On Friday the 13 February I attended a friends child’s birthday party at the Sydenham pool in Sydenham at 2pm. Within 15 minutes of my arrival I heard someone screaming, “someone’s drowning!” I immediately scanned the pool for my children and saw that the lifeguards were pulling an adult male out of the water. I saw that the lifeguards were performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation, more commonly known as CPR, on the male. I then decided to go and see if I could be of some assistance as I have some first aid training.
When I got to the scene the lifeguards were performing CPR. They were, however, only doing chest compressions no breaths, breaths are required. I also noticed that the man’s chest was moving and immediately shouted for them to stop the CPR as he was breathing. They could have injured him. They stopped and just looked at me. I told them to put the man in the recovery position in case he vomited, however, they again just looked at me. I eventually did it myself. The man then woke up and in shock, tried to get up and put up a fight. I then told the lifeguards to pick him up and move him to the nearby grass area and once again place him in the recovery position. I managed to calm the man down and waited for an ambulance to arrive.
The lifeguards were on duty and I feel that they are not properly trained for an emergency of that kind.
The lifeguards should go on regular first aid courses. Simulation training would also be a great idea.
