Lifeguard training may delay pool reopenings
Mouth-to-mouth alternative among new skills needed
Pools and waterfront swimming areas aren’t expected to reopen in B.C. until lifeguards are trained in several new skills, including an alternative way of providing mouth-tomouth resuscitation.
Dale Miller, executive director of the Lifesaving Society, B.C. & Yukon, said people likely won’t see outdoor pools and waterfront swimming areas opening until mid to late June, depending on the approval processes in each city and municipality. Indoor pools aren’t likely to open until August or September, or later.
“I know everybody wants to get back to swimming at their favourite local pool or waterfront,” Miller said.
“But as with everything else, it needs to be done progressively, carefully, and safely to ensure that we do not see an outbreak and continue to see the downward trend of COVID-19 in British Columbia.”
In late May, the society released new guidelines for reopening pools around the province.
They acknowledge that any attempt at resuscitating a drowning person by a lifeguard “may result in self-contamination” with the novel coronavirus.
“In the COVID-19 era, lifeguards now face a decision about how to balance their own safety while providing life-saving care,” say the new guidelines.
Instead of performing mouth-to-mouth during a rescue, the society is recommending that lifeguards use a “bagvalve-mask” with a viral filter, and the use of two rescuers, with one of them maintaining a
“tight seal during ventilations and compressions.”
“This is one of the enhanced training pieces that need to be provided to lifeguards before they can start their jobs,” Miller said. “They have to be trained specifically in this new technique before they get back into the job of protecting lives in the pools and waterfronts.”
Lifeguards also need training in the proper use of personal protective equipment.
“My sense is that most lifeguards are very appreciative of the fact that their employers are taking the time needed to ensure their safety,” Miller said.
Kyle Larson, a lifeguard in Vancouver, worked his last day at Britannia Pool on March 22.
He has no idea when he’ll be working again as a lifeguard.
“There’s a huge amount of uncertainty in the air,” Larson said.
He said besides his worry that pools may be closed because of budget cuts, he thinks COVID-19 is one of the greatest challenges aquatics has ever faced.
“In terms of bag-valve-mask, I don’t think it is necessarily a large step up but there will be a huge training required,” Larson said.
Miller said when outdoor pools do open, they will likely operate much differently than they did before. Numbers will likely be limited so you won’t see the usual summertime crowds at places like Stanley Park’s Second Beach Pool.
To swim laps, swimmers may have to book online.
They’ll be expected to arrive on time, swim, and then leave the facility. Miller said initial results from a survey of operators of outdoor pools around B.C. indicate that they will not be opening change rooms and showers because it’s too difficult to monitor social distancing.