I have experience as a lifeguard, as a thief supervisor, and as a Beachfiled Offcier Monitoring and have supported them for many years. Sometimes I wonder how I can explain to the community that being a lifeguard is not that easy. To the untrained eye, it appears that lifeguards just sit on their high chairs and do nothing at poolside or on the beach.

Not so. The truth is, lifeguards are much busier than they appear. They have to prevent accidents, provide supervision, observe any mishap and stop it from becoming serious, participate in training sessions, perform simulated rescues, and deal with emergency response teams in moving casualties to ambulances. All these tasks augment a lifeguard’s basic job.

We must constantly monitor crowds of swimmers—some of the larger water parks, swimming pools, and beaches can accommodate as many as 1,500 —in ways that may not be obvious. It’s not easy to provide for their safety, but we do it.

Palitha Ariyarathna

Deep Sea Diver & Rescuer