A Memorable First Day

A Memorable First Day

By Steve Foster

Memory of my 1^st day as a Laguna Beach Lifeguard * via Steve Foster

It was June 1964 and I was 16. At that time, the City’s insurance policy would only cover those guards who were 18 years or older. Thus, anyone younger could only work part time (<>

I had only been in the tower at Picnic Beach for one hour, when a girl, about 14 or 15, runs up to me yelling that her brother is drowning. It was BIG SURF and he was around the point, where he had evidently been washed off the rocks.

I was so pumped up, but at least remembered to call the main tower to report the incident, as I took off in the direction the girl had indicated.

Dean Westgaard was either at Main Beach or Rock Pile at the time of my call, so he came out, by foot, and was at the top of the rocks observing my actions. I remember exactly what he said, once I had completed my rescue and the situation was under control . . . “Good Job, Rookie, but next time I would suggest you grab your fins and buoy before you go out on your rescue mission.”

The weather my first day was very cold and shitty, so I was pulled off duty as they were sending other guards home. Westgaard was in the jeep giving me some pointers for future rescues. All of a sudden, he got a report that a skin diver was shot at Boat Canyon. I jumped in the jeep with Dean and we drove over to Boat Canyon. There was a skin diver sitting/leaning against a rock holding the shaft of the spear that had gone right into his chest. It didn’t actually go all the way through, but to me, it certainly appeared that it should have been right through his heart. Dean essentially handled the situation as I observed and learned. The victim was calm and had not gone into shock. We needed to get him transported, so we had to put him on a stretcher to get him to the top of the path where we then met the ambulance. As the ambulance attendants were transferring the victim from the gurney to the ambulance, Westgaard noticed that they were getting ready to load the victim into the ambulance in such a manner that the shaft would have hit the top of the van causing major damage. Dean was quick to stop them and rotate him onto his side, so that he could then be slid in without further damage. The accident had occurred when the victim was coming out of the surf with a loaded gun. Definitely not proper safety protocol! He did survive and was quite lucky to only lose a few lobes of his lung.

DEFINITELY A VERY OVERWHELMING FIRST DAY FOR THIS ‘ROOKIE’ GUARD!!