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...is being a lifeguard at the Olympic Pool.

source

Think about it before you complain about yours the next time  
 
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The NY Times ran an article on this a few days ago. The main reason is "Rio law says we have to". This was an interesting attempt at backing into a reason for why:

“Yes, it’s necessary,” said Danielle Martelote, 25, the lifeguard supervisor at the Olympic Aquatics Stadium. She cited the possibilities of debilitating cramps, heart attacks and head-crunching crashes into the wall.



Because there aren't other people around who could intervene if that happened?
 
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Jeanne Boyarsky wrote:Because there aren't other people around who could intervene if that happened?



Well, sure, you could hope that one of the other people on deck might happen to have the right skills. And that they were dressed correctly to dive into the pool and that they had the right equipment at hand and so on. But really if you're going to identify those possibilities you should have a person assigned to deal with them, even though they are remote possibilities. And remember that the Olympics is a very large bureaucratic organization with an extremely large budget -- the cost of hiring lifeguards is essentially zero for them.
 
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There's also the idea of...ok...i'm not sure of the actual term, but something like "diluted responsibility".  If there are 40 people around all of whom can do something, but none are assigned the job, then everyone thinks "someone else will do it".

It's the same principle of when in a first aid class they teach you not to say "Someone call 911!!!", but instead, point to a specific person and say "You!!! You call 911!".

I would also bet most of the swimmers are not trained how to get someone with an injury out of a pool without causing more harm.
 
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Fred: True.

Paul: While it is certainly easier to be dressed properly, it is possible to go in the pool in anything. You do wast time though. When I was younger I did emergency rescue training and we practiced going in with shoes/jeans and getting out of them while in the water. But we could move around in them.
 
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We have 2-9 people on a volleyball team but that doesn't stop everyone from standing there watching the ball hit the ground more frequently than we'd care to admit! ;)
 
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Maneesh Godbole wrote:...is being a lifeguard at the Olympic Pool.


I can think of a few others:
  • Ambassador to the EU in a Trump administration.
  • Papal advisor on homosexuality/contraception/gender equality.
  • Returning Officer anywhere in Zimbabwe.
  • ISIS diplomat.

  • Winston
     
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    Yeah, I saw that and got the joke, at first!  

    However, any issues at this event which means a swimmer is not able to swim is going to be caused by something serious.  Most lightly caused by an collision.  So you got to consider dealing with spinal and / or head injuries.  Then you really want medically trained pool lifeguards (with spinal boards, etc) in the pool directing the rescue.  Pretty sure the coaches will have basic aquatic rescue skills, but will not know all the facilities at the venue...        

    Expect it will never happen of course, so the life guards get a free ticket!  
     
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    Peter Rooke wrote:However, any issues at this event which means a swimmer is not able to swim is going to be caused by something serious.



    I have this guy in my running group, that also swims. He told me that out of fatigue, he once got such a cramp, he was happy to already be at the finish, where he was able to grab something. He told me if this would have happened in the middle of the pool, he could have drowned. It probably is not even that uncommon.
     
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    Jan de Boer wrote:. . . swims . . . cramp . . . if this would have happened in the middle of the pool, he could have drowned. It probably is not even that uncommon.

    There is standard teaching that eating before swimming causes cramp and cramp will cause you to drown. I am quite sure that is false. Even if cramp causes you to stop swimming in the middle of the pool, you shou‍ld be able to stay afloat long enough to pull the offending muscle and relieve the cramp. And I am sure that eating isn't the cause of muscle cramps.
    Now, swimming after drinking any significant amount, that is different. You can go straight to the bottom and stay there. Don't drink and fall off the quay into the harbour. Another thing is going suddenly into cold water, particularly when the air is warm. The sudden cold can interfere with normal breathing for up to 30″ and that is long enough to drown you.
     
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