A Narrative Essay On My Life As A Lifeguard

From a young age, I knew that I wanted a career in the medical field. The thought of potentially saving a life and helping other people made healthcare very appealing to me. I was exposed to first aid techniques early on by my father, and it became a large part of my life as I went on to complete several first aid courses and eventually become a lifeguard. My current job as a lifeguard is something that I enjoy wholeheartedly. There is a huge amount of responsibility that comes with keeping patrons safe and that is not an aspect of all part-time jobs. One particular experience allowed me to realize that helping others is what I am meant to do and showed me how rewarding it really is.
Approximately one year ago, I was eight months into my job as a lifeguard. I had already been instructing lessons for a year and a half, but lifeguarding was still relatively new for me. Even after eight months, I

still had not had the opportunity to perform first aid or to do a “pull-out.” A pull-out is when a lifeguard jumps into the water to save a distressed swimmer. This constitutes a major incident and involves public relations and paperwork. Pull-outs are not a common occurrence because there are rules and adult-to-child ratios implemented to prevent these incidents from happening. Even so, an inattentive guardian or a weak swimmer is often the cause of such incidents. This was the case last year when I saved a distressed swimmer for the first time.
One day in late August, I started guarding a wave swim in mid-afternoon.

There were less than twenty-five people in the water, so I was guarding by myself while the other lifeguards took a break. I took note of a woman who was in the water with three children under the age of ten years old. The children looked to be average swimmers for their age, but the mediocre supervision of their guardian concerned me. Ten minutes into my shift, I heard a scream for help from the deep end of the pool. As I turned around, I saw a young girl flailing her arms and struggling to keep her head above the water. It was one of the children that I had been keeping an eye on. I immediately jumped towards her and landed behind her, much to my own surprise. She was at least five metres away from me, but the apparent rush of adrenaline allowed me to jump right to her. I grabbed her around her waist and sat her on my hip in the standard lifeguard carry. I made my way to the side of the pool deck where my supervisor was waiting to help me reassure the child and report the

incident.
After writing an accident report and assuring that the victim did not swallow any water, her guardian approached me and expressed immense gratitude. I remember her being thankful and somewhat surprised that I rescued her so quickly and her appreciation was gratifying. For the rest of the wave swim, the woman stayed close to the children and I felt as if I had somehow made a difference. The entire incident happened very quickly, but it has stayed with me ever since.
I have now been a lifeguard for close to two years and I have had several more pull-outs and injuries to treat. This particular experience made a difference in my life because it showed me how truly rewarding it is to help another person. It reinforced my desire to help others as a career and helped in shaping the benevolent and serviceable traits of my character.