August 16, 2024 • 12 mins
Welcome to another episode of the LIFESAVING CHRONICLES podcast, brought to you by the National Safety Training Center! In this episode, host Dave Kotz speaks with Jay, the lifeguard manager at Seabright Beach Club, to discuss the unique challenges and experiences of lifeguarding at an oceanfront facility compared to pools and lake communities.
Podcast Disclaimer: By accessing this Podcast, I acknowledge that the National Safety Training Center (NSTC) makes no warranty, guarantee, or representation as to the accuracy or sufficiency of the information featured in this Podcast. The information, opinions, and recommendations presented in this Podcast are for general information only and any reliance on the information provided in this Podcast is done at your own risk. This Podcast should not be considered professional advice. The content isn't a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Unless specifically stated otherwise, the NSTC does not endorse, approve, recommend, or certify any information, product, process, service, or organization presented or mentioned in this Podcast, and information from this Podcast should not be referenced in any way to imply such approval or endorsement. The 3rd party materials or content of any 3rd party site referenced in this Podcast don't necessarily reflect the opinions, standards or policies of the NSTC. The NSTC assumes no responsibility or liability for the accuracy or completeness of the content contained in 3rd party materials or on 3rd party sites referenced in this Podcast or the compliance with applicable laws of such materials and/or links referenced herein. NSTC makes no warranty that this Podcast, or the server that makes it available, is free of viruses or other elements or codes that manifest destructive properties.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:03):
Thank you.
David Kotz (00:05):
Hey, everyone.
It's Dave Kotz with theLIFESAVING CHRONICLES and the
National Safety Training Center.
We're here at the SeabrightBeach Club.
Jay (00:13):
Correct.
David Kotz (00:15):
We're here talking about what makes this place
different than lifeguarding at apool or lifeguarding at like a
pond or a lake community.
So here with us is Jay.
Jay is the lifeguard manager forthis facility.
Jay, just to start, tell usabout yourself and then we'll
talk about the facility and whatmakes this so different.
Jay (00:35):
Absolutely.
Well, thank you for having mehere today.
In the off season, I'm a mathteacher, a middle school math
teacher.
I also coach high schoolbaseball.
And then I come here and savelives for a living.
It's my 19th year here atSeabright Beach Club.
15th year overall as the captainof the lifeguard staff.
And we take a lot of pride injust being able to come out
here, enjoy the sun and the surfand make a difference every so
often for an individual.
David Kotz (00:57):
It's a great combination, teacher and then
lifeguarding during the summer.
That's, I understand that's afairly common combination.
Jay (01:04):
Yes, and we're blessed to have a couple other teachers
here, as well.
And you also, sometimes you getto work with your students, as
well.
We have some students that comethrough and you get to see them
outside of the facility, aswell.
Hopefully, convince them tobecome educators.
But yeah, it's a very commonpractice to have teachers here
on the lifeguard staff.
David Kotz (01:19):
I love talking about how when you start as a
lifeguard, there's almost afraternity or sorority aspect to
it where you build people up andmold them into future leaders.
And it sounds like you're doingthat not only in the lifesaving
business, but in education aswell.
And that works very welltogether.
It's cool.
Jay (01:35):
It's very cool.
And like you said, there's a lotof parallels in the lifeguarding
business.
Just real life application aswell.
Especially when they becomeworkforce and go on to bigger
and better things.
So it's absolutely a bigdifference maker.
David Kotz (01:47):
Terrific.
How many staff do you guystypically have on for summer?
Jay (01:52):
So we're actually very tiny here.
We only have about 15 on ourtotal staff.
You go up the ways to Sandy hookand they're pushing almost 80 on
staff there, so it all dependson what the facility needs and
also just availability oflifeguards that come through and
apply.
David Kotz (02:07):
That's great.
And I understand that there's adevelopment program, too, so you
have some kind of junior staff,then some more senior people,
and they can work their way up.
Jay (02:15):
Yeah, we run a junior guard program here for anyone who's
younger, anywhere as young fromages five to seven.
We called our beach teach oceansafety course to get them
comfortable with the ocean.
And then once they reach eightyears old, about eight to 12,
they join our junior yardprogram.
And then if they're successfulthere, we'll push them on at 13
to the public beach wherehopefully they become nippers
(02:36):
and begin to mold them intoocean lifeguards or pool
lifeguards.
David Kotz (02:40):
Terrific.
Now tell us a little bit aboutyour facility.
Obviously it's a gorgeousfacility.
We're looking at a beautiful dayhere at the Jersey shore.
What do you have here that makesthis special?
Jay (02:49):
We actually operate two pools.
We have our big pool that wecall it.
It's actually 33 meters long, soit's actually a little bit above
average in terms of that.
We have our baby pool, which isabout two feet deep at its max
depth.
And then we of course have theocean front here.
Which again, makes things alittle extra fun, so to speak,
especially when you got ahurricane or something like that
(03:10):
coming.
David Kotz (03:10):
Awesome.
So in particular, what makesthis special obviously is the
ocean, the Atlantic facingbeach.
Tell me about the challengesthat we have over here that
doesn't happen in the pool orlake communities.
Jay (03:24):
The biggest challenge is how quickly things can change at
the flip of the switch.
Obviously the very basics, youhave your ties, high tide, low
tide.
You have your sandbars, you havethe rip current risk as well.
That's always going on.
You also have, your surf zone,your swim zone.
You have the rules that have tobe enforced.
There's a lot of differentthings.
Like I said, that, that couldchange at a moment's notice, but
the biggest thing is mothernature and just the fact that
(03:45):
the rip currents, the tidalaspect of the water, and again,
just being on your toes at alltimes.
David Kotz (03:50):
So I noticed that beach,operations, surf beach
operations are a littledifferent than every other
lifeguarding that I'veexperienced in my 40 some odd
years of doing this craziness.
We're looking out at the beachand you've got flags and the
flags indicate where the safeswimming zone is.
And then to the outside of thatthose green flags perimeters,
you allow surfing.
We don't have surfing in thelake community.
(04:12):
We don't have surfing in thepool either.
The other interesting thing thatI mean, I did this when I was
younger and more in shape- Youguys have surfboards boats.
So you have the dories kayaksand other places we use jet skis
in the surf zone.
That's a whole different ball ofwax then every other lifeguard
(04:33):
and I mentioned that kind ofbecause it forces you to have a
different level of fitness.
In a pool, I may have to swim10, 15 yards maximum to affect
the save.
At the beach, how farpotentially could you be
swimming?
Jay (04:51):
Oh, you're talking, you get caught in a rip, you could go
100 plus yards out easy likethat on that sandbar breaks and
you're gone.
So like you said, we do run aphysical test beginning of the
year.
It's a time swim.
They have to get under a certainamount of time to become each
eligible to 500 that we timethem on.
We'll also run them through atime mile run.
They tread water, they do brickrescues as well, and then we
(05:12):
facilitate with the public beachas well to practice once a week
with them on drills, skills, andeverything else.
But as you said here, thebiggest thing that we want to
really emphasize is just the nonverbal communication.
Through the flag system, we runa four flag system that's
universal throughout the town ofSeabright.
So if you come to the beach, youunderstand green flag is safe,
yellow is moderate, red is ahigh risk, and double red means
(05:33):
no swimming at all.
But as you go to each facility,the rules depending on that
specific area depends on thefacility you're at, so that is a
challenge we face.
David Kotz (05:41):
The other thing I noticed in your stand that we're
looking at over my left shoulderis staffed by two guards.
Is that typical for the Atlanticfacing beaches here in Jersey?
Jay (05:52):
Again, depending on staffing, they'll go as small as
one guard, upwards of three orfour.
We're currently two at the startof the morning, and then at
twelve, once we get our lateguards in we'll push it up to
three or four depending on howbusy we are, what the conditions
call for.
I would say, I would suggestbare minimum that you have two
on stand.
David Kotz (06:08):
That's great.
My guess is that they're busy.
How many rescues are you makingeither daily or weekly?
Jay (06:16):
Again, the conditions dictate a lot of it.
We'll go anywhere from just yoursimple one or two a day.
But if, Mother Nature is turningup, you're looking at five plus
easily.
And this is a facility whereit's a private club, so a lot of
the members already know how toswim.
You go to the public beach andyou're pushing almost 20 to 30
on those rough days.
David Kotz (06:35):
Wow.
And so this is a private cluband it's a fairly defined
section of beach.
I noticed to the right and tothe left of us, there are other
clubs.
How well do you get along withyour neighbors?
Are you cross training with themand do you back each other up
for rescues?
Jay (06:49):
So we do try to collaborate at least once a week with the
public beach to get jointtraining.
So we're all on the same pageagain with those nonverbal cues.
The same terminology, so weunderstand what's going on.
We do cross scan with eachother, so if we know something
next door, that we need to goahead and assist them as well.
Same thing over here the biggestthing is, we try to use is the
whistles.
If you hear three whistles, thekey is three whistles, that
(07:10):
means something major is goingon, whether it's a rescue,
whether it is weather related,thunder, lightning the three
whistles is what you want tolisten for.
David Kotz (07:18):
That's great, and actually that's what we train on
all the time in the poolenvironment as well.
So there, look, there's somecommonality to Three Whistles.
I love it.
What else makes this place, theocean part?
Why is this different than abeach at a lake?
What happens here?
Jay (07:34):
I would say that the biggest thing with the ocean is
that people think they come herethinking that they can just walk
right into it and they'll justbe fine.
And there's a lot of hiddendangers.
Like I said, like you don'trealize there's a sandbar until
you walk up on it.
You might not realize thatthere's a ledge as soon as you
come in.
You might not notice thatthere's a rip current or an
undertow that day.
You might not even realizeyou're in it until it's too
(07:56):
late.
I think that's the biggest thingis a lot of people come in here
with a false sense of security.
They take it for granted andthen by the time they realize
they're in trouble it's too lateat that point.
David Kotz (08:04):
For the public, this is different.
Water is not water.
The ocean is an amazing force.
And water is very powerful.
The tides, they go up and down.
Average tide here is 8 10 foot,maybe?
Jay (08:16):
About, yes.
David Kotz (08:17):
There's an 8 10 foot variance twice a day.
When the water's coming in andout, the waves could be local
from wind, or they could beoffshore.
You get rollers coming in froman offshore event.
So it's very dynamic, and as Jaysaid, it can change on a flick
of a switch..
So the lifeguards have to be ontheir toes and prepared.
(08:42):
Alright, what's the strangestthing that ever happened here?
Jay (08:46):
One day we're sitting on the guard stand.
We're looking north towardswhere our jetty is and on the
other side we just, we seeflames.
We just see flames up in theair.
Well, what's going on overthere?
So we hop in our gator and wedrive on down.
Somebody decided to just make alittle bit of a fire pit in the
ground and grill some hot dogsand hamburgers.
David Kotz (09:04):
Is that allowed?
Jay (09:05):
No.
David Kotz (09:06):
No.
All right.
Jay (09:07):
No.
I said, you're sitting here, youjust see these, this, like I
said, sky high flame on theother side of the rocks and
you're like, what could possiblybe going on?
You don't expect to see fire asa lifeguard.
Water's your friend.
You're not expecting to actuallysee fire.
So that was definitely one thatuh, is in the memory book.
David Kotz (09:20):
Anything else you want to tell us about staffing
this type of facility versusanother facility?
Jay (09:24):
So here they- all guards are required to be American Red
Cross certified in Lifeguarding;deepwater lifeguarding.
So they have to come in withthat cert.
And then once they're here, andwe get them through our
preliminary checks on thephysical side, if they qualify
for the ocean, we'll dualcertify them to on site with the
public coordination with thepublic beach to also sit and
work on the ocean.
David Kotz (09:45):
So that's through USLA?
Jay (09:46):
Correct, USLA.
David Kotz (09:47):
Got it.
All right, so they get bothAmerican Red Cross certification
and USLA, which if I understandcorrectly is valid at this
facility only.
So if they go to anotherfacility, they have to get that
USLA certification.
Jay (10:01):
Correct.
So if you do decide to switchbeaches, you have to go through
the training process all overagain.
David Kotz (10:05):
So obviously with the Red Cross, it's very
standardized and it should bevalid anywhere.
Why is it different with USLA?
Why is this beach different thanthe beach 10 miles down the
road?
Jay (10:15):
And that's a question we've been asking, like, why can't we
come across this universaltraining program?
And honestly, every beach isdifferent.
What we have going here inSeabright, a lot of times we'll
get shore break here.
We're going to a tournamenttomorrow down south.
The waves are breaking out muchfarther.
And if you head all the way downto the bottom around Cape
Mayonette, the surf can go outmuch farther than that.
So I think that what the USLAsays is that they want you to
(10:38):
train to what you have on siteand make it specific to you.
David Kotz (10:41):
Each beach is truly different and you need to be
focused on what you have.
It's almost like a site specificcourse.
Jay (10:49):
Correct.
There's a basic checklist youhave to hit on.
But they want you to go more indepth on what you need specific
to your site.
David Kotz (10:56):
Got it.
What again, specific to yourfacility, what is your most used
piece of rescue equipment?
Jay (11:03):
I would say it's our Peterson tube and our fins.
That's it.
That's what we tend to emphasizehere.
The Peterson tube, it's similarto the rescue can or the torque.
Only difference is it's actuallymore similar to what you have on
the pool with the pool float,but this one has a clip on it.
So once you have the individual,strap it around their upper
chest, so you can actually clipthem in.
So if you do happen to disengagecoming in on the surf or
whatnot, at least they'll pop upand be able to float.
(11:25):
We do like the lifeguardspractice with the torpedo or the
rescue can because otherfacilities don't have the
Peterson.
But we do emphasize the use offins here, especially on a big
surf.
David Kotz (11:33):
That's great.
Is there a piece of equipmentthat you don't have that you
wish you did?
Jay (11:38):
If you ask my staff, they want a Jet Ski in the worst way.
They see some of the otherseries having a Jet Ski, and I
think they want it more for playand show than the actual rescue
aspect.
But I think Jet Ski woulddefinitely be the one that they
would ask for.
We do have a boat.
It's a 45 year old Hankin, soit's a classic.
We do have the boat.
We have our rescue boards, whichthey like as well.
Need for Speed, Jet Ski would bethe route they take.
David Kotz (12:00):
Very cool.
Now I know there's somelifeguard competitions up and
down the Jersey Shore too.
Do you guys participate inthose?
Jay (12:06):
Yep, so we've got one tomorrow and again on Monday.
David Kotz (12:09):
Outstanding.
How do you normally stack up?
Jay (12:12):
So we're the little engine that could, you know like I
said, being only 15 staff andhaving to leave a few behind
cause the pool stays open pastthe beach hours.
We go in there and we just putour best foot forward.
It was actually fun.
We paired up with the publicbeach to do a tag team
tournament last week, buttomorrow it's all on us.
So we'll see how we do.
David Kotz (12:27):
That's great.
Jay, listen, Hey, it's been apleasure talking to you.
I really appreciate it.
Jay (12:31):
Thank you.
David Kotz (12:31):
Thank you so much.
Jay (12:32):
Always a pleasure.
David Kotz (12:34):
Thanks again, guys!
Thank you.
David Kotz (00:05):
Hey, everyone.
It's Dave Kotz with theLIFESAVING CHRONICLES and the
National Safety Training Center.
We're here at the SeabrightBeach Club.
Jay (00:13):
Correct.
David Kotz (00:15):
We're here talking about what makes this place
different than lifeguarding at apool or lifeguarding at like a
pond or a lake community.
So here with us is Jay.
Jay is the lifeguard manager forthis facility.
Jay, just to start, tell usabout yourself and then we'll
talk about the facility and whatmakes this so different.
Jay (00:35):
Absolutely.
Well, thank you for having mehere today.
In the off season, I'm a mathteacher, a middle school math
teacher.
I also coach high schoolbaseball.
And then I come here and savelives for a living.
It's my 19th year here atSeabright Beach Club.
15th year overall as the captainof the lifeguard staff.
And we take a lot of pride injust being able to come out
here, enjoy the sun and the surfand make a difference every so
often for an individual.
David Kotz (00:57):
It's a great combination, teacher and then
lifeguarding during the summer.
That's, I understand that's afairly common combination.
Jay (01:04):
Yes, and we're blessed to have a couple other teachers
here, as well.
And you also, sometimes you getto work with your students, as
well.
We have some students that comethrough and you get to see them
outside of the facility, aswell.
Hopefully, convince them tobecome educators.
But yeah, it's a very commonpractice to have teachers here
on the lifeguard staff.
David Kotz (01:19):
I love talking about how when you start as a
lifeguard, there's almost afraternity or sorority aspect to
it where you build people up andmold them into future leaders.
And it sounds like you're doingthat not only in the lifesaving
business, but in education aswell.
And that works very welltogether.
It's cool.
Jay (01:35):
It's very cool.
And like you said, there's a lotof parallels in the lifeguarding
business.
Just real life application aswell.
Especially when they becomeworkforce and go on to bigger
and better things.
So it's absolutely a bigdifference maker.
David Kotz (01:47):
Terrific.
How many staff do you guystypically have on for summer?
Jay (01:52):
So we're actually very tiny here.
We only have about 15 on ourtotal staff.
You go up the ways to Sandy hookand they're pushing almost 80 on
staff there, so it all dependson what the facility needs and
also just availability oflifeguards that come through and
apply.
David Kotz (02:07):
That's great.
And I understand that there's adevelopment program, too, so you
have some kind of junior staff,then some more senior people,
and they can work their way up.
Jay (02:15):
Yeah, we run a junior guard program here for anyone who's
younger, anywhere as young fromages five to seven.
We called our beach teach oceansafety course to get them
comfortable with the ocean.
And then once they reach eightyears old, about eight to 12,
they join our junior yardprogram.
And then if they're successfulthere, we'll push them on at 13
to the public beach wherehopefully they become nippers
(02:36):
and begin to mold them intoocean lifeguards or pool
lifeguards.
David Kotz (02:40):
Terrific.
Now tell us a little bit aboutyour facility.
Obviously it's a gorgeousfacility.
We're looking at a beautiful dayhere at the Jersey shore.
What do you have here that makesthis special?
Jay (02:49):
We actually operate two pools.
We have our big pool that wecall it.
It's actually 33 meters long, soit's actually a little bit above
average in terms of that.
We have our baby pool, which isabout two feet deep at its max
depth.
And then we of course have theocean front here.
Which again, makes things alittle extra fun, so to speak,
especially when you got ahurricane or something like that
(03:10):
coming.
David Kotz (03:10):
Awesome.
So in particular, what makesthis special obviously is the
ocean, the Atlantic facingbeach.
Tell me about the challengesthat we have over here that
doesn't happen in the pool orlake communities.
Jay (03:24):
The biggest challenge is how quickly things can change at
the flip of the switch.
Obviously the very basics, youhave your ties, high tide, low
tide.
You have your sandbars, you havethe rip current risk as well.
That's always going on.
You also have, your surf zone,your swim zone.
You have the rules that have tobe enforced.
There's a lot of differentthings.
Like I said, that, that couldchange at a moment's notice, but
the biggest thing is mothernature and just the fact that
(03:45):
the rip currents, the tidalaspect of the water, and again,
just being on your toes at alltimes.
David Kotz (03:50):
So I noticed that beach,operations, surf beach
operations are a littledifferent than every other
lifeguarding that I'veexperienced in my 40 some odd
years of doing this craziness.
We're looking out at the beachand you've got flags and the
flags indicate where the safeswimming zone is.
And then to the outside of thatthose green flags perimeters,
you allow surfing.
We don't have surfing in thelake community.
(04:12):
We don't have surfing in thepool either.
The other interesting thing thatI mean, I did this when I was
younger and more in shape- Youguys have surfboards boats.
So you have the dories kayaksand other places we use jet skis
in the surf zone.
That's a whole different ball ofwax then every other lifeguard
(04:33):
and I mentioned that kind ofbecause it forces you to have a
different level of fitness.
In a pool, I may have to swim10, 15 yards maximum to affect
the save.
At the beach, how farpotentially could you be
swimming?
Jay (04:51):
Oh, you're talking, you get caught in a rip, you could go
100 plus yards out easy likethat on that sandbar breaks and
you're gone.
So like you said, we do run aphysical test beginning of the
year.
It's a time swim.
They have to get under a certainamount of time to become each
eligible to 500 that we timethem on.
We'll also run them through atime mile run.
They tread water, they do brickrescues as well, and then we
(05:12):
facilitate with the public beachas well to practice once a week
with them on drills, skills, andeverything else.
But as you said here, thebiggest thing that we want to
really emphasize is just the nonverbal communication.
Through the flag system, we runa four flag system that's
universal throughout the town ofSeabright.
So if you come to the beach, youunderstand green flag is safe,
yellow is moderate, red is ahigh risk, and double red means
(05:33):
no swimming at all.
But as you go to each facility,the rules depending on that
specific area depends on thefacility you're at, so that is a
challenge we face.
David Kotz (05:41):
The other thing I noticed in your stand that we're
looking at over my left shoulderis staffed by two guards.
Is that typical for the Atlanticfacing beaches here in Jersey?
Jay (05:52):
Again, depending on staffing, they'll go as small as
one guard, upwards of three orfour.
We're currently two at the startof the morning, and then at
twelve, once we get our lateguards in we'll push it up to
three or four depending on howbusy we are, what the conditions
call for.
I would say, I would suggestbare minimum that you have two
on stand.
David Kotz (06:08):
That's great.
My guess is that they're busy.
How many rescues are you makingeither daily or weekly?
Jay (06:16):
Again, the conditions dictate a lot of it.
We'll go anywhere from just yoursimple one or two a day.
But if, Mother Nature is turningup, you're looking at five plus
easily.
And this is a facility whereit's a private club, so a lot of
the members already know how toswim.
You go to the public beach andyou're pushing almost 20 to 30
on those rough days.
David Kotz (06:35):
Wow.
And so this is a private cluband it's a fairly defined
section of beach.
I noticed to the right and tothe left of us, there are other
clubs.
How well do you get along withyour neighbors?
Are you cross training with themand do you back each other up
for rescues?
Jay (06:49):
So we do try to collaborate at least once a week with the
public beach to get jointtraining.
So we're all on the same pageagain with those nonverbal cues.
The same terminology, so weunderstand what's going on.
We do cross scan with eachother, so if we know something
next door, that we need to goahead and assist them as well.
Same thing over here the biggestthing is, we try to use is the
whistles.
If you hear three whistles, thekey is three whistles, that
(07:10):
means something major is goingon, whether it's a rescue,
whether it is weather related,thunder, lightning the three
whistles is what you want tolisten for.
David Kotz (07:18):
That's great, and actually that's what we train on
all the time in the poolenvironment as well.
So there, look, there's somecommonality to Three Whistles.
I love it.
What else makes this place, theocean part?
Why is this different than abeach at a lake?
What happens here?
Jay (07:34):
I would say that the biggest thing with the ocean is
that people think they come herethinking that they can just walk
right into it and they'll justbe fine.
And there's a lot of hiddendangers.
Like I said, like you don'trealize there's a sandbar until
you walk up on it.
You might not realize thatthere's a ledge as soon as you
come in.
You might not notice thatthere's a rip current or an
undertow that day.
You might not even realizeyou're in it until it's too
(07:56):
late.
I think that's the biggest thingis a lot of people come in here
with a false sense of security.
They take it for granted andthen by the time they realize
they're in trouble it's too lateat that point.
David Kotz (08:04):
For the public, this is different.
Water is not water.
The ocean is an amazing force.
And water is very powerful.
The tides, they go up and down.
Average tide here is 8 10 foot,maybe?
Jay (08:16):
About, yes.
David Kotz (08:17):
There's an 8 10 foot variance twice a day.
When the water's coming in andout, the waves could be local
from wind, or they could beoffshore.
You get rollers coming in froman offshore event.
So it's very dynamic, and as Jaysaid, it can change on a flick
of a switch..
So the lifeguards have to be ontheir toes and prepared.
(08:42):
Alright, what's the strangestthing that ever happened here?
Jay (08:46):
One day we're sitting on the guard stand.
We're looking north towardswhere our jetty is and on the
other side we just, we seeflames.
We just see flames up in theair.
Well, what's going on overthere?
So we hop in our gator and wedrive on down.
Somebody decided to just make alittle bit of a fire pit in the
ground and grill some hot dogsand hamburgers.
David Kotz (09:04):
Is that allowed?
Jay (09:05):
No.
David Kotz (09:06):
No.
All right.
Jay (09:07):
No.
I said, you're sitting here, youjust see these, this, like I
said, sky high flame on theother side of the rocks and
you're like, what could possiblybe going on?
You don't expect to see fire asa lifeguard.
Water's your friend.
You're not expecting to actuallysee fire.
So that was definitely one thatuh, is in the memory book.
David Kotz (09:20):
Anything else you want to tell us about staffing
this type of facility versusanother facility?
Jay (09:24):
So here they- all guards are required to be American Red
Cross certified in Lifeguarding;deepwater lifeguarding.
So they have to come in withthat cert.
And then once they're here, andwe get them through our
preliminary checks on thephysical side, if they qualify
for the ocean, we'll dualcertify them to on site with the
public coordination with thepublic beach to also sit and
work on the ocean.
David Kotz (09:45):
So that's through USLA?
Jay (09:46):
Correct, USLA.
David Kotz (09:47):
Got it.
All right, so they get bothAmerican Red Cross certification
and USLA, which if I understandcorrectly is valid at this
facility only.
So if they go to anotherfacility, they have to get that
USLA certification.
Jay (10:01):
Correct.
So if you do decide to switchbeaches, you have to go through
the training process all overagain.
David Kotz (10:05):
So obviously with the Red Cross, it's very
standardized and it should bevalid anywhere.
Why is it different with USLA?
Why is this beach different thanthe beach 10 miles down the
road?
Jay (10:15):
And that's a question we've been asking, like, why can't we
come across this universaltraining program?
And honestly, every beach isdifferent.
What we have going here inSeabright, a lot of times we'll
get shore break here.
We're going to a tournamenttomorrow down south.
The waves are breaking out muchfarther.
And if you head all the way downto the bottom around Cape
Mayonette, the surf can go outmuch farther than that.
So I think that what the USLAsays is that they want you to
(10:38):
train to what you have on siteand make it specific to you.
David Kotz (10:41):
Each beach is truly different and you need to be
focused on what you have.
It's almost like a site specificcourse.
Jay (10:49):
Correct.
There's a basic checklist youhave to hit on.
But they want you to go more indepth on what you need specific
to your site.
David Kotz (10:56):
Got it.
What again, specific to yourfacility, what is your most used
piece of rescue equipment?
Jay (11:03):
I would say it's our Peterson tube and our fins.
That's it.
That's what we tend to emphasizehere.
The Peterson tube, it's similarto the rescue can or the torque.
Only difference is it's actuallymore similar to what you have on
the pool with the pool float,but this one has a clip on it.
So once you have the individual,strap it around their upper
chest, so you can actually clipthem in.
So if you do happen to disengagecoming in on the surf or
whatnot, at least they'll pop upand be able to float.
(11:25):
We do like the lifeguardspractice with the torpedo or the
rescue can because otherfacilities don't have the
Peterson.
But we do emphasize the use offins here, especially on a big
surf.
David Kotz (11:33):
That's great.
Is there a piece of equipmentthat you don't have that you
wish you did?
Jay (11:38):
If you ask my staff, they want a Jet Ski in the worst way.
They see some of the otherseries having a Jet Ski, and I
think they want it more for playand show than the actual rescue
aspect.
But I think Jet Ski woulddefinitely be the one that they
would ask for.
We do have a boat.
It's a 45 year old Hankin, soit's a classic.
We do have the boat.
We have our rescue boards, whichthey like as well.
Need for Speed, Jet Ski would bethe route they take.
David Kotz (12:00):
Very cool.
Now I know there's somelifeguard competitions up and
down the Jersey Shore too.
Do you guys participate inthose?
Jay (12:06):
Yep, so we've got one tomorrow and again on Monday.
David Kotz (12:09):
Outstanding.
How do you normally stack up?
Jay (12:12):
So we're the little engine that could, you know like I
said, being only 15 staff andhaving to leave a few behind
cause the pool stays open pastthe beach hours.
We go in there and we just putour best foot forward.
It was actually fun.
We paired up with the publicbeach to do a tag team
tournament last week, buttomorrow it's all on us.
So we'll see how we do.
David Kotz (12:27):
That's great.
Jay, listen, Hey, it's been apleasure talking to you.
I really appreciate it.
Jay (12:31):
Thank you.
David Kotz (12:31):
Thank you so much.
Jay (12:32):
Always a pleasure.
David Kotz (12:34):
Thanks again, guys!
Popular Podcasts
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.