How to Save a Life

I have been trained as a life guard for 10 years and am now a life guard instructor. In my 10 years I have never seen a drowning or witnessed a save. Yesterday during a swim camp practice at the Texas A&M pool, a student was doing some hypoxic (breath control) training at the bottom of the diving well using a brick to walk the length (25m) of the pool. I have seen many people do this and it is also practiced in military training exercises especially for navy seals. It is believed that the guy who was nearly drowned was preparing himself for navy seal training.

I walked in the pool area with my campers and heard the first whistle. The life guard did not react immediately so I did not think anything serious was going on until I saw her pull up an unconscious guy. The poor girl that was performing the save was probably 4'9 and the guy looked to be 6'5. She was struggling a lot and another guard had to jump in to help. I was seriously about to jump in myself because it was so frustrating to see her struggle. They successfully pulled the guy out and I got to watch (from about 10 feet away) the breaking of the sternum and full on CRP.

I was very intrigued and curious because I had never seen it before other than in the classes I teach with manikins. A couple other counselors came over to watch with me and we analyzed every move and how quickly they were able to activate the AED. Everything played out like clockwork, everything seemed just like we imagined it would be...until the AED started shocking. By this time all the campers were ushered out and no one was in the immediate area and the counselors and myself were made to go into a hallway across the pool, but we could still see. Every time there was a shock the guys legs fully extended in the air. After about 10 shocks, he started screaming. Yes, he was still unconscious, but I had never imagined that reaction. He was giving blood curdling screams...literally coughing up blood. That was the most disturbing part.

I was not at all disgusted or freaked out because I felt it very important that I watch the whole scene so that if I am ever in that situation I would know what to expect. EMS arrived within 5 minutes, but they worked on him for about 15 and were still unable to get a pulse as they finally wheeled him out and transported him to the hospital. I was told they were able to stabilize him, but he has only just become responsive today. There is a big chance that he has permanent brain damage because he went without oxygen for too long. Really sad. So today me and a couple others who are life guard instructors really got into the whole thing and critiqued the whole save. I think the only thing that was not stellar was the primary rescuer. There really needs to be a more strict swimming requirement to be certified after what I saw. Seriously!

Here is the link to the story online: http://www.kbtx.com/home/headlines/124665854.html

Tis The Season For Swim Camp!

It has been a LONG time since my last post. I wish I could write everything about my life, but there is only so much I can post on a blog for public viewing.

I am currently in College Station Texas working at the Texas A&M swim camp. The week previous to this I spent 2 week at the University of Texas Swim Camp. Both camps are really amazing and so different. It has also been a great experience for me to interact with so many other coaches from around the country. I realized I actually only had a couple people that I can talk to about coaching and swimming, but now I have a whole network! Swim camp is great, but it is also very hard and exhausting. At UT we were walking close to 6 miles a day and the schedule is literally go go go. In aggieland things are a bit less physically demanding. The kids get bused to the pool and we are staying in brand new dorms. I think Steve Bultman is AMAZING! I thought no one could compete with Randy Reese on innovation in the sport, but I think he is right on par. Kim and Jim at UT are also innovative, kind, and unimaginably energetic. I need to record Kris Kubik and Jim Henry (assistant coaches) talking to the kids, one of the best comedy acts ever!

During the course of the last month I also decided to get some experience interviewing since I knew I would want to make a move to another university coaching job next year. I didn't think I would receive much interest, but I had 7 amazing universities contact me. So, my initial thinking of getting some practice turned into an actual job offer. Once everything is official I will let everyone know where I will be moving to. I had a hard time deciding where I should go, but after I made the decision I feel really good about it... and so does Erika :)

Here's some pic's from UT swim camp. One with Aaron and the other with Brenden in the water.