So, how is it that a small child in a small enclosed area surrounded by adults enters the water in a pool without being held or at least with water wings? How is it that there are critical minutes that a child – that cannot swim – disappears from a supervising adult without regard to their whereabouts? So, perhaps a parent was not there.
Perhaps a supervising adult was too busy talking about some deep topic, indulging in the conversation of adults for a brief child-free moment.
But that is not how I parent and I never did. The burning question fills my head, “where was the mother?” “where was the father?” “where was one committed loving parent?!” Skyline pool – as difficult as it is to imagine such a situation, if I were that lifeguard, I would have stood up, blew my whistle, shouted for assistance, and before my statement had fully escaped my mouth, I would have DIVED INTO THE POOL FROM THE CHAIR!
Certainly before that, I would have noticed the amble wanderings of a child too young and too short for a pool that deep. The child should never have entered, jumped, or fallen, into the water at all!
Children should be wrist banded at least with their swimming ability so that guards know before they enter an area whether they can even be in that area.
It seems that the first line of defense to protect a child failed. They were unsupervised in a deep water area. The second line of defense failed. The lifeguard failed to noticed the child fall or jump into the water unsupervised. The third line of defense failed – the lifeguard took too long to notice them and too long to gently climb down from the chair and tread water.
Sweetbriar, No lifeguard at a pool is unacceptable. Better to fill the pool in with dirt than suffer the loss of another innocent small life.
Train our lifeguards to act with a sense of urgency, work faster, stop talking, and multiply the number of qualified staff. Speed of response is mission critical. Should we drive the ambulance at the speed limit too? Or perhaps take the scenic route on the way to the E.R.?
Overall, it is harder to identify a drowning is occurring than to prevent it in the first place. Afterall, a drowning child may look like a small child trying to swim or even playing before it is too late. It is far better to keep them out of an area that they don’t belong in to begin with.
My sentiments EXACTLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Wow – this is good. I was a member of Skyline when it was a private pool from the late 60’s to the early 80’s. I can tell you that there is no way the events could have happened back then. I managed to avoid ‘the bench’ that the life guards used to punish those who didn’t listen but rest assured they were on top of us!
Is this the difference between private vs government? Not sure why the government needs to be in the pool business but here’s an example of why they should not be!