A LIFEGUARD at the Ridgewood Condominium in Mount Sinai recently pulled a resident out of the pool after he suffered a fit, saving his life.
SWIM SAFE: The National Water Safety Council is giving out educational posters such as this one.In another case, a lifeguard at the same estate was on hand to attend to a guest who had mistakenly dived into the shallow end of the pool and cut his brow.
Recounting both incidents, estate resident and MP for Bukit Panjang Teo Ho Pin again made the case for all condominiums to have lifeguards.
The chairman of the National Water Safety Council told The Straits Times: 'Two lifeguards on rotating shifts had rescued quite a number of people over the years.'
It was money well spent, he said, responding to some condominium managers and residents who felt that hiring lifeguards was too costly.
Their grouses: Pools are not used for the greater part of the day. The fewer the number of units in a condominium, the more residents have to pay for a lifeguard.
Dr Teo first suggested that condominiums and clubs hire lifeguards after a 10-year-old boy drowned in the pool of the Palm Gardens condominium in Choa Chu Kang last month.
Yesterday, Dr Teo again urged them to think of 'life and death, not dollars and cents'.
Lifeguards can perform many other tasks as well, including pool maintenance, testing water hygiene and educating residents and guests.
'They don't just sit there and do nothing,' he said.
Smaller condominiums could also consider cross-training their facility managers or security guards in water skills.
Since 1998, more than 350 people have drowned and the council, set up in April, is hoping that, in time, everyone will be able to swim and even save someone in difficulty in the water.
Its members recently returned from the World Water Safety 2007 conference in Portugal. Next week, they will fly to Perth in Australia to learn how various agencies there deal with water safety.
The council's latest initiative: distributing 5,000 water safety posters to pool operators both private and public, grassroots groups and agencies with water bodies under their charge.
'We hope they will be displayed prominently in places where people can take a look at them,' he said.
Requests for posters can be directed to contact@watersafety.sg
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