Lifeguard Lesson Learned

Many years ago, I was a lifeguard for two summers at one of the public pools in my hometown. I was 13 and 14 during those summers of ‘77 and ‘78, but I was big for my age and passed all the requirements to be certified as a lifeguard.

Most of the time, the job was easy. Sat in the elevated chair, blew the whistle to call out people breaking the rules, and every fifteen minutes, we got everyone out of the pool and walked around checking for signs of anyone in distress.

At least once each day, we administered the cursory swim test to see if we could allow someone in the deep end with the diving boards. The test consisted of swimming across the deep end from one side of the pool to the other and then back again. Life was good. I got paid minimum wage but also got free meals at the snack stand just outside of the pool.

Thankfully, I only had to rescue one person in those two summers, which brings me to the lesson in the title. The person was in distress, so I blew my whistle to alert the other lifeguard. I grabbed the floatation device, threw it into the pool, jumped in, and swam toward the struggling swimmer. She was panicking. I told her to grab the floating ring and hold on until I arrived, but she wouldn't listen.

The other lifeguard got everyone else out of the pool and grabbed the first aid kit to be ready when I got the woman out. Because she wouldn't calm down and let me help her, I followed what I had been taught. I stayed out of her reach until she finally exhausted herself. I ran the real risk of getting injured if I tried to rush in. I got her to hold the life ring and pulled her to the side of the pool.

Never rush into a situation where someone is panicking or acting irrationally because that only harms you. If you want to help, let the person calm down first. The situation might be emotional rather than physical. Years later, a friend talked about suicide. I said I would help them and prevent them from harming themselves, but I also said that if they pulled out a gun, I had one request, and that would be allowing me one minute to go away because I wasn't going to watch them kill themself. They never pulled out a gun, and we talked all night. They got professional help the following day.

You cannot help someone who doesn't want or won't accept help. You must let them know you will help them, but only when they are ready.

This lesson from years ago has served me well ever since. It is essential not to let emotions govern your actions when helping others in trouble.