The North Lauderdale Fire Department and Jeff Ellis Management lifeguards conducted an unannounced training exercise to prepare for the summer pool season.
During a typical Saturday at the city pool, lifeguards stood watch on their posts during a busy day. In the corner of the pool, the supervisor had changed clothes to look like a swimmer and sank to the bottom of the pool without their detection. Within seconds the crowd heard whistles blowing and lifeguards jumping into the pool.
She was quickly removed using proper techniques while the other lifeguards came running with airway equipment and an AED.
The crews then noticed who the victim was but were told it was a drill and to proceed as they normally would if the victim had no pulse. The EMS Chief from the fire department was there to facilitate the scenario as the City officials watched the resuscitation attempt.
In order to make the training as real as possible, the fire department arrived approximately 5 minutes into the scenario and worked in conjunction with the lifeguards to demonstrate the entire process should an emergency like this occur. The training was a great success and all parties involved learned how active the scene would be.
As we know, drowning is far too common in Florida and practicing resuscitation techniques is common for the fire department and lifeguards but rarely is the training performed together. The drill was so realistic the spectators did not realize it was training until the end of the scenario.