Despite months of trying, Pittsfield couldn’t fill summer lifeguard positions for the public beach at Burbank Park on Lake Onota.
“We had the same situation come up not last year, but the year before. It's been a challenge for a number of different reasons, and we have made some efforts to try to address what we see are the challenges," said Pittsfield Director of Community Development Justine Dodds. “We have raised the pay rate, we have offered to pay for certification courses- I think there's a limited pool of lifeguards in Berkshire County, and a lot of competition for municipalities, private enterprises that require lifeguards such as the country clubs or the YMCA, other pools, and there's just a limited number of people who have the certification and the training and are able to work seasonally.”
As a result, it’s swim at your own risk in Berkshire County’s largest community at one of its most popular summer recreation spots.
“We are recommending that people do not swim alone, and telling people that if they have children who are weak swimmers, they should make sure they're aware that there won't be lifeguards this summer, and that they should make sure that they're not alone and are monitored when they're in the water,” Dodds told WAMC.
The struggle to find lifeguards isn’t just a Pittsfield problem. According to the American Lifeguard Association, about a third of the country’s more than 300,000 public pools will largely remain closed due to staffing shortages.
“I guess because I’m biased, I think that lifeguards have a superpower," said ALA Spokesperson Wyatt Werneth. "Unlike your other public safety- fire, rescue, EMS, police- they actually have to sit around and wait and be reactive. If someone gets robbed or the place burns down, or someone gets injured, there's a call that goes out, they go and attend to that. Well, lifeguards have a superpower where they can stop people before they get injured or into danger.”
He says too little is done to incentivize careers in lifeguarding.
“The other public safety- law enforcement, police- they get all the budget, they get all the recognition, they get recognized as professionals," Werneth continued. "Well, there are professional lifeguards. If they would, in most areas, give that a chance and look at it like they do the other EMS services, you probably would have much stronger career-minded, giving people, young individuals, a path forward to have a career and retire as a lifeguard- Well, we don't do that. We look at lifeguards as seasonal, part-time, kids hanging out, getting a date- And that's not the case.”
Werneth says that with a little creativity, building a sustainable corps of lifeguards year in and year out is possible.
“There are some areas around the country that have law enforcement that are cross-trained," he said. "They can perform lateral duties. A firefighter, they pride themselves sometimes, as well as police officers, in having a special skill like a diver or a high-rise or contaminated hazmat, and they don't do that all the time. They have a primary job, and then they do that secondary. So, if we could target something like that and focus on training these individuals and retain them, then we're not sitting there relying on that ever-revolving door where you have young individuals- 16 years old, in some case, 15- that are charged with a life and death job”
In the face of lifeguard scarcity, Werneth says Americans need to take charge of their own safety.
“Learn to swim, America," said the ALA spokesperson. "If you're anywhere in the United States or wherever, there's water, we all go swimming. And if you don't at some point in your life, you may find yourself near water or recreation site or vacation in water. If you don't know how to swim, bring a life vest, a Coast Guard-approved life vest. If your little ones don't know how to swim yet, put them in Coast Guard-approved life jackets.”
Another step is assigning a member of the swimming party the role of Water Watcher.
“Take someone that's in your group, that's trained- or maybe CPR trained would be excellent- that can swim, and give them a whistle or a badge and call them pretty much the lifeguard of your group," explained Werneth. "Ask questions, identify who can swim, who cannot. Take photos of the little ones, what they're wearing when you go to that recreational area, the beach or the pool or whatever, so you know what they were wearing, in case you lose them.”
Werneth says water safety advocates are also trying to make sure every beach and pool in America has flotation rings available in case of emergency.
“Even if that isn't around, we want to encourage people never go and attempt a rescue for someone without flotation," he said. "And that could be a cooler, a boogie board, a beach ball, something that floats. Because if you get out there, and we've seen it too many times, a would-be rescuer gets out and they get to the individual, they become overwhelmed. Sometimes there's a double drowning, or they save the initial victim, and then they drown because they're exhausted. Flotation will prevent that.”
But nothing can substitute having a lifeguard on duty.
“The chances of drowning in front of a lifeguard are one in 18 million," Werneth told WAMC. "If you have those odds for a fire or a robbery or crime or injuries- Imagine. We have a superpower.”
