It’s swimming pool season in Butler County
BUTLER TWP — The job title “life guard” bears a heavy weight. To the workers of Alameda Waterpark, it’s a duty that involves taking more preventive measures than performing dramatic rescues.
A lot of that prevention comes down to the whistle, as Grace Persichini, a supervisor at Alameda Waterpark, told her few-dozen trainees Thursday afternoon, May 21. The pool was a few weeks away from opening at that point, but many of its staff members stood in the grassy outcrop to the side of the water practicing whistle signals, which mean different things depending on their lengths.
Braden Macbeth, program manager for Butler County Parks and Recreation, said that while the lifeguards work on swimming, water carries and CPR in their training, prevention is one of the major keys to pool safety. Persichini explained that it’s done through communication between lifeguards and swimmers.
“Rescues count as anything you leave the stand for; four saves on average per week,” Persichini said. “Our goal is to stop situations before they happen.”
Several pools in Butler County become popular destinations each year, with Alameda Waterpark being a daily stop for some families, according to Macbeth. The waterpark opens Saturday, June 6; ARMCO Pool opens June 6; EDCO Pool opened May 24, after some chilly weather kept it closed; Zelienople Community Pool opened May 30; and Cranberry Township Waterpark opened May 23. Some of the pools are operating under modified hours until schools are out for the summer.
Dave Hutner, assistant director of Cranberry Township Parks and Recreation, said the staff of the township’s pool go through a lot of training prior to the gates opening for the season. Although swimmers may look up from the water to see teenagers holding flotation devices in the chairs, Hutner contested that the young lifeguards are considered first responders, who are prepared to aid in most situations that could arise at a pool.
“We put them through a skill assessment training, so we want to see what they have, we want to make sure they're meeting the standard of the Red Cross,” Hutner said. “We go over the First-Aid Skills, drowning skills, entries into the water as well as how to scan. So we don't take anything for granted.”
The Cranberry Township pool was sitting at a lifeguard staff of about 50 as of Tuesday, May 26, with 60 being the ideal number, according to Hutner. The waterpark employs about 150 people when taking all the positions into account. However, Hutner added that many of the staff members are returnees who continue to work at the Cranberry Township pool summer after summer. Macbeth said Alameda Waterpark has 27 lifeguards, which is a full staff for the pool. About 75% of them are high school students and 25% are college students.
Retaining staff is nothing but a good thing, Hutner said, because the experienced lifeguards can be especially helpful in training newcomers. The lifeguards attend mandatory training every two weeks no matter how long they have worked at the waterpark.
“We continually remind them what the standard is,” Hutner said. “What skills do we need to lean on, so if there is an emergency, they know how to do the job. So, we take that pretty seriously.”
The beginning of the swimming season is one of the biggest challenges of the waterparks because their staff members may still be adjusting to their summer schedules. Hutner said the end of summer is also difficult because some students — especially those in college — go back to school early or have other obligations come the end of summer.
The pools are a hub of activity before the lifeguards show up. Macbeth said Alameda Waterpark got filled earlier than usual this year, in March, because there was staff available around that time to help with its lengthy cleaning process. The pool gets drained at the end of every season. Before it can be refilled, staff members wash the whole thing.
“We drain it, spray it down, get off any of the stains with brushes, fill it back up and that's when we start putting chemicals in the water,” Macbeth said. “We teach some of our supervisors how to do cleaning of the filters and back washes.”
Butler County Parks and Recreation maintenance workers do that prework, and maintain the grass and sidewalks around Alameda Waterpark, Macbeth said.
Concession stand workers also attended the training session at Alameda Waterpark May 21, a staff of around seven people, according to Macbeth.
Neither pool is getting any new water features this summer, but Macbeth said Alameda got the stands of its diving boards sandblasted and repainted. Hutner also said Cranberry Township Waterpark had general maintenance done since last summer.
Hutner said he is not only proud of the lifeguards on his staff, he is proud of the work environment at the pool. He said it’s the first job for many of the young lifeguards at the pool.
“I tell all these guys, when you look back on this 20 years from now I want them to say that was the best job I ever had,” Hutner said.
This is Persichini’s fifth season working at Alameda Waterpark, and even though she is in college now, she had been looking forward to working another summer for Butler County Parks and Recreation. She is now a lifeguard supervisor, and said she likes mentoring newcomers and the younger lifeguards.
It’s the people that keep her coming back to the job each summer, she said.
“I like the work environment,” Persichini said. “I just like the people here, the people here you get to be friends with.”
