Health department has already been contacted and they agreed there must be lifeguards in chairs when anyone is in the pool regardless of whether the pool is open to members or not. They said they had no idea swim teams were swimming without lifeguards in chairs and thanked us for alerting them.
|
NP - doing what it takes to ensure your pool follows the law and keeps the kids safe is extreme? |
This is us also. Coaches must be pool operators and lifeguards to hold morning practices at our pool. |
Is the injured Connecticut belair swimmer paralyzed? That is a nightmare scenario either way |
That’s not enough according to the health department. Pools must “Provide a ready-to-rescue lifeguard at all times, including for swim team practices”. This means a lifeguard with a rescue tube and CPR masks sitting in a chair, not coaching swim team. |
I think you are making a stink about nothing. There are some cases where the pool’s insurance only kicks in if a guard is in the chair, but that is rare. Inspectors have never dinged anyone for not being in the chair. Inspectors are also food inspectors who inspect restaurants 40 hours per week. Then in the summer they add about 40 pools and 20 pool snack bars each. It used to be they were required to come 1x a month between May and September to inspect all of their pools. Something has clearly changed, because aside from the opening season inspection, I know of a few pools that have only seen an inspector 3-4 times combined during the last 6 seasons. |
Accidents happen. With 10 or more kids per lane coaches cannot see everything. Some of the teens are probably lifeguards but usually they are in their own lane swimming so they cannot see. Good practice is one or two lifeguards. |
What might be a good practice is not required or enforced. |
Families need to leave those pools then. We left a pool where we had safety, leadership and coaching concerns. |
If your pool doesn’t have a ready to rescue lifeguard dedicated to the lanes during swim practice, you need to report it to the health department. Not sure why these pools have been able to operate so long without property safety protocols, but the county is slowly catching up. Not just to lifeguards but also pool depth, enforcing facility rules, etc. |
Not all heroes wear capes, some wear....... |
You’re wrong. They’ve been out multiple days and made multiple changes including the mandate that ready to rescue lifeguards always be provided when anyone is in the water, including swim team before operating hours. |