Bid to reduce rescues ‘to the minimum’
Swimmers asked to respect flags and the advice of lifeguards
THIS is going to be ‘a difficult summer’ for lifeguards, according to the Red Cross beaches coordinator for Guardamar del Segura, José Luis Hernández.
Although he has worked as a lifeguard since 2007, they will have to adjust to new protocols as a result of Covid-19.
Just one aspect will be checking that people maintain social distancing, although town halls will have additional personnel to help with this.
Another change that may seem obvious is that they will not be able to give mouth to mouth resuscitation, although Sr Hernández noted that this was no longer commonly used anyway. Red Cross personnel have been using a bag valve mask instead for more than 10 years now.
“One of the most important protocols is to encourage patients to treat themselves, which involves giving them everything they need to apply the treatment,” he explained.
“The idea of this is that there will be as little contact as possible and it would be limited to offering a plaster or gauze with a cream.”
However, if someone is bleeding heavily the lifeguard would intervene, wearing the necessary protection.
“This could take a bit of effort at first but I think that as time passes people will understand perfectly that it is for safety,” he said “Rescues in the water could be one of the most controversial aspects because we do not have adequate equipment to guarantee protection.”
If the victim is conscious it will be easier to keep their distance but otherwise ‘avoiding contact is very difficult’.
“Everyone is suspected to have Covid-19 but we can’t not save a life because we think we might infect ourselves,” he assured. “We are not going to let anyone drown just because we do not have an effective barrier.
“For this reason, more than ever we ask swimmers to respect the flags and the advice of the lifeguards. We have to reduce the number of rescues to the minimum in order to not put the lifeguards in danger.”
This year the Red Cross is trying to make sure their lifeguards are completely safe.
“For this we have to take some steps to protect ourselves which are very exhaustive,” explained Sr Hernández.
These include that each one has their own equipment, which cannot be shared, each lifeguard has to carry their own bag with basic equipment such as an FFP2 face mask, a surgical smock, double gloves protective goggles, which are for their own safety, and as well as that they will carry the medical equipment to treat the patient.
“This is all to make sure there is no transmission from one person to another,” he said.
“We will try to ensure that the same lifeguards always work at the same posts, with people changing places as little as possible, also to try and prevent cross contamination.”
Elche started its service on Saturday. The service is being run by the DYA association with eight lifeguards until the new contract can be put out to tender in the second half of June. In Orihuela Costa the daily service started today (Friday, June 12) at all 11 beaches and is running from 10.00-20.00 until the middle of September.
A swimming support service for disabled people is available from June 15 to September 15 at Cala Capitán, La Glea, Barranco Rubio and Cala Bosque.
Pilar de la Horadada council said the new lifeguard contract has not been signed yet and it is unclear when the service will start running.