'Beach attendants' are not good enough: grandfather
GNWT says it can't find lifeguards after last year's drowning death at Long Lake
Simon Whitehouse
Northern News Services
Published Friday, May 23, 2014
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
The grandfather of drowning victim Lodune Shelley is outraged after a tender was issued last week for "beach attendants" instead of lifeguards at Long Lake Beach.
Patrick Scott sent a letter to Yellowknifer Tuesday stating advertisements appearing in the newspaper fell short of what he feels is necessary after seven-year-old Shelley's death last June.
"The only conclusion I can come up with is that it is a cost-cutting measure, there is really no other rationale," said Scott.
Scott said based on more than 700 signatures in a petition he circulated earlier this year and responses he has received from the community, it is clear that the public wants to see the return of certified lifeguards at Long Lake.
"People have expressed a lot of support and people have come up to me saying they want (lifeguards)," he said. "I think the petition is just the tip of the iceberg."
"I have nothing at stake, I have already lost a grandson. It is about the safety of other children. It is a dangerous beach."
A beach safety survey released yesterday by the Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment reports only 39 per cent of those surveyed support full-time lifeguards - but it was attached to a question with many caveats.
A full-time lifeguard service would mean no unsupervised children under 10 would be allowed into the water, and beach access would be prohibited when lifeguards weren't present.
There were no such rules in place the last time Long Lake had lifeguards in 2002.
The territorial government attempted to hire an organization that offered lifeguard services but there were no responses to a request for proposals that expired in April, said Richard Zieba, director of tourism and parks with the Department of Industry, Tourism, and Investment.
As a consequence, the department decided to find its own staff for the beach, and that beach attendants were the best option. Lifeguards are trained at a higher standard for deep water rescue and are nationally certified with specialized training.
Beach attendants will be trained in drowning prevention and rescue, but restricted to 1.2 metres depth inside buoy lines.
They will also be trained in CPR, aquatic first aid and rescue in shallow water, according to Zieba. Children under 10 in their presence would still not be allowed in the water with out adult supervision, and unescorted children under 13 would be asked to leave the beach.
"It was really the available labour pool and our ability to manage that labour pool," said Zieba when asked why lifeguards were not being recruited.
He added he expects four to six beach attendants to be patrolling the beach seven days a week between June 1 and Labour Day. Scheduling and job classification are yet to be determined.
"Beach attendants will receive the training, and while they don't have to have the Bronze Cross, (if they have it) it will be an asset. So the potential labour pool is much bigger."
Zieba said hiring beach attendants and adding safety upgrades to the waterfront will be expensive. He said he didn't have exact figures when asked, however, he estimated an additional $300,000 will be invested for the year.
"It (the costs) will include not just the wages, but the hiring of a supervisor, purchase of equipment and training," he said.
"We have contracted the Lifesaving Society of Alberta/NWT, which did the safety audit and feasibility study and they will provide training as well. It is in the hundreds of thousands for one season."
The Lifeguards for Lodune support group, which formed last summer to monitor the beach with volunteer monitors, was pleased to see the advertisement.
Tanya Silke, a spokesperson of the group, said she was happy the GNWT was assuming responsibility for hiring and training as opposed to contracting it out. Still, she is wary about the wording and the timing of the advertisement.
"I was happy about the ad because when they released the request for proposals, I felt like they were pushing off responsibility onto other people," said Silke. "I have zero business sense, so for someone like me to write an RFP and organize paycheques, I just don't have the means to do that."
Silke said her group is again aiming to begin walks on the beach after school is out for the summer. However, a beginning date has not been set. She said the group is aiming for 12 to 15 walkers so that each volunteer can do about two weekends over the summer, but the frequency of shifts has not been prepared.
Last year, there were about four to five volunteers for every shift and focus was usually put on afternoon shifts depending on the number of people at the beach.
