leckett1
Active member
I'm a lifeguard but I wouldn't say I've saved any lives. I've had to jump in like 10 times for idiots thinking they're born knowing how to swim. I guess if I hadn't jumped in they'd have drowned but fuck it's a public pool that ain't gonna happen haha. The closest thing to saving a life I'd say was this 7 year old girl who fell off a 3m diving board to the ground. She was climbing up it (she had been going off for like half n hour having a great time so she was confident) and when she was right at the last step her hand slipped off the railing and she fell backwards 3 feet to the pool deck and whiplashed her head on the ground. This was on my watch so I signaled it and ran over. She was unconscious and unresponsive with agonal breathing. Since she fell so hard with whiplash I treated it as though she had a spinal injury but we found out a week later there was no neck or spine damage. However when I felt the back of her head to assess the damage I felt a soft spot beside a flat spot on her skull so it was clearly fractured severely. There wasn't much we could do but ice her head and give her oxygen because we didn't want to move her. When she gained consciousness about 2 minutes later she started screaming and we had to calm her down but after a minute of that she completely calmed down. I then wanted to check her pupils because that's a sign of brain trauam. Anyways when she looked up at me (there was a light right above us so shadows were not a factor) her left eye didn't dialate and stayed huge while her right eye dialated normally. Pretty weird seeing someone look at you with 2 uneven eyes. Anyways the paramedics came and took her away. We got a card and a gift basket from the family a week later saying thank you and such and told us all the details. She suffered minor internal bleeding in her brain and two fractures in her skull. She was in rehab for 3 weeks after that because she lost a lot of her coordination, like she couldn't walk or write well. Probably the most rewarding experience of my life right there. Just being part of the rescue is such a proud feeling. All of my events lifeguarding have led me into paramedics, which I am going to this fall if I pass my fucking bus liscence!