Keys to Success for Aquatic Professionals By George Deines
T
he outdoor aquatics season is almost upon us, and I can hear the collective stress levels of aquatic professionals starting to rise! Numerous stressors exist for aquatic professionals, but none more stressful than the prospect of having an unconscious aquatic incident occur at their facility. As part of my role within the aquatics industry, I have served as chair of the World Waterpark Association’s Safety Committee, president of the North Texas Aquatics Association, and, most recently, as an expert witness in several litigation cases that involved a fatal drowning at a lifeguarded aquatic facility. Through these various roles, I’ve found four primary areas that aquatic facility operators should focus on to minimize the risk of a catastrophic incident at their facility. Reducing the Risks Whether your team is lifeguarding swimming lessons, two adult lap swimmers in the morning or a wave pool at a municipal waterpark with more than 800 people in it, they must always remember that at any moment something can happen. Just because the day is slow, it doesn’t mean that a child can’t choke at the table while taking a break, or parents won’t be vigilant with their child 100 percent of the time. While it seems like common sense, ingraining this philosophy in your team is critical to keeping everyone safe at your facility this summer. Aquatic operators must ensure they train and follow the standard of care for aquatic facilities. How do most aquatic facilities train their team members?
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What type of safety-related equipment do they use in an emergency? Have they performed lifeguard response-time tests to ensure lifeguards can properly implement the 10/20 standard of protection from each stand at their facility? These are just a few examples of standard of care protocols that operators need to be aware of, all of which help mitigate risk at their facility. Maintaining consistency in operations is another key component to providing a safe aquatic facility for your guests this summer. The primary question to ask yourself is: “Do you always have the same number of lifeguards on your pool, regardless of the number of guests in the water?” One of the primary areas that will stand out after a fatal or non-fatal drowning will be the number of lifeguards on duty at the time of the incident. If your facility had less lifeguards on duty during the incident than the day before, or an earlier time that day, that will raise a red flag. Aquatic operators should keep in mind that the number of lifeguards on duty should be based on the ability to adequately maintain the 10/20
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standard of protection, not necessarily the number of people in the water at a given time. Lastly, if you see something, say something. For example, while swimming at a municipal pool a few weeks back, I noticed the lifeguard dozing off on the stand with no supervisor in sight. I decided to say something via email to the aquatics supervisor as an “FYI.” Aquatics industry professionals should be willing to speak up when they see something that poses an immediate, life-threatening risk to pool users. As you approach the summer season and start developing your pre-season trainings and orientations, take time to stress to your team that every day, something could happen at your facility. Research and implement aquatics industry standards of care, maintain consistency in your operations and if you see something, say something! If you follow these steps, then you’ll be well on your way to a successful and safe 2020. George Deines is Project Manager at Counsilman-Hunsaker (georgedeines@ chh2o.com).
