& Yet & Yet
I had a very intense morning of lifeguarding.
Everything was very boring for a while. I only had about 2 people from 8:00 - 9:00, so it was way boring and I called everyone I knew. Sorry if I woke you up. Then, around 9:30, an Asian family came in. They had a little girl who was around 7. She was very hyper and kept running everywhere. I hate telling people to stop running. Really. Anyway, she thought she'd be funny and start running away from me when I yelled, "Stop running!" (I already told her about 5 other times) Well, as she was running away, she looked behind her to smile back at me, but she ran over a little puddle and slipped backwards as she was going forward (if you can imagine, this increased the speed and pressure of the fall). It was very slow motion. So, she ended up hitting her head and blood just came pouring out. She was not conscious and her eyes were rolled in the back of her head. Her mom was in the pool watching her and she started screaming. The dad was still swimming and the mom was screaming at her husband in some Asian language. They both jumped out of the pool and came to her. At this time, I had to go to the other side of the pool and get the first aid kit and gave someone the responsibility of calling 911. "What do I say," responded the lady.
"Just tell them where you are and that a little girl has slipped and hit her head. Tell them all the details," I quickly responded.
I approached the little girl and her parents were freaking out next to her. I yelled for everyone to clear the pool and go to the locker rooms. I did a primary survey (checked vital signs, made sure the area was safe, etc.). She still had a pulse and she was breathing at a semi-normal rate. I put on my gloves and wrapped her head in bandages. You know, the kind of stuff I was trained to do. I told the parents to get towels so we could cover her up and get her warm. After about a minute, she stared convulsing, and this definitely freaked me out. All I could to was hold onto the bandages and apply pressure to her wound. After she was done shaking, I checked her vital signs again, and she wasn't breathing. I told the parents to hold onto the bandages and give pressure while I performed some rescue breathing. I knew all this would do was eventually lead me to do CPR. As I checked her pulse, about 30 seconds later, I found out that I was right. No pulse. I performed CPR for about 5 minutes. I kept on going, because that's all you can do. Her face was starting to get really pale and her body was getting really cold. I was really scared, but I just kept going for it. Eventually, she regained a pulse (!) and started to breathe on her own. She had another small seizure, and finally, the ambulance arrived and took her to the hospital.
All of this happened, and then I snapped out of it. I was only daydreaming. Being a lifeguard can be very boring and my imagination can sometimes take completely over. Oops.
Everything was very boring for a while. I only had about 2 people from 8:00 - 9:00, so it was way boring and I called everyone I knew. Sorry if I woke you up. Then, around 9:30, an Asian family came in. They had a little girl who was around 7. She was very hyper and kept running everywhere. I hate telling people to stop running. Really. Anyway, she thought she'd be funny and start running away from me when I yelled, "Stop running!" (I already told her about 5 other times) Well, as she was running away, she looked behind her to smile back at me, but she ran over a little puddle and slipped backwards as she was going forward (if you can imagine, this increased the speed and pressure of the fall). It was very slow motion. So, she ended up hitting her head and blood just came pouring out. She was not conscious and her eyes were rolled in the back of her head. Her mom was in the pool watching her and she started screaming. The dad was still swimming and the mom was screaming at her husband in some Asian language. They both jumped out of the pool and came to her. At this time, I had to go to the other side of the pool and get the first aid kit and gave someone the responsibility of calling 911. "What do I say," responded the lady.
"Just tell them where you are and that a little girl has slipped and hit her head. Tell them all the details," I quickly responded.
I approached the little girl and her parents were freaking out next to her. I yelled for everyone to clear the pool and go to the locker rooms. I did a primary survey (checked vital signs, made sure the area was safe, etc.). She still had a pulse and she was breathing at a semi-normal rate. I put on my gloves and wrapped her head in bandages. You know, the kind of stuff I was trained to do. I told the parents to get towels so we could cover her up and get her warm. After about a minute, she stared convulsing, and this definitely freaked me out. All I could to was hold onto the bandages and apply pressure to her wound. After she was done shaking, I checked her vital signs again, and she wasn't breathing. I told the parents to hold onto the bandages and give pressure while I performed some rescue breathing. I knew all this would do was eventually lead me to do CPR. As I checked her pulse, about 30 seconds later, I found out that I was right. No pulse. I performed CPR for about 5 minutes. I kept on going, because that's all you can do. Her face was starting to get really pale and her body was getting really cold. I was really scared, but I just kept going for it. Eventually, she regained a pulse (!) and started to breathe on her own. She had another small seizure, and finally, the ambulance arrived and took her to the hospital.
All of this happened, and then I snapped out of it. I was only daydreaming. Being a lifeguard can be very boring and my imagination can sometimes take completely over. Oops.