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Local Lifeguard Shortage

There are reports of a lifeguard shortage across the country ahead of Memorial Day weekend, the unofficial kickoff for the summer.

Douglas Braff checked in with area swimming venues to see how they’re faring.

Memorial Day weekend is the season opener for a number of pools and waterparks. While there are some pretty extreme lifeguard staffing situations reported in places like New York City, local venues we spoke with say it’s not as bad as last summer.

“So, last summer was quite tough, We’re happy to say, this summer, we’re seeing an increase.”

Mearkle says their goal each summer is to have 100, 115 lifeguards at Del Grosso’s “Laguna Splash” waterpark. Right now, she says they have about 90 lifeguards.

“Last year is kind of when we saw this national lifeguard shortage really play out here in Central Pennsylvania, And it was really tough. It was tough recruiting, and we never got to that, that max number last year.”

Mearkle says that at the start of last summer, their lifeguards numbered in the eighties, dropping into the sixties by late August. This made it difficult for them to run all the rides in the waterpark.

“Last year is kind of when we saw this national lifeguard shortage really play out here in Central Pennsylvania, And it was really tough. It was tough recruiting, and we never got to that, that max number last year.”

Mearkle says that at the start of last summer, their lifeguards numbered in the eighties, dropping into the sixties by late August. This made it difficult for them to run all the rides in the waterpark.

“If we don’t have lifeguards, then we have to alternate attractions and we don’t wanna do that.”

And so, Mearkle says they worked hard on recruitment and retention this time around. That meant increasing pay and boosting benefits. For example, she says the starting pay for shallow-end lifeguards grew from $11.50 to $12.50 an hour, and the same for deep-end lifeguards grew from $13 to $14. And that’s just starting pay.

“With lifeguards, you have to have that formal training,”

Mearkle says finding lifeguards with training can be a hurdle. However, something they do at Laguna Splash is pay for lifeguard training and certification through their courses they have coming up next week and in June.

As for local pools, an official with the Tyrone Community Pool told us they have about the same amount of lifeguards as last summer.

Don Shultz, Water Superintendent, Tyrone Community Pool

“Not bad at all. I mean, we got 15 lifeguards. That’s what we shoot for. Obviously, we’d like to have a couple more,”

“We probably had 15 last year, and then as the year as the season goes on, you got kids going away to college and going on vacation, then it starts getting a little sketchy as far as trying to get a full crew.”

But do they feel this is a short-term issue?

“I have no idea. Hope not. Anyhow,”

“We’re a little concerned, just population-wise in our area. There’s just not quite as many students to pull from. The second part of that is, students are busy. Teenage life is not what it used to be. There are sports in the summers or family vacations in the summers, internships for jobs, you know, school social events. It’s not quite the ability to do a 40-hour work week for summer seasonal work that it used to be. So, a combination of all of those factors make hiring 650 seasonal employees really tough.”

 

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