HOT sun, warm sand and cool seas are the perfect recipe for a great summer. But carefree days at the beach can sometimes lead to danger, especially in the sea which is where lifeguarding comes in. It is still a developing profession in Cyprus and the Vice President of the Cyprus Life Saving Federation and the Head of the lifeguard team in Limassol admit there is still room for improvement.
Tourists and locals flock to the beaches throughout the coastal areas, seeking the perfect tan, the perfect relief from the heat, the perfect holiday. The liberating qualities of summer put a dull haze over the dangers that lurk in the sea. It can be refreshing and calming but can turn dangerous and hostile.
The large number of beachgoers as well as the number of beaches demand a substantial number of lifeguards to supervise people’s safety. That large number does not exist in Cyprus. Yes, the federation trains over 600 people a year, and yes, federation officials are quite strict about the level of training they receive, but out of those 600, only 150 lifeguards were hired in 2003 and some local councils and district administrations resort to hiring inexperienced and unsuitable lifeguards to make up the numbers.
Polis Pallikaros of the Cyprus Life Saving Federation comments: “There are no professional lifeguards in the sense of permanent full-time workers 12 months a year.” What happens is that most councils hire lifeguards just for the summer season and then, in the winter, assign them any other odd jobs that need to be done. If there aren’t any jobs then they just take a long vacation while receiving some money from social insurance.
The number of lifeguards is just one of the problems that needs to be dealt with in Cyprus. According to Pallikaros, the level of lifeguarding in Paphos is a lot lower than any other city in Cyprus. The absence of water bourne devices such as speed boats and jet skis and the small number of lifeguards hired by the council makes the task of protecting the public difficult. Dangerous rip currents in the Paphos sea can put people’s lives at risk and without the necessary equipment the problem is even greater.
TV programmes like the American series Baywatch introduce and reinforce stereotypical images of lifeguards that people link to reality. Those images may be close to American reality but in Cyprus the lifeguard profession is not so glamorous. This is not just because of the underlying problems behind the scenes but also because it’s not about the excitement and the adventure. It’s about saving lives.
“It’s definitely a difficult and dangerous profession,” said Christakis Kyprianou, Head of the lifeguard team in Limassol. “Though I don’t consider it a profession but a service. Because saving a life is a service.”
It’s not fun and games in the sand. It’s a serious job with serious repercussions if the lifeguards on duty are not properly trained. Pallikaros is also an examiner for the federation and says that trainee lifeguards are examined both orally and physically. They must know the rules and techniques of lifesaving such as resuscitation using the technique of rescue breathing, and chest compression known as cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), first aid, transfer techniques of drowning victims and how to deal with cases of cramps and sunstroke.
Kyprianou said: “Lifeguards must have a certificate in order to work but no matter what level that degree is, in order for them to get the job and I’m speaking as the head of the team, I will invite them and give them an exam of my own. What kind of exam? I want to know what they know. If the candidate has not been working all winter and cannot respond to the dangers in the sea then he won’t get the job.”
“A lifeguard’s duties are not just to rescue people in trouble but he must also predict and foresee situations which could turn out to be dangerous,” Pallikaros said. He gave an example of lifeguards in Ayia Napa who could go out in their speed boat and see that there was someone snorkeling beyond the boundaries laid out by the orange buoys. These buoys signify the end of the swimming area and the beginning of the area used by boats and jet skis. It is the job of those lifeguards to warn the snorkellers of the dangers in order to avoid a potential tragedy happening.
“Our aim is to save lives,” said Kyprianou, “and so we are constantly alert to any dangers or potential risks both inside the water and outside the water. Our lifeguards supervise bathers within a 200 metre radius to the left and right of their tower but this does not mean that if something happens 1,000 metres away, they won’t take action.
“Someone might cut their foot on a broken bottle, faint or slip on the rocks. On Tuesday, for example, one of the Limassol lifeguards saved a child who had slipped off the rocks into the sea.
“Not a day goes by that a lifeguard does not provide at least the smallest service to the public,” he continued. “At first there was a kind of prejudice about lifeguards but now we have reduced that and people have started seeing us differently.”
