As temperatures rise and people turn to outdoor water activities to cool off, a shortage of lifeguards has led some municipalities to close beaches and pools or reduce their hours.
In recent years, there has been a shortage of qualified personnel to monitor many of America’s coasts, and safety concerns have led to restrictions on fishing hours.
New York City’s beaches will open over Memorial Day weekend, but only 230 of the 600 lifeguards needed to staff and patrol the area have been hired.
“We have a national lifeguard problem in the city and we’re working to solve it, so some beaches may have reduced hours or may not have enough staffing,” New York City Mayor Eric Adams said this week.
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A lifeguard rides a jet ski during a shark watch at Jones Beach State Park in Wantagh, New York. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
Asked about the staffing shortage last week, Mayor Adams argued that many immigrant asylum seekers are “good swimmers” and suggested they should be allowed to work as lifeguards. The city has raised the hourly wage for lifeguards to $22 to attract volunteers.
In Rochester Hills, Michigan, officials closed the Spencer Park swimming area and beach over the holiday weekend due to a shortage of lifeguards.
“We are currently offering a $500 bonus to all aquatic staff who work an average of 24 hours per week through July 15,” the city said.
Lifeguard on duty in Miami Beach, Florida. (Reuters/Marco Bello)
Wyatt Werness, national spokesman for the Virginia-based American Lifeguard Association, said many cities are still recruiting and training lifeguards to staff beaches and pools over the holidays.
Warnes noted that many local governments offer incentives to applicants, such as signing-on bonuses, higher wages or free certain training courses.
“So we won’t really know until after Memorial Day when the beaches are fully staffed,” he told Fox News Digital. “We’ve made some modifications and improvements and we’ve seen some slight improvements. We’ve got to try harder. This is the only profession where we can really stop it before it happens.”
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Lifeguard James Ducasse watches as people enjoy a hot afternoon at the Astoria Pool in Queens, New York City, a city that, like many others, is facing a lifeguard shortage for the upcoming summer season. (Spencer Pratt/Getty Images)
One of the things that draws applicants to the job is the visibility, said Werness, who became a lifeguard because of “Baywatch,” a hit 1990s TV show about a group of lifeguards in Los Angeles County, California.
“I was like, ‘Oh, I want to live that life,'” he says. “There’s no shortage of firefighters, police, and ambulance personnel” because there are so many TV dramas about those professions.
Water shortages were so severe in 2023 that about a third of the nation’s 309,000 public swimming pools were closed or operating sporadically, according to the ALA.
In Los Angeles County, facing a staffing shortage for the third straight year, officials announced in March they would give pool lifeguards a slight pay raise and make their swim tests less difficult.
Lifeguards patrol Santa Monica Beach in Los Angeles County, California. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)
The American Red Cross told Fox News Digital that it has not received any reports of a nationwide lifeguard shortage.
“Some swimming facilities, such as those in Virginia, are struggling to hire enough staff, along with other seasonal facilities,” the group said.
Officials in Volusia County, Florida, were trying to hire more lifeguards in April, according to media reports. In Phoenix, local news reports said 18 of the city’s 29 pools would open after bonuses were paid.
The ALA recommends checking local beach and pool websites before heading out for fun to see if there are enough lifeguards on hand.
A lifeguard keeps watch over swimmers at Sandy Hook Beach in Middletown, New Jersey. (Gary Hirschhorn/Getty Images)
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They also advise people to avoid swimming in areas not supervised by lifeguards. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 4,000 people drown each year, or 11 people per day.
“We’ve had some diversions and there aren’t many people swimming,” Werness said. “The most important thing is to swim in front of a lifeguard. Find that lifeguard. Know before you go.”
