By: Benyamin Davidsons
So many events, businesses, and locations have been impacted by the pandemic. Lifeguarding at the beach has not been immune to changes.
As reported by the NY Times, even though people pack the shore, searching for some summertime normalcy, the coronavirus crisis has dealt crisis and daunting challenges to lifeguards as well. The Avalon Beach Patrol, which is an elite lifeguard corps on the New Jersey shore, had about two dozen lifeguards who tested positive for the virus last month. This necessitated the quarantining of roughly 45 guards, leaving the group with depleted ranks, obliging the remaining guards to work without breaks. “We were stretched so thin that we had to hire more lifeguards,” said Matt Wolf, the patrol’s administrative lieutenant.
The other aspects of lifeguarding have also been altered. Ocean rescues are now contactless, and guards must shower and sanitize equipment afterward. Mouth-to-mouth resuscitation is now performed with a face mask attached to a manual pump. The fun and social parts of lifeguarding, such as the competitions, morning strategy huddles, group workouts and sitting in pairs, are a thing of the past. Many lifeguards now carry hand sanitizer, masks and gloves both for handing out and to protect themselves from the groups of people who usually are not wearing masks. Lifeguards are most susceptible to catching the virus while swimming as they can’t wear masks.
Despite this, it is believed that the lifeguards’ outbreaks mostly stemmed from group housing and social gatherings after work. In July, 13 lifeguards from two Suffolk County beaches tested positive for COVID-19 after attending a barbecue. There were also other less notable outbreaks among guards in the region. Mr. Wolf said that following the outbreaks, he had warned his lifeguards to use the same caution after work as they practice on the beach. “I think they’ve gotten the message,” he said.
This summer, NYC hired 740 lifeguards– 520 for the beaches, and 220 at the 15 public pools. So far, there have been no reported virus cases among New York City lifeguards, as per city officials. While the lifeguards do their best to maintain their own social distancing they are generally not responsible to enforce social distancing among the public. Sometimes though, beachgoers ask them to. “I tell my lifeguards, ‘Your job is to watch the water, not enforce social distancing,” said Janet Fash, a lifeguard chief at Rockaway Beach in Queens.
