#WeekendCoffeeShare: Lifeguard Mama

If we were having coffee, say, on the beach, I’d like to share briefly about my lifeguard training. Originally, I was scanning MCCS (Marine Corps Community Services) mainly  just for sh!ts and giggles. I looked into all stay at home jobs, such as Perfectly Posh, LuLaRoe, the thing with pots and pans…and Younique makeup, etc.

I ALWAYS wanted to do something that would save people; to help them. When I was a kid, a sick (in the head) guy pulled myself and my friends very little sister under the water and was trying to do something with our shirts, keeping us down. There was NO lifeguard! I managed to squirm my way out of my shirt to set my friends little sister free. I told her to run, and eventually I got myself out. Several senior citizens witnessed the scene, and comforted us afterwards by placing warm towels around us. The guy got a restraining order from the vicinity. I know…that’s all he got?

I came across a lifeguard job opening and thought how perfect that would be, and the seasonal job would end before we are expected to move. I might not be pocketing much since I have two toddlers to pay for child care while I’m at work, but it’s a foot in the door; a door that could save lives and prevent injuries or permanent damage.

First, I passed the swim qual that consisted of a 300 yard swim without stopping using freestyle (front crawl), breast stroke, or a combination of both. I also added in the butterfly because…I mistook it for the breast stroke. Might I add, the butterfly is pretty draining! Second, treading water for two minutes, and a timed event that consists of swimming 20 yards, a surface dive to retrieve a 10 pound brick (much like they do in the Marine swim qual), return to surface and return to starting point with both hands on the brick. If you let your face go under water, you get tons of water up your nose (If you’re me) and if you let the brick rest on your chest, you start to sink.

 

Turn off your music in this video. Seriously. And, fast-forward.

 

 

In the lifeguard training we learned about

• Patron surveillance
• Rescue skills on infants, children, and adults
• Victim assessment
• CPR/AED
• Care for head, neck and spinal injuries
• Administering emergency oxygen
• Bloodborne pathogens
• Deep water spinals while treading water (we spent 4 hours straight practicing this!)

A pretty cool thing I learned is NO ONE is too heavy to be saved. I “rescued” a 215 pound, 6’3″ man pretending to be a passive downer (unconscious) on the bottom of a deep water pool. After a few tries, I successfully did a surface dive, placed one hand on his chin and one head on the back of his head (my chosen technique), careful not to ever move his head or let his face go back underwater once at surface, as a spinal injury was suspected. Another lifeguard placed the board extremely gently under his body while I maintained head stabilization. Once we successfully had him boarded, the other lifeguard grabbed the side of the victim’s head in place of mine and said “I have stabilization.” From there, I very gently strapped the man as tightly as possibly without body moment to the victim, rechecked, attach head immobilizers, rechecked, attach head strap (may need to cross cross straps on forehead), and attach chin strap, if possible, and rechecked. I hopped out of the water grabbing hold of the victim’s board, and the other guard hopped out. Together we pulled the man out to ground, obviously, very carefully and low to the ground. There are other details I left out as well, since this is already pretty long.

We practiced these until we hurt, until we felt like distressed swimmers ourselves, but we never gave up (until the YMCA closed.) I can’t imagine what a big class would have been like. There were several that did not pass the swim test to enter the lifeguard training, so we were only a class of 4.

Thankfully, I passed our finals: two written tests, emergency rescue scenarios (at random) on a dummy and with our ventilation masks), and in water rescue spinals while “on duty” on the stand.

As our weekend coffee share comes to an end, I’d say that it IS possible for you to pursue a career while raising children, and spending plenty of time with our little ones.
While I was away at training, my son asked my husband where mommy was. He responded that mommy was getting “ready for work.” “But, girls don’t work.” ….???? Where did that come from in a 3 year old boy? Perhaps, because he knows that his daddy has been the one away at work, whether it’s for a few hours, a full day on duty, a few weeks, or a few months on deployment. Even at a young age, I try to explain to my oldest the differences his daddy makes in this world by being a Marine. This is extra close to my heart as this is Memorial Day weekend, but back to topic. Maybe mommy can also make a difference being a lifeguard, and by being a good mommy.

With all that being said and done, I have a lifeguard interview on Wednesday. Wish me luck!!!!