News Roundup #10
US lifeguard shortage causes pools to work year-round to rebuild their staff after the pandemic
Unpopular opinion alert! With all due respect to journalists trying to cover a story that keeps getting more and more traction during the summer months, there is NOT - in my personal opinion - a lifeguard shortage per se. What there IS is a clear lack of willingness on the part of most organizations (municipal, non-profit, for-profit or otherwise) to adequately pay lifeguards what they are worth for the work they do and the training that it requires!
This is a market correction, plain and simple. Organizations that pay a living/fair wage, provide health & wellness benefits or other perks (e.g. uniform, gym membership, meal vouchers, free training, etc.) do not have staff shortages. Saying there's a "lifeguard shortage" misses the accountability that most organizations don't seem to have as contributing to this issue, plain and simple.
Night Snorkeling?!?
My travel agent turned me on to the travel vloggers, Kara & Nate, many years ago when they were still scrappy and not always flying in First Class. Recently they had a video entitled 72 Hours on a Celebrity’s Private Island and I was taken aback to see night snorkeling featured prominently in the video at 30:39.
Maybe there were lifeguards offscreen, maybe a buddy or other safety system were in place, but it just made me think of another article I recently read where people just don't seem to realize how dangerous it is to swim at night? Man drowns in Jordan Lake after wading into the darkness Saturday night
Teen severs his spinal cord after jumping into pool to avoid wasp: ‘This is a long road’
What an absolutely devastating story. A split second decision to avoid being stung by an insect results in a lifetime of suffering for this young man and his family.
Meanwhile, in Canada: N.B. teen rescued after diving accident at local pool: ‘I just thank them for acting’
NY makes state park pools free to urge kids to ‘get offline'
The effort is part of a broader movement by Governor Hochul to get kids off their smartphones by getting kids outside this summer. This is a great initiative, in principle, but I hope the staffing & chemical budgets are ready for a surge in facility usage? No good deed goes unpunished.
Splash and grab at Warsaw pool as flip-flop felons steal expensive footwear
If you've worked at public pools for any length of time, people "upgrading" their footwear is not a new thing. Sometimes it's genuinely accidental, but not when we're talking about $300 steel toe work boots. What processes do you have in place to monitor bathers' personal belongings at your aquatic facility?
Yes, there may be signage posted saying "We are not responsible for lost or stolen valuables," but do you at least sell padlocks? Make change for coin lockers? Have regular changeroom walk throughs? Security cameras in public (non-naked) areas? What steps are you taking to help reduce crime at your facility.
In this video I comment on the juxtaposition of people in L.A. who will pay $800 for a pair of leather pants, but think $500 for semi-private swim lessons is too much. How do we fix this dichotomy as an industry?
Thank you, as always, for being here with me.
Katie Crysdale
Lakeview Aquatic Consultants Ltd.