Photo By Sgt. Jack Adamyk | Catherine Clemans, lifeguard, simulates rendering first aid on a specialized...... read more read more
Lifeguard training aboard Marine Corps Logistics Base Barstow, California, is going on in preparation for the summer rush of pool-goers at the Oasis Pool and Water Park, but with restrictions because of COVID-19.
Axel Rivera, pool manager and supervising lifeguard, Oasis Pool and Water Park, began a week-long series of lifeguard classes at the Maj. Gen. James L. Day Conference Center, June 22, to get his crew ready for the influx of swimmers from around the base.
“Because of the COVID-19 restrictions I along with my counterparts at Camp Pendleton Area 13 Pool had to submit a plan to Marine Corps Community Services Chief of Lifeguards Vincent Lombardi on how I would maintain social distancing during training,” Rivera said. That meant keeping the lifeguards undergoing training away from each other as much as possible, and still get the training accomplished.
“The summer swimming season is here and we have to be ready for the pool users who will be showing up on a daily basis,” he explained. “Not having lifeguards is not an option, so we’re conducting the training with an added level of difficulty.” Ordinarily, this training would have taken place in March, but Rivera said COVID-19 hit, and with quarantine restrictions, everything was put on hold for a while.
“Our training usually takes place at least twice a year or more if circumstances warrant it,” Rivera continued.
The COVID-19 restrictions also required Axel and his counterparts at Camp Pendleton to come up with a plan for the water portion of the training.
“Ordinarily we have another lifeguard playing a drowning victim. They wave their hands to indicate they’re drowning and then sink below the water level to show they’re unable to stay afloat. Then a lifeguard in the tower blows their whistle to activate the Emergency Action Plan, enters the water using the proper lifeguard entry carrying a float on a rope and pulls the victim from the water,” he said.
Camp Pendleton Area 13 counterparts purchased a special submersible training mannequin from MCCS rather than depend on a live participant to play the drowning victim.
“These training aid mannequins can sink to the bottom of a pool, just as a real live victim of drowning does,” Axel said. “So we’ll have a real lifeguard holding up the submersible mannequin in the water and wave their arms to indicate they’re drowning.” “When the lifeguard begins their approach to the drowning victim, the lifeguard holding the mannequin releases it so that it begins to submerge, and then swims away to avoid contact with the lifeguard performing the rescue,” Rivera said.
The level of added difficulty to performing lifeguard training because of COVID-19 restrictions presents a challenge for Rivera, but lifeguards are routinely taught how to adapt and overcome.“
This is just like any other problem I teach my lifeguards to handle on the job,” Rivera said. “They have their training but they’re also taught to think for themselves if problems arise, and COVID-19 training restrictions are just another hurdle to overcome so that we can continue to provide the level of professional lifeguard services that residents of the base expect.”
| Date Taken: | 06.25.2020 |
| Date Posted: | 06.25.2020 18:17 |
| Story ID: | 372860 |
| Location: | MARINE CORPS LOGISTICS BASE BARSTOW, CA, US |
| Web Views: | 37 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Llifeguard training under COVID-19 restrictions, by Keith Hayes, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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