DAUPHIN COUNTY, Pa. (WHP) — After a 9-year-old girl tragically drowned at Hersheypark last week, CBS 21 spoke with a safety expert on what to look for when your child, friend, or neighbor is in the water.
CBS 21 spoke with a Bob Pratt, the Director of Education for the Great Lakes Surf Rescue Project, about lifeguarding and drowning following the child’s death. “Waterpark lifeguards go through a great deal of additional training both at a national level from the major training agencies and also in-service training at the facility so familiar with the facility itself,” Pratt said.
Lifeguards go through training at multiple stages of training before being allowed to watch over a waterpark facility of any sort, but there are still risk factors. Those factors can range from the sunshine glare coming off the water and hindering a lifeguards view to the bottom of the pool, to people blocking their view of smaller people in the pool, including children…