Keeping on guard
Lifeguards dive in for training camp at Aylesford Lake
Huge number of lifeguards train at Aylesford Lake Beach.
Beach goers splashing around in the lake and building castles in the sand stopped to stare as 83 lifeguards stampeded down the boardwalk.
The training exercise, involving sprints on land and a long-distance dash across the water, was part of a four-day training camp preparing the guards for another summer of supervision.
“It’s simulating having to run a long distance to rescue someone and then having to swim out for them,” said Carlena Eye, a Canaan resident who completed the training course for the fourth time on the weekend.
“It was fun.”
The former Wolfville Tritons swimmer is a working lifeguard at Aylesford Lake Beach, where the training exercise took place June 24.
“A lot of competitive swimmers are lifeguards and it just makes sense to use the sport that I love to give back to the community and help people,” the 22-year-old said.
“I actually really like meeting people on the beach. Aylesford is a pretty relaxed beach. We don’t have surf to deal with, so that makes it a little calmer.”
Eye enjoys working with youth interested in potentially pursuing lifeguard certification one day.
“We have a junior guard program we run every year at the beach and it’s for younger kids who are thinking about getting their lifeguarding,” she said.
“It’s a good program to introduce them to the things that you will have to learn as a lifeguard, and it is actually really fun.”
Guards selected for the intensive skills camp already had their National Lifeguard Certification and Standard First Aid and CPR. The Nova Scotia Lifeguard Service (NSLS) and the Lifesaving Society’s Nova Scotia branch have been contracted to provide supervision for 23 beaches throughout the province this summer.
NSLS director Paul D’eon, special projects director for the Lifesaving Society, said the certification training at Aylesford Lake includes stations that covered such topics as working with rescue boards and tubes, learning how to rescue a swimmer with a suspected spinal injury, dryland training and moving in the water.
“When you have to act everything has to go well in order to make a successful rescue,” he said, noting lifeguards must maintain a certain level of fitness and education points to meet the job requirements.
“About two thirds are returning staff getting a refresher.”
The lifeguards also learn about interventions that can prevent an emergency from happening in the first place.
“We teach them to spot potential hazards,” he said.
Aylesford Lake Beach, located at 580 North River Rd., opens at 10 a.m. daily.
“It just makes sense to use the sport that I love to give back to the community and help people.”
- Carlena Eye, lifeguard.