Enter at own risk

Recruiting lifeguards has become an increasing challenge, reflecting a nationwide and even international shortage in a field once viewed as the iconic summer job.

Cape Girardeau city aquatics coordinator Robert Shanahan said the parks and recreation department has seen a decrease in lifeguard applications over the past five or six years.

Shanahan blames the decline on a number of factors, including everything from summer sports to the ability for area high school and college students to obtain other summer jobs that in some cases pay more.

The city has hired 70 lifeguards for next year, but ideally wants to hire another 30, he said Wednesday.

The city would like a total of 100 to allow more flexibility for scheduling for lifeguards, most of whom work part-time. "We want to have a little breathing room," Shanahan said.

Last year, the city had between 60 and 80 lifeguards, according to Shanahan.

The city employs lifeguards for both the Central Municipal Pool and Cape Splash water park. About 25 life guards man each shift at Cape Splash.

Only a handful of lifeguards are needed at any one time at the municipal pool.

Lifeguards may work four-hour shifts. Members of area high school swim teams often workout in the morning and then work as lifeguards in the afternoon, Shanahan said.

Lifeguards start at $9 per hour with the Cape Girardeau parks department. The city raised the wage last year in an effort to recruit lifeguards, he said.

But city officials will have to continue to look at wage rates as the minimum wage increases in the state of Missouri, Shanahan said.

The state's minimum wage is set to increase annually from its current $8.60 an hour until it reaches $12 an hour by 2023.

The city has taken several steps to better recruit lifeguards, who can be as young as 15 years old.

Cape Girardeau's parks department has relied more on social media and scheduled additional lifeguard certification classes, Shanahan said.

Applicants must receive certification in order to work as lifeguards.

The parks department also has recruited water slide attendants who show interest in taking the certification class and being trained as lifeguards, he said.

City officials are working with the Cape Girardeau School District to provide physical education credit for those involved in lifeguard training. Shanahan said the goal is to offer the credit starting this fall.

"We are just trying to outreach more in the community," he said.

For many teenagers, lifeguarding is their first job, according to Shanahan.

The city's municipal pool operates year round, and some of the lifeguards work throughout the year. Some lifeguards also handle shifts at parks concessions stands.

But many are employed just during the summer months when the water park is open, he said.

Unlike Cape Girardeau, the City of Jackson has a single pool operating solely during the summer season. Jackson has little trouble hiring lifeguards since it needs far fewer of them, according to Jackson human resources manager J.J. Wiseman.

But in the United States and elsewhere in the world, there is a shortage of lifeguards, said B.J. Fisher, director of health and safety with the American Lifeguard Association based in Virginia.

"Half of the public pools in Hong Kong are closed (because of the lack of lifeguards)," Fisher said.

He said the "good old days" of people wanting lifeguard jobs amid the popularity of the "Baywatch" television show are gone, he said.

Fisher blames the shortage on an aging population and a growing number of pools and water parks.

Local governments are not eliminating lifeguards at their pools, but in some cases they are reducing hours of operation and/or shortening the summer season, Fisher said.

Fisher suggested pool operators look to hire retirees as lifeguards. Some cities already are taking that approach, he said.

Sarah Wichern, a Southeast Missouri State University student and former Saxony Lutheran High School swimmer, works as a lifeguard manager for Cape Girardeau's parks department.

Wichern said she enjoys the job and the flexible hours that allow her to work around her class schedule.

"I started right after high school," she said Wednesday while working at Central Municipal Pool.

Lifeguards learn lifesaving skills such as CPR, which can strengthen applications for other jobs, Wichern said.

In August 2017, two life guards helped save the life of a 5-year-old girl by dragging her out of the pool and performing CPR.

mbliss@semissourian.com

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