Q&A: Lifeguard of the Party

Sunday, July 16, 2000 | 10:26 a.m.

The swim season is in full swing at the Clark County Parks and Recreation Department.

During the height of the season (generally June through August) an average of 900 swimmers a day use the county's 11 pools. That number will increase to 13 when the new Desert Breeze Pool at Spring Mountain Road and Tropicana Avenue opens Thursday, and the renovated Paradise Pool on Tropicana between Eastern Avenue and Pecos Road opens Aug. 1.

Joe Anders, 21, has been a lifeguard for the county since he was 15. His first assignment was at the Maslow Pool, his second at the Desert Inn Pool -- both are in the area of Nellis Boulevard and Desert Inn Road.

For the past three years Anders has been the manager of the Desert Inn facility. During the off-season he works as a lifeguard at other pools, including the Riviera hotel-casino. He is a junior at UNLV, studying for a career in physical therapy.

Las Vegas Sun: What are the requirements to be a lifeguard?

Joe Anders: You have to have first-aid and lifeguard training ... and enough endurance. I have my WSI (Water Safety Instructor's License).

Sun: What's the hardest part about the job?

JA: I would say ... pretty much it's the responsibility. You are responsible for every single person in the pool and around it. When something happens it's not looked at as, "What were they doing?" but, "What were you doing and why didn't you prevent it?" So it's always kind of stressful because you have all those people to worry about.

Sun: A situation can turn from fun-and-games to life-and-death in a heartbeat. Does this keep your adrenaline rushing all the time?

JA: Yes. The minute you turn your head something can happen. You might see a ... kid totally fine swimming (one minute) and then ... it looks like he might be having trouble but you're not quite sure. The adrenaline starts kicking in. You're getting ready to jump in, and then you realize he's just fine -- that's just how he's swimming.

Sun: What's it like when there is an emergency?

JA: It's a big adrenaline rush, and then your training takes over. After it's all done you worry about, "what if I didn't do this right?" or "what if I didn't do that right?" but you always do it right. We are trained really well in the county. But right before an incident happens is the worst. You don't know if you should jump in (the pool) for it or if they're all right and just messing around.

Sun: You work part of the year at a public pool and part at a private one. What's the difference?

JA: There's an older crowd (at the Riviera), and more problems due to alcohol. The parks don't allow alcohol. At (a resort pool) there is a lot of it. People get hammered ... and do stupider things.

(At the Riviera) there may be 700 people at a time at the pool, with about six lifeguards on duty. But mainly what we are there for is, like, customer service -- getting people chairs and towels. Here (at the public pool) we may get 14 or 18 people a day. Sunday we may get 40. And it's more, like, watching the pool and making sure everything is safe.

Sun: What kind of people do you get at the park's pool?

JA: The average age range is from 8 to 18 years. Most (swimmers) are about 10 to 12 years old ... normal (kids) trying to have fun, causing a little mischief here and there.

Sun: What kind of dumb things do you see people doing?

JA: They're always running on the deck, which is the obvious one. A lot try to dive into the shallow end. We've had ... people playing chicken fight off the diving board.

Sun: Have you ever had to revive anyone?

JA: My first year working down at Maslow, we had this girl who was epileptic and she didn't take her medicine one day. She had a seizure when she hit the water ... the lifeguard jumped in, pulled her out and I came over to assist. Her lips were blue. She wasn't getting any oxygen ... I proceeded to do (CPR) ... I gave her two rescue breaths and she started coughing up water ... two minutes later the ambulance got there and (medics) took over.

Sun: Have there been other rescues?

JA: I had two kids go under at the same time over at Maslow. I was up on the stand ... the kids were underneath me pretty much, off to the side. They were brothers. One of them (about age 7) could swim, but just barely ... the other one was maybe 5, and he couldn't really swim ... the older one pushed off the wall and started treading water. He tried to get his brother to come to him. The brother pushed off the wall, freaked out, grabbed his brother and both of them went under. I jumped off the stand and was right there.

Sun: What other problems do you see at the pools?

JA: Over at the Riviera we get a lot of heat strokes. Drinking alcohol and being out in the sun -- they don't know when to stop. Before they get really bad they turn bright red and start sweating and drooling. Their eyes look glazed over, they look confused, like they're not sure what's going on.

(Here) we get a couple of kids every once in a while who don't know when to say when ... if we need to we tell them to go sit in the shade a couple of minutes.

Sun: Which do you prefer, working at public or private pools?

JA: I prefer the county. It's a safer environment. The hotels make sure everyone is happy. Here the focus is safety.

Sun: What do you like most about your job?

JA: Being around the kids, teaching them swim lessons. It's always good to see a kid who can't swim at all at the beginning, but by the end of the season is swimming by himself.

Sun: Do you get problem children?

JA: We (sometimes) have smart-mouthed kids trying to talk back ... older kids (on occasion) break in at night -- they hop the fence. Sometimes there is vandalism we have to clean up -- (graffiti), broken glass on the deck and in the pool, bottles in the pool ... we vacuum the pool every other day, unless we see broken glass.

Sun: What are some of your other duties?

JA: If someone (throws up) in the pool ... we have to clear (everyone) out and call up the pool technicians to come down and super-chlorinate (the water). It may take an hour or an hour and a half, depending on how far out the pool techs are. It usually happens during swim lessons. Kids (start) bouncing up and down in the water and they just lose it.