Lifeguards aren't babysitters. Don't send your kids to the pool while you go screw off. Teach your kids responsible, pool behavior, for their benefit and their peers. thats huge. You'd be surprised (or maybe you wouldn't) at the behavior of some adults who show up to the pool/lake.
Once the person or kid is in the pool, yes you actually become a babysitter. You're really not supposed to hang with other guards. These guys would get a 1 time warning, then terminiation. I did this when I was in H.S. My supervisor was like a prison guard
That 1/2 hour “pool closed” time does not require lifeguards. Those people swimming are breaking the rules as it clearly read “Pool Closed”. Not the lifeguarding staffs fault.
It's the job of lifeguards and staff to get everyone out when the pool is closed. If there's no guard on deck and they knowing have people in the pool, and say something were to happen and them not know. Theres a good chance a law suit would happen.
Tya Phillips but since there was a sign that said pool closed clearly visible they have no grounds for a law suit. They violated the sign and thus voided the pool of any responsibility.
I'm not saying what they are doing is ok, but as a pool lifeguard of 4 years, I can say I understand. Pool lifeguards are glorified babysitters for parent's who don't wanna watch their kids. It is an extremely boring job because the chances of anything happening are slim to none, so you have to find ways to enjoy your summer while everyone else actually gets to have a summer
One of my biggest annoyances is when people say lifeguarding is a fun or relaxing job. It is absolutely not. It is one of the most boring things ever... you can't just close your eyes and sleep, you actually have to pay really serious attention.
Was a lifeguard for 7 years under StarGuard ELITE, yes the job can boring at time, yes the job can seem like you are being a baby sitter.... but I would never stop scanning the water or paying attention for anything. The chances of anything happen cannot be determined as no body of water is the same and no person is the same.... Things can and will happen and your whole entire job and reason for your paycheck is to be ready the very moment they do happen.
I used to try to chat up my friends who were life gaurds and they never took their eyes off of the water and always told me to stop bugging them. I always thought they took the job a little too seriously but thinking back I realize they were just good at their job.
I don’t see the issue in jumping off the stand into the pool if there is no one at the pool or on the pool deck, you are allowed to swim as a lifeguard. Just some creepy person recording them for no reason.
Are you kidding pool deck is designed for jumping/diving not the lifeguard chair if he dives In and breaks his neck other people are going to have to deal with that shitty situation
I've been a teenage lifeguard for 2 years now and you got to cut us some slack! We watch your spoiled brats from 10 to 8 a little bit of fun to lighten our spirits just to get us through a 7-Day week, we all know if something serious were to happen those lifeguards would snap into action and get the job done~ sincerely all lifeguards
Got to disagree with you big time. Drownings can happen silently in seconds. Sure, 5 minutes after a kid has slipped under the water one of these guards will probably provide decent CPR. But they aren’t paying nearly enough attention to prevent a drowning.
Nobody understands how boring and tiring lifeguarding is, the only reason lifeguards talk like that is to stay awake and find a way to be entertained while sitting and doing nothing for an hour. And ik that what they are getting paid for but being paid isnt going to keep you awake in the stand. As long as nobody drowns and they are still watching the pool then I dont see the problem with it. I'd much rather have a lifeguard that's talking because at least it's 4 eyes on the pool rather than 2 sleepy eyes.
Keenon Carter I agree, I lifeguard at a competitive swim club and it can be extremely hard to stay focused because everybody just swims back and forth with basically zero chance of drowning. Often times the coaches start small talk with us to help us stay a little more awake and ready. I personally think it helps a lot.
Well at least they're sitting. It may be boring, but most days they've got it pretty easy compared to jobs where you're constantly moving and helping the public. They shouldn't need to talk to stay awake. It's their job and their responsibility.
Jessica25710 yes you're right we do have it easier but that makes it more tiring, you try to sit and watch people swim for an hour and tell me if you're wide awake
If you've never been a lifeguard, then you probably don't understand; staring at the water for 30 minutes straight over the course of 6 hours gets real boring. Where I work, there are rarely as many people as in this pool featured, but still, if there are a decent amount of people, we always stop talking.
As a lifeguard of over 20 years, a pool manager, and certified American Red Cross Lifeguarding Instructor, this behavior makes me sick to my stomach. I blame management. These are high school kids that need direction and leadership. Anything can happen to any swimmer, at any time.
I agree. The pool I work at over the summer is all mostly high School lifeguards but we were trained not to fool around. This summer alone we had 300 saves. If we were fooling around who knows what could have happened
If you have ever been a lifeguard you know this is nothing. You get paid minimum wage to practically babysit. More pools should hire “professional” lifeguards and pay them a decent wage. Not kids looking for a summer job.
"Certified," sadly, does not mean "qualified." Depends on who signs them off. I know some lifeguard instructors will NOT fail a candidate no matter how badly they swim or how badly they fail the written test. Also, being a good lifeguard doesn't mean someone is a good worker. You can perform all the skills for the certification test perfectly, but that doesn't mean you'll be an alert, professional guard. The guards in this video are proof of my point. Some LGIs are apparently afraid that failing a student reflects badly on their training. I'd be much more worried about how signing off on an unqualified candidate would reflect on my professionalism and integrity. Fail my course and you will NOT be certified. Period. Further, even if you're certified, if you're a poor guard, I will fire you in a heartbeat.
I failed many. Or just didn't take them into the course since there is a preswim. And needing a certain amount of students I would have to cancel. Which resulted in me getting shit from the CEO. All about fn money. I never caved
I believe in any job, you shouldn’t do it if you are not at least a little passionate about it. It these teenagers are not interested in saving lives and ensuring the safety of kids, then they shouldn’t be doing it themselves. They are also a role model to the children, but they are setting them bad examples. Lifeguard shouldn’t be a summer job because it is such a high level of responsibility. I know you might say the chances of someone drowning are slim, but these lifeguards are going to have to work with that, because probability is probability and there’s still a chance - this fact needs to be recognised.
Absolutely agree! A lot of the kids we get are just doing it for their "college resume," whatever that's supposed to be (apparently they think having a responsible job will help them get into a better school). But, if anyone from a college called me about some of these kids and asked me how they did, a lot of these kids would be lucky to get into any college at all.
@@cripinboombopbamcuz2231 they need to know learn cpr and other health problems like strokes and allergies. And use different techniques for different type of victims and where they are at in the pool
@@kellyskorner7357 thank you for defending me! lol there are literally at least 20 different water rescues just for a pool. im excluding beach stuff. i need to know CPR/AED, signs of stroke, heat exhaustion/stroke, heart attack obvious. Seizures, dehydration, blood and trauma, bee stings and allergies related to anaphlaxis, and i still need to do the chemicals, clean stuff, trash, tarp the pools and be a fun killer unfortunatly, no running etc. and you start at minimum wage sometimes.
I'm a lifeguard in Florida. I talk to people, but just watch my zone at the same time. I've made a couple saves. I feel like being more chill is better because if you're super stressed and never taking breaks then you'd be more panicked in an emergency.
I work in a small town and we only speak to other guards about things happening in the pool or patrons, A.K.A important things. We only talk briefly while we rotate and continue to look at the pool. Sometimes a head guard (supervisor) will come and stand by us and ask us how the day is and how patrons are behaving. We still get yelled at for it by parents and it reminds us that even though we're still scanning the water while we're talking, it looks bad and sends a bad message.
I work at a water park and we are only allowed to talk to someone who is on stand for 1 minute before we have to end the conversation. Our supervisors and managers will often come check on us and ask us typical questions in like 15 seconds before moving on. As long as I am paying attention to the water, I don’t care if someone notices that I’m talking to someone, because I in fact have the right to and it’s none of their business lol
3-second long video clips of teenage life-guards chatting with each other. Wow, big break-through ABC news, you really shocked us there! I would have never expected to see a life-guard chat with another life-guard while on duty.
This is not an accurate representation of all pools across America. I am a certified lifeguard and in my experience, it depends on the location of the pool and the type of pool. If the pool is located in a rough area, it's safe to say that not all the guards are qualified. If the pool is located in a rich neighborhood you can guarantee that it's going to be safe. I have worked at clubs and rich kid camps where members pay thousands of dollars to attend, and let me tell you, they are the safest pools in the world because if your goof off once, or pull your phone out for a split second you will be fired effective immediately.
Are you a lifeguard? If not then I think you mean that you have no idea what i'm talking about. If you are a lifeguard and you think it's okay to act the way these guards are in this video then you need to quit your job because you're not helping anyone. I train almost everyday before and after a full day of work going over everything that a lifeguard would need to know. That way I can do my best if something terrible were to happen. Hence, I do think I know what i'm talking about. Go freshen up on a StarGuard manual.
Jay Woods You blew in from the middle west You certainly impressed The population here abouts Well baby I’ve got news for you I’m from Missouri too So naturally I’ve got my doubts Lyric from the tune “You came a long way from St. Louis”
Actually its 28.5 hours for initial lifeguard training with cpr and basic first aid. +1.5 hours for oxygen administration training, +6 hours for open water or 3.5 hours for waterpark after pool lifeguard training. In California, advance first aid training (title 22) is required for public sector (government) lifeguards + 21 hours. Training still continues once employed and require at least 2-4 hours per month.
I remember doing 50 to 60 hour training. Not all at once, every weekend for 8 to 9 hours in one month. And if she felt you weren't ready, or you're a liability, she wouldn't pass you.
Ok it’s one thing to talk to ya boii while on stand, it’s another thing to be completely ignoring your water and looking at them while having a conversation.
This is definitely example of what not to do while on duty. That’s crazy though. The manager seems like chill relaxed dude. But it’s sad they took advantage of the team and thought they could still do what they did. The manager tried what he could do. So bless his heart!
When I was 3-4 I was by the deep end of the pool, and away from the pool for small children. I fell into the water and nearly drowned. I saved myself by learning how to doggy paddle. That all happened right infront of two lifeguards talking, and around a lot of people. Nobody helped
Well, I've been lifeguarding for three seasons. This last season I lifeguarded at a wave pool where there were saves basically every day, and I can say that Red Cross Lifeguards, at least the ones I were with were some of the best trained and well developed guards I've ever seen. Don't quote me on this but the standard for saves I believe is recognition in 20 seconds and reaching them in forty seconds. We had guards who could recognize drownings before they even happened in a crowd of 200 people. I did do Star Guard training too, but that wasn't nearly as comprehensive as the two week red cross course I took.
Ellis Lifeguarding is strict due to their original training audience towards waterparks. You get all sorts of people who can or can't swim. In those environments, you can't really swim test everyone when you have hundreds of guest coming to your facility everyday.
Pinocchio Baller in training it is explained that when a conversation is initiated you should let the other person know that you will not be looking at them while you are talking because you need to scan the pool.
As far as swimming when the pool is closed as long as they are all guards in the water that is not a concern. Guards conduct in service training etc as a group and drills all the time in the same manner. Same thing goes for jumping off the stand - if the pool is closed to the public the guards really have free use of the pool in most places they work, especially during a hot summer with long hours they often need that to keep them going for the rest of your shift. As far as talking, it should be limited. As a head guard I stand on the side not blocking the view of the guards to speak to then about situations, get updates on the shift and patrons, etc. And honestly sometimes to keep them company because it is easier than you think to fall asleep and having someone there to have light conversation with while doing your job actually keeps the person more alert. Guarding for long hours multiple days in a row adds up and can lead to burnout. In this video it goes a little too far as far as the chatting, even when patrons would talk to me while guarding I always told them it's okay to talk to me but dont take it as me being rude if I dont look at you since I need to watch the water. They need more discipline, but they are teenagers so they have room go learn. I worked as head guard in two facilities on a college campus and this is a matter of management not lack of skills
25 hours? To become a basic lifeguard in Canada it takes a minimum of 96 hours. Sutton is not shocked that this is happening in his facilities...wow...that is pathetic management right there. And the pool manager...geez...got the bottom of the bucket right there.
While my company and I are strong Ellis advocates and we use E&A at all our facilities, this is a direct result of POOR management, and quite frankly, the Aquatics Director is to blame for not holding the pool managers and lifeguards responsible. His responses were definitely discouraging..
Blah, blah, Ellis, blah, blah. Ellis is just another corporate parasite stealing money away from the original non profit creator of the whole profession as we know it, the Red Cross.
I totally agree with this. While Ellis pools are way safer across the board. A well managed Red Cross pool can easily rival the safety of an Ellis pool.
Kat Vela many of them probably didn't pass the exam. Lifeguard training is actually pretty thorough. The only real difference in training is how lenient your instructor is.
A life guards main job: to enforce the rules, and prevent injury or loss of life due to drowning. It’s the patrons responsibility to know the rules and learn to swim. The lifeguard is not getting fired if you decided not to control your children, or if your dumbass drowns, they simply have to do their best to act when it happens so that the city or facility isn’t liable. Lifeguards train to the standard and test to the objective. Professionalism can’t be completely understood during the short training that they go through to become certified, it has to be practiced on the job to be fully understood as a young first responder. the problem with most aquatic facilities is usually a lack of in-service training, and a lack of management not holding employees accountable.
Ive been lifeguard for 10years and i have license Philippine National Redcross certificate, American Redcross and Ellis and Associate. 7yrs lifeguard in Dubai and one of the main problem is hiring a uncertified or unqualified lifeguards. And yes lifeguard need proper rest according to our license and training. These are what we train as well. Lifeguards are not nanny. Lifeguards are not robots. We use to stand in the heat with 50degrees of heat of the sun. So if the management hired a lifeguard whos is not qualified, but still they gave a license this problem will happen again and again..
I am a lifeguard in Canada, and I would NOT feel save if I was swimming in Baltimore pools. IT IS NOT okay, even for a second to be texting and/or not watching the water. You are paid to watch the POOL, NOT to fool around, talk and blow whistles at each other. What if something happens when they were doing this shit? They will be sued and fired immediately. The direction should be NOT to be distracted by either patrons or other lifeguards. If they do, we will look for ways to let you go.
Total Social i definetly agree i have to keep a whatch on the lifeguards being a fellow lifeguard i shouldnt have to most of them do stupid things then tell upper management something else and in trusted to come tell the true story
Patrons are one thing, friends/family is another. It takes two seconds to tell someone what time the pool closes, point towards the bathrooms, etc. When patrons have questions, it's usually not that big of a deal....unless they want to get into a long conversation about how long you've been a guard and how long you've worked there or something...then it's time to - politely - tell them you need to focus on the water and the manager/owner can help them with any further questions.
Total Social I live in Baltimore and sometimes we don’t have life guards but it’s not like your just gonna randomly drown and usually there are 10-15 other people
I never realized this was a major problem, but I now remembered that when I was younger there was a group of lifeguards chatting, doesn’t seem that much of big of a deal you might think, that day I almost drowned I yelled help but you know what they said “hold on” like I’m going to die!!
Ex lg still current. But before I even go into a pool i look at the lifeguards. That determines if I swim or not. As for jumping off the LG stand as long as the pool is closed to the public. All good. No lifeguard hasn't done it. And if they said they haven't they lying
Erwin Smith just a fun jumping off it even at 27. Ours was about 7 ft in the air. But what got me mad as soon as I started working there, they got rid of the diving board! Its like they knew. Lol. But I am a strict mother fucker when patrons were there with my guards. Had to fire 2 because of them talking to each other and not looking at the water at all!
Most US guards are also. This is NOT a representation of all lifeguards in the US. It really depends where you work. If you work in a bad neighbourhood your going to have bad lifeguards. If you work in a middle class up to rich neighbourhood your going to have really good lifeguards. I worked at pools with Supreme Court justices, Senators, sport figures, and Country music stars. If I did any of this I would of been fired instantly. The jumping off the stand for in service purposes (pool was closed) was allowed. If ANY of us dove into the pool even though it was really deep we would be fired. If any of us had a long conversation like these kids did we would be fired. We did have co-workers, members, and bosses come and talk to us, but it was ALWAYS relevant to what we were doing and usually for a short time. Managers did it because it would get EXTREMELY hot (close to 40 C) and they wanted to make sure we were doing ok. I passed out on the stand one time because of the heat.
This is like getting mad because a fast food worker is on their phone in the break room. Just because they are out on the deck does not mean they are currently assigned to a station. Also, the best part of being a lifeguard is getting to break rules when not on duty.
It's really interesting to see how different the rules for lifeguards are depending on what type of water they're watching. For community pools, the rules allow for them to take their eyes off the water for a brief period of time. At a theme park, lifeguards must scan their entire zone of protection every 10 seconds and cannot look away from their water.
I’m an Aquatic Director. It’s easy to pick on teens who earn less than they would at the mall. The real story is how poorly paid Lifeguards are paid. You pay teenagers $12 an hour and then expect perfection. The wage should be commensurate with the responsibility and should be high enough to attract adults as well as teens. Until water safety is taken seriously by city, park and YMCA pools, etc. this is what you will get. Look at the water parks that are Ellis certified and pay decent wages and you won’t see this behavior. This is a pathetic almost bullying story.
In in the Us some requirement is to be able to swim 25 laps correctly, swim with avg of 50 lb of bricks, year of training, learn different methods of rescuing and that’s our school requirements to become certified lifeguard in our highschool since it’s a course you can take.
i lifeguard in england and the amount of people saying they're lifeguards in the comments and saying this behaviour is okay is shocking, i dont care how short your attention span is you're responsible for peoples lives
I can agree with them. People don't understand how difficult it is to pick out a drowning person out of 80 people. You have children and immature adults that think it's funny to pretend to drown. I dont know maybe you are a lifeguard that never worked at a water park. If you never were a lifeguard watch the video Wave pool Lifeguard rescue on RU-vid and see how many people you can spot that's really drowning.
As a former lifeguard and a current public servant, I see this behavior as unacceptable. Not only does it put your patrons at risk, chatting with your friends when you’re supposed to be watching the water looks and is very careless, irresponsible, and unprofessional in the eyes of the public. In this case I feel this reveals a failure of management to allow this to go on.
They’re teens, and most teens can be described as careless, irresponsible and , unprofessional . Sounds like lifeguarding shouldn’t be a job that teens are aloud to get
That's debatable. Sure teens can handle all the minor injuries that are commonly seen at a pool, no doubt.CPR is a different story, having somebody's life in your hands is a lot of pressure for a teenager. Some lifeguards get hired at 15! They aren't old enough to drive yet they are allowed to potentially save a life?
@@davidjarrell1792 teens at well managed pools will have received at least 4 hours of in service training every month. You become pretty confident and comfortable with your abilities after awhile. It just becomes automatic, even for teens.
if the guards are off stand and on a break there’s nothing wrong with them chatting. only a few of them looked to be like they were supposed to be actively scanning the water. and hot tip- if you are at a pool and want to talk to a guard/gauge the level of professionalism they have, speak to them from behind the stand. most guards understand that they shouldn’t turn all the way around to address you
0:27 "there are lots of jobs" ahahhahaha I've been trying to get a job since summer break started and I haven't even gotten close, and break is about to end.
I don't know why they made 15,16, 17, ,18 a lifeguard. We all know teenagers can't stay still and sometimes they would like to play. Did they do this because they know teenagers won't fight for wages, unlike the adult who has to support themselves?
I work as a solo lifeguard part time and it is super nerve wracking. I pay absolite attention to the water because to my knowledge I am the only one certified in CPR/AED and basic first aid in the establishment. I would much rather never have to find out if there was another than risk having to be the only person capable of giving CPR because I wasn't paying attention.
What makes me mad is that people in the comments are acting like this is okay. When I became lifeguard certified we were taught that if a swimmer had a problem that they wanted to address a lifeguard we would have to direct them to the lifeguard that is not on stand because honest and we are not allowed to have a conversation our job is to watch the pool to make sure nobody is drowning and make sure everybody is following the rules. I am disgusted by the behavior these lifeguards portray in this video. The pool I work at you cannot have conversations like this because people don't often. This summer alone we had 300 saves.
So basically this lady took footage of the pool while they were training and the pool was closed. And she claimed to say that there were people in the pool and the man said they were all lifeguards. Yet she still said there should be a lifeguard at all times. This whole video is ridiculous.
So the lifeguards went on break while the pool was closed? It doesn’t seem like it’s the lifeguards fault for not watching the water while the pool was closed...
That's extremely negligent lifeguarding. Not being on stand while patrons are in the water is unacceptable. Lifeguards should not be in the water while on duty unless performing a rescue. They can't scan the pool from the water. Talking with friends isn't acceptable unless it's urgent and pertinent to something going on in the facility, but they're eyes never leave the water. Being off stand, not watching the water, talking with friends and blowing the whistle when there is no emergency is completely unacceptable. Even if they're not on duty, whistling at no emergency can cause other lifeguards and staff to respond to a fake emergency when there could be a real one elsewhere. The guy is wrong at 1:53, they shouldn't be off stand talking with their friends if on duty, no matter how long. The guy at 3:05 is very incompetent. He needs to put a lifeguard on stand when patrons are in the water, no exceptions. Being in the pool swimming isn't guarding the water. "It depends, we know it happens" isn't an excuse. Lifeguards can't let their eyes leave the water no matter what. At the waterpark I work at, we would have been fired immediately if performing any of those actions.
Teenage staff need more breaks, shorter shifts. Relying too heavily on under 18s for staffing is not best practice. A certified adult should always be present at the work site.
Moo Yo He just has to be a strong swimmer(enough to carry a person around in the water) not a strong _competive_ swimmer. You don’t need to have a beautiful stroke in freestyle to be able to rescue people. He’s obviously strong.
We had one at our pool last year who was scared to get her hair wet! She could swim pretty good...but she was often assigned the diving well. If something HAD actually happened, I seriously wonder what she would have done....
Atticus Guilory I hope she would have, but...seriously...if someone doesn't want to get their hair wet, maybe life guarding isn't the best choice of jobs for them. It's not like there aren't thousands of jobs you can do on dry land...and many pay much better, too.
At my pool, if there’s talking, it’s more so like “there’s a chance of thunder next hour, so keep your ears open” or something like where we’re telling them we had a concern about a certain swimmer. Sometimes we will talk to each other casually on stand, but we sit next to the stand and don’t actually look at each other - we only do this if there is a small number of people in the pool. Our company takes things seriously. The pool manager will report you if you’re doing something wrong and they will talk to you. A couple times a week, they pop by to see if you’re doing things right. One day, 2 coworkers weren’t doing the right thing and one was fired. The other guard was a manager but was suspended for 2 weeks and demoted, while us who spent far more hours at the pool were designated specific manager “Days.” For example, my days were Tuesday, Friday, Saturday - and I’d typically work every week on those days because of it
Our lifeguards are in fact so focused on safety, that we also ensure people not even on the pool deck are safe. Just last week, we had a car crash outside the pool and the lifeguard who was on her rotational break went out to see if the people needed help - including one where a woman was super bloodied. We also have training sessions monthly that we must attend where we practice saves and even sometimes find quicker ways to save somebody (I.e. with a passive child or small/light person, instead of needing a backboard, you put the guard tube in between them and the wall, then both guards get on deck and pull the person straight up as far as they can and then lay them back on deck)
Well i witness a lifeguard flirting with couple of women and this little girl was drowning right in front of him, I had to go rescue the girl since the lifeguard wasn't doing his job
I still remember the horrible last day of swimming at the 'Y'. I had finished swimming & pulled myself out of the water. Then I had one of my RARE dizzy spells & fell backward in the pool. I had a SPLIT SECOND to yelp. If no one heard the yelp, SURELY someone heard the big SPLASH of someone hitting the water! I quickly got my bearings & pulled myself up to the side. I was gasping & panting, just holding on to the side. Then I realized, "WAIT A MINUTE!" I looked toward the lifeguard station & saw her just sitting there. I looked for the other one, who was walking & checking the shallow end! NO ONE came to see if I was all right!
