KEEPING WATCH ON THE WATER: LIFEGUARDS PATROL CAPE GIRARDEAU POOLS

There's more to being a pool lifeguard than cool shades and deep tans.

Lifeguards who keep a close eye on people swimming and playing in the pool say it's not a job for day dreamers.

The most important thing is to stay focused.

"Most people think it is an easy job," said Kurt Glastetter, 18, of Cape Girardeau. But he said the job's tougher than many people realize. This is Glastetter's first summer as a lifeguard at the Central Municipal Pool.

"So far, I haven't had to save anybody," he said.

Shannon Bigham, 20, of Olive Branch, Ill., has worked as a lifeguard for four years. This year she is serving as one of the Central Municipal Pool managers. Bigham said lifeguards have to constantly survey the pool for signs of trouble.

Chara Friese, 19, of Jackson also works as a lifeguard at the pool. She has been doing the job for three years.

Friese said the lifeguards have to watch the young children in particular. "Little kids do crazy things," she said. "They are young and they try crazy stunts."

She's had to go in the water five times this summer to rescue people.

Some children jump off the diving board even though they don't know how to swim, the lifeguards said.

Bigham once saved a 17-year-old boy who jumped off the diving board, but didn't know how to swim.

Bigham said it is tough to sit up in a lifeguard chair on hot summer days while people are cooling off in the pool. "It kills you," she said.

The lifeguard job carries a lot of responsibility. "You have got people's lives in your hands," Friese said.

The city of Cape Girardeau employs 45 to 50 lifeguards every summer to staff the Central Municipal Pool and Capaha Pool. This summer, there are 46 lifeguards on staff.

Twenty-five to 30 of the lifeguards work year-round as the city covers the Central Municipal Pool with an air-inflated bubble to keep it open in the winter. Capaha Pool is only used during the summer.

Doug Gannon supervises the Cape Girardeau pools as recreation coordinator of aquatics.

Gannon said the city employs 20 lifeguards a day during the summer, with 10 lifeguards stationed at each pool.

The majority of the lifeguards are 16 to 19 years of age, although Gannon said he does have some lifeguards who are college students in their 20s.

It's not a high paying job. Lifeguards start at minimum wage, $5.15 an hour.

Lifeguards must go through a 33-hour training course put on by the city. The course includes first aid and cardio-pulmonary resuscitation.

"It is a rigorous course they have to pass to be a lifeguard," Gannon said. Lifeguards must be strong swimmers and good decision makers, he said.

Lifeguards must be able to swim 500 yards non-stop or 20 laps in the pool. They must demonstrate they can tread water for two minutes using just their legs. They also have to dive to a minimum depth of seven feet and retrieve a 10-pound diving brick.

"A lifeguard has to be able to go to the deepest part of the pool," Gannon said.

At Central Municipal Pool, there are six lifeguard stations at the main pool and one at the wading pool. There also is a roving lifeguard,

At Capaha Pool, there are five lifeguard stations around the main pool, one at the top of the water slide and another for the wading pool. There also is a roving lifeguard there too.

At both pools, lifeguards also are employed in the pool buildings.

Gannon said the lifeguards rotate from station to station during the day, including the indoor jobs.

Gannon said lifeguards are moved from station to station to keep them focused. He said each lifeguard is given a break from pool responsibilities, generally after being pool-side for an hour and a half.

Lifeguards who are on duty at the pool at various stations for more than hour and a half risk losing their concentration, he said.

"It is kind of like driving in a snowstorm, it is very easy to get hypnotized," he said.

Gannon said they have fewer lifeguards on duty on days when there is lower attendance at the pools.

During the hot times in the day, lifeguards do safety checks every hour. They require everyone to get out of the pool.

During that time, lifeguards can jump in the pool and cool off, Gannon said.

When on duty, whistles are vital for lifeguards. It's how they communicate, Gannon said.

Gannon said lifeguards always have to be watchful of those in the water.

"The biggest inherent danger we deal with is people overestimating their ability," he said.

"We try to be as strict as we can with pool rules," said Gannon. Lifeguards are taught to be consistent in applying the rules.

State law doesn't require cities to have lifeguards. But the Missouri Department of Health recommends it.

The agency recommends a lifeguard station for every 2,000 square feet of water. That amounts to six stations at the Central Municipal Pool.

"It is just a matter of good management," Gannon said.

THE WHISTLE

Lifeguards communicate with their whistles.

Here's how the different whistle signals are used:

One long whistle -- Everyone out of the pool.

One short whistle -- To get the attention of a person or persons at the pool.

Two short whistles -- To get the attention of another lifeguard.

Three short whistles -- Leaving the lifeguard chair to respond to a situation in the water.

Source: City of Cape Girardeau