“Lifeguarding is 99 percent boring,” said Paul D. “Doug” Meadows, the chief of the Calvert County Parks and Recreation Division. Meadows indicated the 1 percent of excitement is when a lifeguard truly plies the skills he or her has learned.
A 1 percent situation occurred earlier this year at the Edward T. Hall Aquatic Center in Prince Frederick and lifeguard James Murphy was ready.
“After the rotation of lifeguards at the leisure pool deep-end chair, the oncoming guard, James, recognized a very young girl in a position where she was touching the bottom and her hands were near the surface with her head underwater,” stated Calvert Aquatics Supervisor Kenneth Gray. “She appeared to be moving slightly to James. He watched her for another five seconds and realized she was not moving. He entered the water and retrieved the girl, and then started the facility emergency action plan while removing the girl from the water. James began his evaluation of the young girl and discovered her to be unresponsive, but breathing and having a pulse. After approximately one minute, the young girl began to regain consciousness.”
Emergency responders were summoned to the aquatic center and transported the girl to Calvert Memorial Hospital, where she was evaluated, treated and released.
“James’ quick recognition and action led to a positive outcome,” stated Gray.
During their Dec. 20 meeting, the Calvert County Commissioners recognized Murphy as Calvert County Government’s Employee of the Month for September.
“We are very proud of James, he’s typical of the lifeguards we have,” said Meadows.
Commissioner Steven R. Weems commended Murphy for his dedication to the job. “As the father of two, I say ‘thank you,’ ” Weems stated.
Contact Marty Madden at marty.madden@thebaynet.com
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