Lifeguardsmust remain vigilant in their search for a target that is com-plex, dynamic, and ill-defined in an environment that is visu-ally noisy, cluttered, and full of the individual featurespresent in that target. Attentional limitations further makethis vigilance difficult—increased temperatures, when peo-ple are most likely to swim, decrease vigilance (Eastermanet al., 2014), and repeated identifications of non-drowningdangerous events (Fleck et al., 2010) such as horseplay coulddetract from other events in the water, potentially leading tomissed drowning events (Mack & Rock, 1998; Rensink,2000; 2002; Simons & Rensink, 2005).

Anecdotal evidence in most cases suggests the lifeguard did not notice the individual struggling or drowning. On the surface, it seems implausible that someone could die while swimming in a location where one or more individuals are hired to prevent such events. Consider, however, the task of a lifeguard. He or she must sit for long hours, often in hot weather, watching for a very rare event to occur.

“It is time to stop treating the swimming pool as a toilet,” Hlavsa told NBC News. “Nowhere else except for the pool is it acceptable to poop in public or pee in public. In other places if we did this in public, we’d be arrested.”

Children who said they saw a body at the bottom of a pool alerted a lifeguard, but they were initially dismissed because the 21-year-old lifeguard “believed that they were pranking him and did not think anything of it

Learning better, more effective communication skills will help you become a confident, skilled, adaptive conversationalist.

But the coaches of the course aren't fazed and are prepared to put in the time to teach.

There’s little room for interpretation in “stop running around the pool.”

“Don’t be afraid to jump in. If you jump in and it’s nothing, no big deal.”

Lifeguard Jonathan Najman, 16, likes “the responsibility. ... I love how I can step up.” He said he haslearned that the most important aspect is not focusing on how many “saves” you make, but“preventing the saves.” One trait you need to be a lifeguard, he said, is “confidence. ... You [have to]assert yourself so that you can lay down the law.” And staying steady under pressure is key because,“Everything can change in a minute, and you gotta know how to react.”

"We are trained to notice people who are struggling and how to discern playful splashing from panicked swimming, which is why virtually every pool includes 'no splashing' rules. Most injuries at the pool are caused by people running or horsing around, not water emergencies. It's wet and it's slippery. Teach your kids to walk, rather than run, and to look before they leap into the pool; jumping in on top of someone else can cause a severe injury."