Lifeguarding requires much training, responsibility

SIKESTON - To many, lifeguards have the perfect summer job. They get to be outside and work on their tans. What more, they get paid for it.

But lifeguarding isn't just about fun and a nice tan. It's about knowing first aid and how to save someone's life, to name a few other obligations.

"I've had to stress to these girls that its more than just a suntan job," Hailey Priday, 22, pool manager at the Sikeston Country Club, said of her lifeguards.

Ashley Schetter, 18, assistant pool manager at the YMCA, agreed. "It's more than that because you are responsible for a bunch of kids' lives," she noted.

In fact, several lifeguards feel their job may entail more responsibility than those of their peers. "It's added responsibility because we have lives in our hands," said Logan Inman, 17, a lifeguard at the Sikeston Country Club.

Babies and small children are a huge responsibility, Priday said. Their parents usually accompany them to the pool, but may get caught up in socializing. Lifeguards also have to be sure that swimmers in the deep end have passed the test and are qualified to swim in the deeper waters.

In addition to keeping an eye out for swimmers and giving swim lessons, lifeguards clean the pool and check to ensure the right chemicals are in it, in addition to making sure the pool area is safe.

They also have to be able to take charge and assume authority. "You can't be timid at all," Priday said. "You have to let them know your the boss - even kids your own age."

Lifeguards must be at least 15 years old. But that isn't the only requirement. Every year, lifeguards must take a CPR class and every three years, they complete a basic lifeguarding course, where they are tested for their endurance, as well as learning different scenarios and how to handle them. At the YMCA, in-service training is also required two times during the summer. "It helps refresh training and other skills," Schetter said.

For all of the lifeguards, spending the day outside is a definite perk to their job. "I always liked being outside and in the pool," Schetter said. "Plus, I like kids and that I might save their lives."

Kayla Medley, 21, a lifeguard at the YMCA, agreed, adding being outside makes her day more worthwhile. "Air conditioning is nice, but I don't feel like I've wasted the whole day," she said.

The hours are good too. "A four and a half-hour shift may seem long," Priday said. "But then they either have the morning to sleep in or the afternoon off."

In fact, that is what attracted her to lifeguarding, rather than working at a ball park. "I wanted free time at night," she said. "The hours make it a really good job."

Schetter agreed. "Mornings are a little rough because there is lap swim at 6:

15," she said. "It's not fun, but you only have to do it about once a week and you get used to it."

And since the pools are never open past 9 p.m., guards don't have to work too late and still have time to do things at night.

Plus, since lifeguards are only in demand during the summer, the job works well around school schedules. "It works really well with school when students are home for the summer," Medley said.

Despite the advantages, being a lifeguard may also be frustrating at times. Some of these frustrations come from swimmers not following basic rules, like not cussing or fighting.

"We have problems with kids running," Inman added. "That's probably the biggest problem."

It's also difficult for lifeguards when they have to punish kids who don't listen. "It's hard to have to kick them out for a day or week, depending on what they did," Medley said.

Parents who don't follow the rules may also cause frustrations. At the YMCA, children 8 and under should have adult supervision, and the Country Club asks that adults stay with those 10 and under. But many ride their bikes to the YMCA or are simply dropped off at the pools.

"Sometimes parents will push their kids off on their older kids," Priday said. "They can barely swim on their own and have the responsibility of another child."

Schetter added the older children sometimes need just as much supervision. "There are still teenagers who don't know how to behave, either," she said. But local pools help keep youngsters out of trouble, Medley said. "It gives them somewhere to go where there is supervision," she said.

And guards want to keep them out of trouble, while providing a safe environment. "We aren't here to get onto kids," Priday said. "We want them to have a fun time but still be safe."