Learnings in Veracruz
Greetings from Veracruz, Mexico! Our sister city is booming and everyone from the Mayor to the taxi driver says to tell everyone in Galveston hello. When we started the relationship between the lifeguard programs and held the first Veracruz/Boca Del Rio academy in 1999, we never dreamed that the relationship would be as successful as its been.
Mexican politics have influenced the program quite a bit. Elections changed the political party and the lifeguard program was cut to 8 guards in Boca Del Rio and 8 in Veracruz. At one point they had 32 and 26 respectively so that’s quite a change. Numbers of drownings seem to fluctuate depending on you talk to but it sounds like there were actually 42 drownings in Boca Del Rio alone last year. That’s after a year and a half with no drownings before the program was reduced. I guess if we need evidence that properly trained lifeguards actually do keep people from dying in the beach this would demonstrate that pretty clearly.
Interesting story from the head of Civil Protection from the years with little or no drownings. A new mayor was elected and was getting some complaints from citizens who were annoyed that they went for a swim and the lifeguards whistled at them and told them to stay closer to the shore. He called the Civil Protection Director and said, “Why are you bothering the citizens? Let them have fun! Stop telling them what to do and just help them if they get in trouble” After some discussion, the mayor’s directive didn’t change, so the director called his troupes on the radio and told them to do what the mayor ordered. Literally 15 minutes later the first drowning occurred and there were many after that.
This story is known by pretty much anyone in Civil Protection or Lifesaving in the area. We used it to emphasize the most important principle of lifeguarding to the 60 lifeguard candidates in the course we’re teaching down here. Prevention is the most important concept for beach lifeguards. If you can prevent accidents before they happen, the potential victim and the lifeguard never have to risk their lives because the rescue never happens. With enough prevention and public education, places like Galveston and Veracruz can average 4-6 drowning deaths a year instead of 42.
Tomorrow we wrap this course up. We will have trained lifeguards and first responders from Veracruz, Boca Del Rio, Tuxpan, Cazones, Nautla, Alto Lucero, Ursulo Galvan, Alvarado, Coatzalcoalcos, San Andres Tuxtla, as well as the Federal Police, the Mexican Navy, and the state health department. We’ve worked really, really hard but have been rewarded with an experience that not only deepens our understanding of Latino culture, but helps us become better lifeguards and water safety educators.
Hopefully the course will re-invigorate their lifesaving programs and reduce the amount of preventable deaths in the beaches in the state. That’s up to them, but we return with sharpened skills and renewed dedication to keeping our own beach as safe as we can.
