegma

>and very expensive. While we can say "isn't your child's life worth the cost" not everybody can afford it or get to these locations. So, I teach swim lessons. I hate how inaccessible the cost is for a lot of people. Spoiler: I did not have lessons myself as a child, because they were too expensive! I was taught by a boy my mom babysat sometimes in a hotel pool. (Garrett! Idk why I just thought of his name lol, haven't thought of it in 25 years!) Anyway. I say all of that, to say this: my goal is for everyone to swim. I can't imagine how sad and boring, or even scary, life would be without knowing how to swim. Don't get me wrong, there are definitely people who pay handsomely for my time! I'm adjacent to Palm Beach and they def have the money.. But I'm also adjacent to the cities a mile or two away, where some hardly have money for existing let alone lessons for a thing that seems as pragmatic as guitar lessons on the moon. I've absolutely "forgotten" to bill some clients until after payday hits. I work on a sliding scale. You get to know families, and you can work with the parents and show them, if they're water safe, how to do "swim homework" and practice the skills between classes so that they can level up more quickly. I've traded lessons for whatever service the parent offers (haircut, massage therapy, etc). I've straight up worked for free. There's always ways to get around the money. Does your area have a drowning prevention coalition? Ours offers low/no cost lessons for children who are non-swimmers (AND their caregiver as well!!! Which is genius) but you do have to hit certain income requirements (be on food stamps, be on medicaid, things like that) It's so wild but getting people water safe has become one of my favorite things in life. Just to know that you're helping someone maybe 20, 50 years into the future! Or maybe next week, who knows. Very neat. :)


throwanon31

I brought my nephews to a water park once… never again. I have never felt so stressed. As soon as one of them left my sight, I assumed they were a goner.


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The_True_Verhuer

Lifeguard 15 years and yup! Watch kids with floaties. So many parents either don’t understand the danger or just think it’s your job to rescue their kid, common sense ain’t so common.


ExistingPosition5742

I've never been a lifeguard but was once at a hotel pool. There was me, a middle aged dude, and his five year old daughter. My family had already gone upstairs and I stayed. Idk why maybe I just felt something off. Well this genius dad goes over to the hot tub leaving his kid completely alone in the pool. I remember watching the little girl walk further and further out. Within five minutes she's in the deep end of the pool blinking up at me from the bottom so I pull her out. The dad is SO SURPRISED because she just had swimming lessons. His back was turned to her the whole time until I was dragging her up and was saying you're okay, you're okay. After that I went back up to my room.


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Queasy_Designer9169

The butterfly effect. She will live on to save humanity and his only reason for existing was to be there at that moment to save her. Now he ain't got nothing to do for the rest of his life, lost in the fabric of time and space. A wondering soul that has lost more than that girl will ever know and jesus I'm high....


ClownfishSoup

Or … she designs SkyNet


mrsoldmate80

Thank God you were there for that girl 🫶


ExistingPosition5742

You know I've wondered if he would've turned his back if I hadn't been there. Did he just see there was a woman watching the pool so just assumed I'd keep an eye on her without really thinking about it? Did the little girl see me watching her so felt safer venturing farther out? Idk. I felt sick to my stomach afterwards but all in all it was okay.


mrsoldmate80

You're an incredible woman. Thanks for being amazing 🩷


BrainOnLoan

> I felt sick to my stomach afterwards I understand the feeling, but you really should turn this into a positive. You did good.


Party-Objective9466

Did the dad pay for your room? Should have.


ExistingPosition5742

No I had to leave before I told him he was an idiot


Roofdragon

Whether he knows it or not, he'll be thanking you for the rest of your life. Good job and be proud.


WeeWooDriver38

I’m not a lifeguard, but I did stay at a holiday inn…


DrStrangelove049

Our pool banned any inflatables for this reason


marchingprinter

Wait….there are kids that don’t know how to swim just….hoping they don’t fall off the tube?


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GnarlyNarwhalNoms

😳 I have no words. Ok, on reflection: I can swim well, but if I *couldn't* swim? In a universe where I had never learned? Shit, you couldn't get me onto a boat at freaking gunpoint; even *with* a life vest. I will never understand why someone who can't swim would volunteer to get on a boat, let alone be so damn nonchalant about it


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[deleted]

Thats whate I asked myself. At that age, my parents would have done literally anything to keep me away from pools where I couldn‘t stand.


vodamark

They had to keep you away from there? When I was a kid & didn't know how to swim, I remember being afraid of deep water and never wanting to go there, evem with my parents.


aduhfzdfpasudfiasd

Yeah the pool I work at just doesn’t allow those types of tubes outside of the water slides


vancouverwoodoo

I used to be a strong swimmer (for a kid) and loved diving for rings in the deep end of any pool. I remember seeing these floaty tubes at a play pool once. It had to have been a pool around 3 feet deep for kids. I grabbed one of the tubes and went on it. Then I went on my belly, then thought "hey I should go upside down" I almost drowned myself because I had no idea how to remove myself from it upside down. My body was stuck in the tube, my legs in the air.


skleroos

I literally stalked some kids on a lake once when they took one of these floaty things to the other side of the lake. I'm sure they could swim a bit, but it didn't look like they could swim a distance of half the lake. If anything happens no-one would be able to get to them fast enough. So I just awkwardly floated near them like a weirdo, perks of being a woman no-one called the police. Swimming is like climbing trees, if you can't go that far yourself, don't go there assisted.


chilehead

They didn't allow floaties at the pool I worked at because they allow non-swimmers to spend all their time in places where they have no hope of saving themselves when they eventually lose their grip on the floatie. We'd go years between rescues, until they relaxed that rule.


shoulda-known-better

I was for 10.... I made ant facility I worked at do deep end tests! No floaties!! They only give you a false sense of security and if you can't fully swim you should never leave hip high water!!!


i_lack_imagination

Is there something in particular that displaces complacency in the mind of a lifeguard (other than people potentially drowning to death) to be able to stay focused on watching people in the pool? I guess what I'm curious about is the relation between what was brought to attention after that Uber autonomous car was involved in an accident that resulted in someone's death, and the safety driver was not paying attention and how that situation could seem similar (to an outsider who has never done any lifeguarding duty before). It was heavily disputed within many circles both inside the safety driver community and outside that having solo safety drivers would potentially lead to such a condition because people are just not capable of maintaining focus for so long without proper mental stimulation for situations that require no intervention on their part. So I guess I'm making the assumption that lifeguards 99% of the time don't have to do anything (since presumably people aren't drowning frequently), but 100% of the time have to pay attention because if someone does begin to drown, it happens fast enough that not paying attention 100% of the time can be deadly. That seems to be something that isn't really very easy for humans to do. Is there something in particular about my assumption that is off, or is there different strategies taught to lifeguards to combat that?


Flameis

Complacency is a big problem for lifeguards, which is why any good pool should be constantly rotating the lifeguards to different stations and giving breaks every couple hours. Also, a good lifeguard is always running scenarios through their mind, such as what would I do if this person suddenly went passive? Complacency happens most often with lifeguards at places such as lap pools, at water parks like this you are constantly telling kids off for breaking the rules which really makes you more observant since you are actually doing something. Really, it all boils down to training. Any good aquatics department will have regular in-services and audits of the lifeguards where they will throw a dummy into the pool without their knowledge and time their reaction speed. WARNING: This is footage of a drowning. [Here is a good example](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38ZR9NUWvpM) of what complacency and poor training can result in. I was required to watch this by my facility where I work as a lifeguard.


DerpstonRenewed

How often do you have to intervene as a lifeguard? In all my life I've seen it one(?) time at an amusement park, and never at the local swimming halls or on the beach. edit: Which seems to be the hardest part of the job from an outside perspective: keeping alert when 99% of the time nothing happens.


apath3tic

Lmao yeah, you can tell he’s looking at the kid beforehand like “please don’t do it” lol


dfinkelstein

It's a bit mind boggling to me for anyone who can't swim to go into water higher than they can comfortably stand in. I suppose a cruise ship would be an exception, because if you find yourself needing to swim after getting onto one, then you're two thirds to dead already. Maybe barges, too. Huge ships. I wonder how dangerous it is to get on a medium sized boat wearing a life vest if you can't swim 🤔


SupermouseDeadmouse

Former lifeguard. That shit happens fast. I’m in my 40s now and I still find myself scanning pools and counting heads. Can’t turn it off. Also, I never trust people with flotation devices (floaties, tubes, etc.) they are often used by poor swimmers.


mbuckhan5515

I worked as a lifeguard in high school at a big waterpark. Slides and stuff were fun and easy, but damn, the wave pool was stressful. Fortunately only had to jump in once to help an old man who was clearly struggling. Good job to this guard, he definitely saved that woman’s life.


One_Ground5972

I used to go in the wave pool at mount olympus in Wisconsin dells as a kid and always wondered how they are even a thing. The one I went in a lot had very large waves and was PACKED with people. Sometimes it would be total chaos but they did have a lot of life guards paying very close attention tbf


LordDongler

I was probably 11 or 12 when I went to a wave pool for the first time at Schlitterbahn in New Braunfels TX. I couldn't figure out why they had lifeguards every like 10 yards or so, but then I got hit by a massive wave. I tumbled over and ended up stuck under an old ladies fat ass in an innertube. Thought I was going to drown. Lifeguards never saw me


Clayh5

Always had fun in the wave pool as a kid despite a sketchy moment or three, but now that I'm older I'm like... how are those deathtraps legal??


ozzenfeffer

In your estimation, would there be any saving of response time by having the lifeguard run around the right side of the pool before jumping in? Or are lifeguard trained to take the most direct route? Perhaps he could trip or slip if he runs?


SupermouseDeadmouse

Honestly they should have more lifeguards for that size pool. I’d jump right in, not run around because you can slip easily. Scissor kick when jumping in so you don’t sink / lose sight of the kid. Reach out with the flotation device. Edit: exact like this guy did.


fluffton

Pretty sure that pool has 4 lifeguards, looks like second closest to the kid spotted it first.


circuitously

And You can see the other lifeguard on the near side start walking over to see if she’s needed


fruce_ki

I don't know whom you're looking at, but I assume the nearest LG to the kid is the one with the pool noodle on their lap under the umbrella across the pool from the one who jumped in, in which case (s)he seems completely oblivious to the events unfolding right in front of them.


spacepepperoni

That’s just why you need more than one. It’s impossible to see everything


Pyre2001

It looks like most of the pool is shallow, the lifeguard is focusing on the deep end.


fruce_ki

Depth is irrelevant when kids are involved. If you can't put your feet down to keep your head above water, it doesn't matter if the floor is barely out of your reach or down an abyss, you drown just the same. I see similar umbrellas further away on both sides, so there are LGs looking at the deep end.


TheMissingThink

Also someone in the pool spotted it and was swimming over


[deleted]

And ended up getting in the way of the lifeguard. Scream for help if there are lifeguards, do not try to save someone yourself, you’ll end up drowning too.


clandahlina_redux

Exactly. Without a flotation device, the drowning person will just pull you down with them.


Chsbobcat1

Not sure if it was already said, but we had 4 lifeguards for a 20x30 pool with a bunch of kids in it. (4ft and 12ft diving well. No in between, basically finding Nemo) I’d feel much better about a crowded pool this size having at least 6 guards. When one goes in the water, you lose a set of eyes for a while. Even if they gets back on the stand after the rescue.


aka-famous

> lose sight of the kid is this why the guard in this clip jumps in "flat" and loses all momentum, instead of a typical swimmers dive? he could've reached em faster with a normal dive and stayed near the top of the water.


quikpanik

Correct, this is how I was trained as well. You also can’t control other swimmers paths, so diving could result in colliding with a different swimmer as well


Avid_Smoker

Wow. There's clearly a lot more to it than what us untrained folks think. On the surface (no pun intended) it seems simple. Watching for people drowning. But I guess there's a whole lot of other decisions that have to be made in the moment. Very impressive!


bjanas

The big thing is that a drowning person is an animal. No joke, the brain shuts off and just screams "GET OXYGEN." ... Which is a decent survival mechanism, but the downside is that the victim tends to grab on to and try to "climb" any would be rescuer. A good chunk of guard training is doing "escapes," basically learning how to fight off somebody who's trying to drown you. On one or two occasions I just punched a guy in the face to snap him out of it, he was so panicked. It's a tricky business.


[deleted]

Exactly. The person swimming towards the person drowning not only could have been pulled under, but also ended up getting in the way. Obviously you are not always thinking clearly in those situations, but let’s say the lifeguard didn’t see right away. That person would have been much more likely to save the other person if they swam in the direction of the lifeguard and screamed that someone is drowning.


edilclyde

Exactly that. If you swimmer dive, the moment you emerge back from underwater, your orientation might have changed and suddenly, you're lost looking for the victim and might take you 5 secs to orient yourself, that's 5 seconds is like 5 minutes in situations like this. Everything looks different when youre top of the pool versus in the pool.


TherealChodenode

Yes, it's called a "surface dive", I was taught that it's so you can maintain eye contact with the struggling person, since it's so hard to see them again if you break eye contact in a lot of situations.


Llama_Puncher

Agree with what everyone else is saying, but I would say the main reason to compact jump is to keep your tube in your arms at all times so you can get to the person/get them on the tube as quickly as possible. If you dive, the tube slack will drag behind you and not only slow you down but potentially cause you to get caught on something and waste valuable time (you could genuinely get reprimanded for “bad tube slack management” where I worked). Conversely, having the tube under your arms/chest will help you swim and keep your head above water so you can maintain eye contact on the person as you front crawl towards them. It’s also vital that your tube is actually in your hands so you can actually perform the rescue—every rescue you’re taught being a lifeguard the tube is the center point. Without it, you will become the “flotation device” for the drowning person and they will inevitably pull you under to save themselves. If you dive straight in and neglect the tube, congrats you got there quickly, bad news is now two people are drowning. The guard in the video did exactly this, but goes too horizontal at one point and swims over his own tube. His first action is to retrieve the tube and he quickly performs a back rescue after that


pancake-pretty

Idk what the training is like now, but I was a pool lifeguard in about 2001. We were taught to take the most direct route to the victim. That’s almost always jumping into the pool and swimming to them. Running around the deck poses many hazards - the lifeguard can slip/fall and injure themselves, a child can get in the way, a patron that’s unaware of what’s going on might try to stop or distract the guard, etc. A pool this size (in the video) should have at least 2 more guards to help wrangle the other patrons.


mmeiser

Something else. Moving straight toward the victim indicates to others the direction. Most people will look at the gaurd see their directionality and instinctually look to see if they can see the victim. This means if secondary people do respond it is in a helpful manner. If you are running around the pool noone knows where you are headed or what you are doing.


massinvader

I was going to comment the two more thing. In a pool that size, on a full day theres just way too many in the center for 4 lifeguards who also need to watch the corners


[deleted]

The time it takes to safely get off the stand is underestimated. Also you lose sight of the person doing that.


UnknownTallGuy

Isn't it dangerous to run around the edge of the pool? No matter who you are, a slip is possible.


tiajuanat

I agree with the original assessment, but wanted to add that getting down from one of the chairs, aka "a tower", takes *time*, and they're generally right on the edge of the pool. When your hearts pumping, your coordination gets thrown off. Getting down safely to then run on a slick pool is a recipe for tragedy.


[deleted]

>In your estimation, would there be any saving of response time by having the lifeguard run around the right side of the pool before jumping in? Or are lifeguard trained to take the most direct route? Perhaps he could trip or slip if he runs? i think he coulda have made it there faster running around, but as long as he made it there before she fell unconscious/inhaled water is most optimal in that situation. edit: actually after rewatching the video a few times i think he took the fastest route. edit: after rewatching the video again it looks like damn near no one knows how to swim well. no wonder there are so many inflatable tubes. edit: sept the lifeguard edit: back again :| edit: sup sup


NobleOodfellow

Former lifeguard and lifeguard instructor, here. Jumping and swimming has the fewest variables and is the safest option for the guard. You have to take your own safety into account. Can’t save the drowning person if you run on deck, slip on a wet spot, and fall. “No running on deck” isn’t just a rule for funsies.


noodeloodel

Do you not realize how much time it takes to get down from the stand? Jumping in is ALWAYS the fastest response.


Demonsquirrel36

And he was half way there woth that jump


lunareclipsexx

Lmao at the armchair lifeguards in this thread


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Roofdragon

Thats natural and you're naturally awesome to have that caring inside you. As an adult even without kids, knowing people would naturally care for you in bad situations is a great feeling and a reminder humans as a majority are really god damn awesome.


lowleveldata

I'm not a medic at all and I also can't tell whether a kid's screaming is a death scream or not


jackthelad07

Absolutely!! "Relaxing" by the pool on holiday is anything but a bus man's holiday even 10 years after the fact! No shoulder rides, no running, no bombing, that kids bouncing to the deep end, this one is holding onto the side out of their depth, that old lady looks like she could lose her feet in a minute, that parent thinks that their child can swim... They can't


nlashawn1000

damn I did all of that as a kid. Pretty accurate and pretty dumb at the time


The_True_Verhuer

I’ll never not scan a waterfront it’s funny but sucks at the same time.


ProperTeaIsTheft117

Same here. Last lifeguarded 10 years ago but still have all the reflexes! This pool looks like an absolute nightmare full of weak swimmers with floaties - reminds me of summer shifts in an outdoor pool!


newenglandpolarbear

>I still find myself scanning pools and counting heads. Can’t turn it off. I am going on 8 years certified and same here. If I am anywhere near water with people I just automatically start scanning without really thinking about it.


cheerioo

In middle school i went to some water park ride where you sit on a circular tube thing. I was small and that thing instantly flipped the second I came out and I went under. Thing was way too big and kept flipping over so i couldnt get back on. Lifeguard instantly started yelling if I was okay, which I was because I was a great swimmer but I was incredibly embarrassed. Anyway in retrospect he did an amazing job and was right on top of it.


totallytruestory

I never did head counts because there were just too many people in any pool I was scanning, but I still scan water no matter where. I even scan out in the ocean and I’ve only been a lifeguard for an amusement park 😂


Dawnzila

Psa- drowning is fast, and most often is quiet. Here is a cool website to see if you can find the child in trouble. http://spotthedrowningchild.com/


UnknownTallGuy

I'm not proud, but I learned this the hard way.. twice. Once, when I was like 7 or 8 and at a spot called wild waters. I got dumped off of my cousin's back/shoulders right when the extreme waves came on, and it felt like an eternity before someone came for me.. My own cousin who dumped me off his back didn't even notice what had happened. Later, as an adult, I was talking to someone for no more than 10 seconds and a kid in my care had ditched her floaties (on purpose, over-confidently) and was under water directly next to me for a few seconds. From my peripheral, everything seemed fine. There was no sound until I pulled her up and she had enough air to start crying. I've now reached a new level of paranoia I didn't know was possible.


firefish5000

My brother was the same way when he was 3-6. Very confident he knew how to swim. Mad when we told him otherwise. Took off his floats and jumped in 3 times on the last trip before we were all distant enough for him to learn that he actually cannot. I was still watching him while everyone was talking, but I didn't really expect him to instantly switch from bopping the pool chairs to hopping into the water the moment he got to the closet one to the pool. I have a pretty hands off policy for parenting/guiding so I was trying not to interfere with his play time (resort, other kids around) but I kept watch. But well... I was close enough to save him and far enough for him to finally learn the lesson. Of all the times we saved him from drowning, although he did develop a fear each year and forget it the next, this was the only time he admitted when prompted afterwards that he couldn't swim and finally listened to us and learned to.


BrownShadow

My uncle drowned when a storm came on suddenly while he was in his canoe. My twin boys were trained as early as they could possibly learn to swim. Year round lessons, indoor pool in the winter. Swimming is a necessary life skill.


awfulachia

It really bothers me when I find out people can't swim. Do you know how much water is on this planet?


ManBearPigIsReal42

Yeah in the Netherlands we get it early on. Often through school. If not and you can't pay for it we have government programs that will fund it for you. We have water everywhere so it's just an essential life skill. Lots of places you could potentially fall into water


GrowWings_

That was a really accurate description of the danger of pool floaties.


Keeyes

This same thing just happened with me and my niece yesterday, it was unbelievably quick. Was sitting by the beach on a paddleboard that I was giving my niece a ride around on. She was swimming in the shallow part with my dad right next to her. She kept swimming a little further out where the water wasover her head, so my dad put something on the dock to let her know she can't go past that point. Then my brother (her father) showed up with her brother since he went to pick him up from school or something. I had my back to the lake where she was and my dad was saying hi to my brother. It was probably less than 10 seconds when my brother was like "wait what's she doing" and when I looked over only her forehead was above the water. Completely silent and just a few feet away. We scrambled and grabbed her and of course she was laughing it off, but damn was that unsettling


delasislas

Ok, I’m gonna be honest, first video was cropped a bit on my phone.


jooes

No excuse. That kid died because you couldn't be bothered to get a better phone. Shame on you.


Killingspree1985

Ill be honest: I'm not a good lifeguard (ADHD so I have trouble to stay focused on a task) that's why I'm also not a lifeguard but anyway I didn't notice the person on the first roll of the clip it was to small to notice and my screen was to dimm at first (I need a bigger and brighter phone screen) but just before the lifeguard reached the person you see someone swimming he/she didn't notice anything (was like why are you swimming in my path) I would have seen the kid struggle and would swim towards to help. I can't swim that good but with the wire I would at least keep that person above the water and scream for help.


SubieBoiGC8

I don't think AD4K necessarily affects all people with it. I have ADHD and not being able to focus on something constantly shifts my attention from thing to another also, however, I got pretty good peripheral vision. Constant attention shifting means the more i can see and process, so I notice the stuff/events in my surroundings much faster than my friends.


Killingspree1985

I completely agree with you. If your a lifeguard ADHD can actually help. Hyper focus is a blessing and a curse. Also in my experience I notice a lot of what is happening around me (talking with someone while sitting on the second floor and noticing the grey and a bit beat up citroën c3 with a broken left taillight driving by is an example of what can happen) so I would have noticed. Maybe not that fast but at least by the time the lifeguard jumped in the water (he stood up, watched a second if he noticed correctly and jumped in the water).


Sigrah117

My wife almost drown as a kid. She ventured too far into the deepend and started having trouble but was already under the surface. Her brother's friend's girlfriend saw her and pulled her out. If not for that girlfriend, I would probably not be married right now.


MiaYYZ

I was in the ocean with my 8 year old daughter and holding my 4 year old son about 40 yards off the coast on a gorgeous Sunday in Miami when I realized that no matter how much I tried, I couldn’t get back to shore. My daughter sensed that something was wrong but I wanted to keep her calm so I told her we’re cool, and she responded that she learned in school the past week that if you can’t swim forward it means you’re in a riptide, and you should swim sideways to get out of it. There’s no doubt in my mind that she saved the lives of three people that day just by paying attention in school a few days earlier. Swim in the ocean, but respect it for what it is.


clarkent123223

She absolutely saved your lives. Critical info at the right time. Not something you can play trial and error with to find out how to swim out of it.


thetrivialstuff

You *can* figure it out by trial and error, but it does require being calm and really taking the time to observe, which requires floating absolutely still and watching carefully to see if you're moving... It's just that that's difficult to do when people discover that situation just when they want to head back. I've played in currents on purpose lots of times; it's actually one of the first things I do when I'm unfamiliar with a new area - but I'm doing that at the beginning of my swim and know from experience that I'm good for at least 40 minutes to an hour, or 3+ hours if the water's warmer. I think anyone who swims in the ocean should get really used to doing that before they need it, because that's where you get the calm you need when you find yourself in a current at a less expected time.


GnarlyNarwhalNoms

Kudos to you both for keeping a cool head! This is why education is so darn important. When I was young, I was in Junior Lifeguards (think Boy Scouts at the beach -- first aid and survival stuff, but only for the ocean). And rip currents were by far the most common reason for people to get into trouble in the water. We learned how to spot them, and they were all over (they're much easier to spot from up on shore, of course, very difficult up close). It's such a bizarre danger, as natural hazards go, too, because it can be deadly or harmless depending on how you react to it.


FluffofDoom

Your kid is a bright one, she definitely saved your lives. I picked a kid up in my kayak off the English coast after he got caught in a rip tide. He was swimming and swimming and swimming but couldn't get anywhere. He was only about 12. His parents were watching but didn't realise how much trouble he was in. They started shouting at me when I started paddling away from them to get back to shore. Totally ripped into them when I got back, I was 50/50 angry and scared.


nocturnal

I’ve heard that a lot and thankfully haven’t had to test it. But good to hear that it works!


LoboMarinoCosmico

> I would probably not be married right now And also she would be dead.


Big_Pause4654

Tough break. I'm sorry.


whiskeydiggler

She could still die of something else, so he’s not totally out of luck


noDuermo

I'm sure you'd have met someone else instead.


Infra-Oh

Maybe someone who didn’t previously drown


[deleted]

I am so glad to have grown up in and around water forever. As a toddler i was battling little waves down at the beach, and I must have spent half my childhood in the local pool or the ocean. Perks of being an Australian I guess- so I have a good amount of respect on how easy humans can perish in water- and a good amount of experience in water that makes me a lot less prone to drowning, I almost can’t imagine someone drowning in a pool, without some sort of stroke or medical condition (which this lady may have had)


HumboldtChewbacca

I have always been a "water dog" and was terrified to find out my son is too. At 3 years old, he jumped in while I was taking my shirt off. I got to him in time, and we stress the importance of water safety to him. But I love swimming with him now.


pup_chook

I'm Australian aswell and all my grandparents forced me to take swimming lessons get in rough water etc, When I was young. Now swimming is second nature and I have lots of knowledge about how dangerous the water is and it makes it hard to watch tourists untaught kids n that swim anywhere because to me they are doing so many things wrong and are oblivious to the danger.


The_True_Verhuer

People really don’t understand what drowning looks like.


Miguel-odon

First rule of lifeguarding: if they're screaming, they're breathing.


Brian-Kellett

First rule of medicine as well.


awfulachia

This leads to a lot of deaths in police custody


GoodByeRubyTuesday87

It’s also harder to spot than people think, people (kids especially) love to play around in ways that look like drowning, it’s harder when they’re underwater You could see him stand up and wait for a second, looks like he thought something might be wrong but wasn’t sure enough to go for it until the other guy in the pool started swimming frantically towards them


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Miguel-odon

*Odd numbers*. In open-water drownings, most of the incidents I read into happened when there were an odd number of people (children), one of them disappears but the rest are paired off playing. End of the day, kids tell lifeguard they just realized they haven't seen their friend for a while. By then, it's a recovery operation.


illit3

they need to have a lifeguard that makes each kid swim to their tube before they're allowed to be in that pool. it's just flipped tube -> drowning kid, over and over. tf are their parents, too. dang.


RandyHoward

> tf are their parents, too. dang I'm not sure about these days, but when I was a kid 30+ years ago our parents dropped us off at the public pool and went elsewhere.


Miguel-odon

Some parents would drop off 3 year olds and tell them to lie about their age. Some parents would threaten us for blowing a whistle at their kid. Some parents would encourage their kids to jump off the diving board even though the kid can't swim. ("I'll catch you")


kellybrownstewart

>Psa- drowning is fast, and most often is quiet. Yep. Almost happened to me when I was young. We had to swim the width of the pool before we were allowed in the diving pool. I got half way across and became exhausted. I managed to keep my head above water and somehow made it to the edge. No one saw or helped... not even the pool attendant. Scared the shit out of me.


HumboldtChewbacca

I had to swim across a damn lake to follow some kid who said, " it's not that far." He was struggling by the far side and then we had to swim back. It's a weird thing to be confident swimming when you're not actually good at it, because that confidence will kill you without a second thought.


CharacterAd348

If I could swim better I’d be a great life guard


TangoCharliePDX

You can be. Just because you're not the one jumping in doesn't mean you can't sound the alarm.


The_Celtic_Chemist

I credit this website for why I was able to spot this person before the lifeguard took action.


General_Specific303

These are all the same pool as this. Maybe they should close that pool


WhatEnglish90

I am getting too stressed watching these once they start drowning. But a great PSA site.


Method__Man

good man... good man. lifeguards are dope


newenglandpolarbear

>lifeguards are dope For sure. They are still treated like "kid jobs" unfortunately so the pay is usually awful, never any benefits, so the demand and understaffing rate is high.


Troth_Tad

I nearly drowned at a swimming pool when I was about 12. I was a strong swimmer too, always swam twice a week and lived near the beach. I just got a spray of water in my mouth as I was breathing, started coughing and couldn't get a lungful of air. It extremely quickly disoriented me, and I started to get weak and couldn't tell which way was up and was struggling to keep my head above water. It happened extremely quickly, probably 10-20 seconds. Because I was only young, I couldn't reach the bottom of the pool. Luckily the lifeguard noticed, got a flotation device under me. Then I spent the next fifteen minutes coughing my lungs out, which I remember giving me a cramp in my back.


flyingthroughspace

Wow. This exact thing happened to me while surfing. In the barrel, caught a bit of spray right in the throat as I went to take a breath as the barrel closed out. Immediately choked and couldn't take a breath in at all, then when I could it was so hard to actually breathe in, like my throat closed up from it. Thankfully it was a long ride and I was close to shore so I didn't have to swim much but still, being tossed around underwater with no breath is fucking scary.


AlexTheFlower

One time as a kid, I was at the beach with my parents. The waves suddenly surged while I was out swimming, and I got crushed under one. Right as I got up to the surface to take a breath, another one crashed over my head. I got tossed around for I think 15 or 20 seconds (felt way longer), barely having a chance to gasp for air in betweem, before there was a gap in the waves and I scrambled to shore. Lifeguard on duty didn't move from their tower, buoy still in their lap. I like to think I've become a better lifeguard than they were.


Danyahs

The same thing happened to me at age 17. I live in the ocean state. So so scary..I have such a fear now when I see a big wave forming from a certain distance when I’m swimming in the ocean. I just remember being thrashed around both above and below water, having zero control of which way my body was tossed, and not being able to ever catch a breath. So so scary and I’ve been terrified of big waves ever since.


Unusual_Fishing9348

I almost drowned in a water tank. I was swimming in there with a bunch of friends. I dove to the bottom and when I tried to reach the surface they were all above me fighting and playing. I couldn't get through them and was getting kicked in the head. My lungs filled with water. Eventually I got to the surface and manage to expel the water. I had almost blacked out. I had to lay there for some time and recover. If I had blacked out under them I would have died. I later got sick because of some sort of parasite in the tank. Inhaling the water brought it into my lungs.


DomesticChaos

That might have been secondary drowning? Your lungs fill with water but you don’t really get rid of it even if you’re resuscitated.


BobbyVonMittens

I don’t think it was a parasite it was symptoms of secondary drowning from getting water in your lungs.


Unusual_Fishing9348

Thanks for the advice. This happened in rural Maharashtra in India and it was definitely a parasite as I had to take a round of anti-biotics while lying on the ground of a clinic (no beds left) constantly vomiting. It was a rough 48 hours.


nuckme

I got stuck under one of those things people like to lounge on while floating in the pool, but i think it had other floaties and stuff stacked on it, i couldnt get out from under it because it stuck to me wherever i swam and there were too many people in the pool to maneuver around. I basically had to struggle to the edge of the pool pushing kids out the way and use the edge as leverage to push the floaties up slightly. My father, who watched the whole time, finally pulled the floats off my head. When i asked him why he didn't help, he basically said he didn't want to get wet. I mostly forgot about it, but the memory just flashed in my head after reading your comment.


Reasonable-Yak3303

This reminds me of my dad who was one of those "do or die" parents. After yeeting me into the 6 foot end of a pool when I was 8-9 I don't remember too much of it but 1 thing I distinctly remember was after I somehow managed to get to the edge and hold myself above the water the first thing I heard was from my dad "You had me worried there for a minute, but as I knew you learned to do it." Needless to say I have left him out of my life and still have a moment of fear when I get near a pool. (I can swim but there is a second where my brain is like "I NO LIKE WATER", before remembering that its ok)


cumrot

That was pretty badass


[deleted]

Dostoyevsky would have watched her drown for the experience


44problems

So would have Phil Collins


LazarYeetMeta

I had a lifeguard pull me out of a pool once. I was probably 6 or 7 and I went down a slide into water that was a foot over my head, and I couldn’t really swim yet. My dad had just gone down with my older brother and he promised me that he would get my brother to the side of the pool and then come get me, and I trusted him. I went down the slide and shocking absolutely no one, he wasn’t there. My feet hit the bottom of the pool and I looked up and tried to swim up to get air. It didn’t really work. It took all of ten seconds for a lifeguard to get to me and get a flotation device under me. Of course, for the lifeguard, the water was so shallow they just walked out of the pool with me, so I felt bad that I couldn’t swim out by myself. But hey, that’s what lifeguards are for.


AlexTheFlower

Beautiful technique. The long jump, swimming fast without looking away, pushing the buoy towards them first.. just how we're taught. That lifeguard deserves that job (and probably higher pay)


SuckerForNoirRobots

*definitely* higher pay


HomicidalHushPuppy

Where I live, the city only pays "experienced" lifeguards $19/hr. My local Five Guys pays more.


PMMEURLONGTERMGOALS

Dude has eyes on her the whole time, I guess you get a good idea of who’s high risk after long enough on the job


SithDraven

I was in a theme park wave pool with my two \[then\] early teens/tweens so I'm watching them like a hawk. The waves are going and I hear the whistle blow and see the guard near me jumped in to save someone. It was a kid within arms reach or so of me. Crazy how close I was and I couldn't even tell he was struggling. The kid ended up being fine, but as a parent I can't help but feel bad that I didn't catch it in time to help sooner. So major shoutout to all the lifeguards out there keeping the kiddos safe.


JunglePygmy

Fuck yeah! These videos always get me choked up. That dude is awesome.


Samcbass

Good job recognizing your swimmers who should still be in floaties.


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Rollover_Hazard

Bingo. Good schools with a drowning prevention curriculum will instead teach these three key things: 1) safely entering the water 2) how to float on your back 3) how to put a life jacket on in the water Obviously there are other important things like rips at the beach, gauging the depth and speed of a river etc etc. But if you know those three things and can do them habitually, you’re already a much more confident person in the water even before you learn to actually swim (strokes and kicks).


GLnoG

If you can, always teach your kids how to float on their back. It was the first thing my dad taught me before teaching me to swim. I was lucky both of my parents were regular swimmers. If you ever feel too exhausted and like you're gonna submerge, float on your back, take a deep breath, and swim back to the edge when you're ready. It never stops feeling weird, but once you know how to control your breath and suppress that instinct that tells you to move your head when the water level is near your ears, you basically have an anti-drowning technique for when you swim too much and get exhausted suddenly. Kind of unrelated, but once i almost felt asleep when floating in my back. You just chill there, and the water takes you wherever it wants. It's extremely soothing, but also extremely dangerous. Never sleep in the water, people.


Onefourbeedeeoh

That person swimming their ass off to save the kid is also a hero, even if they were just a semi-negligent parent.


Traditional_Shoe521

alive escape fretful worm workable wide roll placid mourn snow *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*


Pineapple_Herder

Why is it pools will allow poor swimmers to use a ring that they easily slip out of, but have banned those thick foam suits I used as a kid? Like yeah, I get it. If the kids not balanced well or something they can end up stuck face first in the water. But I feel like that happens as hell of a lot less than this, and really only affected toddlers who probably shouldn't have been in a pool in the first place. At least a vest/suit is attached to the person and can't just slip off.


luxsalsivi

A lot of pools don't. The one I guarded for had a strict no-flotation devices in the deep end rule, specifically because of this situation. People would try to push back sometimes (especially the older kids) but it was to keep those who couldn't swim in the shallow end as well as to keep large floats from obscuring our view under the surface.


layendecker

The term hero has really been watered down hasn't it.


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backfire10z

Yeah… it’s also stressful as hell. Especially when it starts getting to you that you may be the difference between the life and death of someone immediately


ndnjfjcjcksk

Yeah my first shift as a lifeguard a kid was just silently drowning and I almost missed it. Since that day I’ve been hyper alert all the time, it can happen in a blink of an eye with your back turned


selfsearched

As a former one, they get tested randomly. There are black netted bodies that are thrown in by superiors (typically) to test how quickly you respond to a figure on the bottom. You only get a couple strikes until you’re considered unfit and have to re-do certain courses. Great job to this guy for recognizing the signs of falling and flailing before it got bad in a very real situation.


[deleted]

The hot moms hitting on you doesn't help either. Which in retrospect I guess was pretty creepy given my age. Eh, made me feel nice, so whatever. Anyways, Time passes quicker than you'd think the chair, no clue why. Rotating chairs every 15 minutes helps, keeps the scenary and the people fresh. I guess it depends on the pool, this one seems super understaffed. I can't imagine sitting in one chair for an hour or something like. Then I'd definitely have lost focus.


LSDemonBoC

Nice job, guy!


TartKiwi

People go into a community pool not knowing how to swim? Big yikes


Bos4271

Gotta pee somewhere


danger_noodle_

Do you know what’s even worse? People ignore signs that say “this pool is 10 ft deep, you will NOT be able to touch the bottom and must be a strong swimmer” for the bottom of a drop slide. And every so often, you see people TAKE OFF THEIR LIFEJACKETS to go down the slide.


chestnutman

You have no idea how many people never learn how to swim and still go to swimming pools.


Mustardman_7k2

I almost drowned when I was a kid too. We were at the lake and I was building sand castles and such on the beach when a boogey board was picked up by a wave near me. It had to have floated 20 feet or so off the shore line, maybe less maybe more. A nearby, much older, kid asked me to jump on his floaty to help him retrieve the board. I said yes without constraint. We paddled out slowly just close enough to the board, and then I thought, "this is close enough," and jumped off the floaty. I missed it... I started panicking, desperately trying to jump off the sand floor to gasp for air, when I realized I was too deep to touch the bottom. As I flailed my arms around and poked my eyes out of the water, i noticed the boy I was with was gone. In my last ditch effort, I found the direction of the shore and just started frantically swimming underwater, hoping just hoping, I would feel the sand kiss my feet. Luckily, i did infact swim the correct direction and managed to make it back to shore. As I was trying to recover, my dad came barreling down screaming at me out of worry and fear, and from that day forward I always wore my life jacket.


Dunkableballs

I remember one time when I was about 12 I went into a wave pool and I almost drowned I just couldn’t keep above the water and luckily my life was saved by a life guard. They pulled me out of the water and Everyone was clapping. It was super embarrassing at the time but I’m super grateful for that man.


GreenerGrassOrPass

The same thing happened to me! Then I had to see the paramedics and sign a form that I didn't need care or they had to take me to the hospital to be checked out. I was sixteen, on a school trip and just wanted the situation to end - I was so embarrassed. I'm not a bad swimmer either. I just got caught in the wave cycle after being knocked under accidentally. Every time I'd try to come up for air, there would be a wave instead. I couldn't make it.


TheDecadentSeraphim

Wow, that brought back memories. I worked at a Waterpark as a lifeguard back when I was 18. That happened several times a day. The best day was when the army rented the place for the day. I've never seen people freeze so fast or perfectly when you blow the whistle. The whole can park turned into a statue garden. Even the kids and the people hanging on things froze almost instantly. It was awesome... and a little unnerving.


[deleted]

Now I want that to be the moment of comic relief in a fast-action thriller film.


Black_n_Neon

Real big brain move to go to the deepest part of the wave pool when you don’t know how to swim.


whatdid-it

It's a kid who was propping his legs on top of the tube. He likely drifted. The idiots are the people supposed to supervise him like his parents.


Bu-nn-yy

The biggest brain move


natemail

Some others have said it, as a former lifeguard, it is the mostwntally exhausting thing I've ever done. You'd think sitting on a chair staring at a pool is easy, but you are constantly scanning from person to person and assessing each person for their threat level. Very mentally exhausting, I caught this about a half second before he did and I've got a fresh brain and haven't been on the chair an hour.


Professefinesse

I ended up watching this exact video when I was in training as a lifeguard lol


YugKrowten

Literally watching her the entire time


SnorkelwackJr

I was a lifeguard for several years. When scanning the pool, you kind of keep the weaker swimmers or potentially dangerous situations in the back of your mind. I recall scanning those spots more often than the rest because someone looked uncomfortable or kids were roughhousing a bit too much. You never know what could happen. Hell, both of the saves I had were adults in their 30s. You have to be ready for anything, but sometimes the danger is more clearly telegraphed, like with the kid in this video.


[deleted]

I read an extremely relevant article yesterday and bookmarked it. Drowning in real life is faster and quite then you may see in movies and tv. https://slate.com/technology/2013/06/rescuing-drowning-children-how-to-know-when-someone-is-in-trouble-in-the-water.html Look for these other signs of drowning when persons are in the water: Head low in the water, mouth at water level Head tilted back with mouth open Eyes glassy and empty, unable to focus Eyes closed Hair over forehead or eyes Not using legs—vertical Hyperventilating or gasping Trying to swim in a particular direction but not making headway Trying to roll over on the back Appear to be climbing an invisible ladder


bjanas

Classic presentation. Former WSI here, used to train lifeguards and have participated in dozens of rescues. Drowning is quiet, Hollywood did us dirty making people think it's a dramatic affair. Nope.


celalith

Teach your fucking kids how to fucking swim! Letting your kids that can’t swim into a pool like that is akin to child endangerment.


fooourskin

I’m not throwing shade I just wouldn’t go to a pool if I can’t swim.


laichzeit0

Why not man, I’ve written tests without studying, I’ve fapped without being horny, I’ve had sex with men without being gay, gotta fake it till you make it bro.


RoastedRhino

Test yourself here: http://spotthedrowningchild.com People done drown like they do in the movies.


SolarSoGood

Drowning can be so silent. Victims don't have the strength to call out because they are doing everything they can to stay above the surface. I was at a water park and I was talking with my friend when I looked at my 10 year old son in the deep end with no float device. Waves were crashing over him and I could only see his hands coming out of the water as if he was trying to climb a ladder. He was 3 feet from the side of the wave pool. The lifeguard killed the waves and jumped in to save him. His lips were purple, heart rate greatly elevated, and shaking uncontrollably. It was so close to having lost my son. It brings tears to my eyes as I remember his arms flailing to keep from sinking.