Lawrence Indoor Aquatic Center supervisor, Lori Madaus, sits at her desk continuously checking her email for incoming lifeguard applications. For now the pool she looks at from her office window has enough guards to safely watch the swimmers.
But with summer only a couple weeks away, Madaus worries that she will not have enough lifeguards to operate both the indoor and outdoor pools.
“Right now my staff is about 70 lifeguards, by summer I need atleast double that. It is only two weeks away from the outdoor pool opening and I would not say we are ready yet,” Madaus said.
Kristin Tirabassi, lifeguard instructor and Red Cross intern, said the aquatic center would face several hurdles in the next couple of weeks. The American Red Cross made changes to lifeguard certification in March according to Tirabassi. All current and future guards must complete 10 hours of training and testing to become certified under the new requirements.
Ashlynn Haynes, St. Louis Junior, said the training was demanding but she believes it will help her remember safety procedures.
“The most important part of the new training was in CPR. A lot of things changed, from the terminology used to the number of breaths. We also had timed swimming skills tests and new ways of rescuing conscious and unconscious victims,” Haynes said.
Tirabassi said she fears the new training and testing could slow down the hiring process before summer.
“After teaching the new certification classes in the last few weeks, it has become clear to me that this is a demanding job that not everybody is cut out to do,” Tirabassi said.
A shortage of lifeguards can lead to serious problems according to Tirabassi. She said without a fully staffed pool, guards are likely to become burned out and tired by the end of summer, hindering their job performance. Without a full staff Madaus said all of the features at the pool, including the waterslide and diving boards, couldn’t remain open for the amount of time they are supposed to. Madaus and Tirabassi agree giving the lifeguard’s ample time for breaks and days off helps prevent guards from leaving throughout the summer.
“If we do not have enough staff to give days off to everyone, especially when our guards are spending long days in the sun without breaks, that is when problems happen,” Tirabassi said.
For now, Tirabassi is not as worried about the future lifeguards in her class, she said she knows she can teach them what they need to know to pass the tests. Her concern is only that there will be new lifeguards there to teach.