Lifeguard Shortages May Mean 'Swim At Your Own Risk' At Burbank Park
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — There may be no lifeguards at Onota Lake's Burbank Park this year due to a lack of applicants.
"It's been increasingly challenging with each passing year to attract lifeguards. In the past number of years, we've really tried to step up how we seek applicants. We've been reaching out to partner organizations. We've done it all. We've offered to pay for lifeguard certification courses. We just have not seen the applicants come through," Parks, Open Space, and Natural Resources Manager James McGrath told the Parks Commission on Tuesday.
"This year was especially dire."
With only a couple of potential hires, the city will soon decide if the public beach at Onota Lake will be "Swim At Your Own Risk" this season. McGrath said the job posting can be kept open for a little while longer, but stressed that there has to be a point where the community is notified that there won't be any lifeguard hours this year.
This would be the first time in years.
In 2022, an 8-year-old girl was found unresponsive at the Burbank Park public beach and later passed away, and last year, a Herberg Middle School student drowned at Benedict Pond in Great Barrington.
"This is top of mind. Waterfront safety is top of mind, and this does not feel good when we're trying to promote water safety," McGrath said.
"We're ready to jump in the proverbial deep end to try to figure out how we can make it as safe as possible at the lake. So I just wanted to give you a heads up, it would certainly be before your next meeting that we would have to really pull the trigger on this."
They agreed it is not a feel-good decision to have to make. If there are no lifeguards for the season, it will be broadly advertised. Last year's lifeguard schedule went out in mid-July.
There has to be a lifeguard at the lake for a summer camp to swim, meaning camps may have to bring their own. McGrath has observed a comfort level parents and guardians have when they know there is an extra set of eyes on the water.
"Just because we have lifeguards doesn't dismiss a parent's responsibility to be overseeing their children. It's just an extra set of eyes, and one that is professionally trained in life saving," he said.
"So we're in a situation, we're at a crossroads here where we absolutely may find ourselves not having lifeguards at the lake, and it's not anything that feels good. This is the first time in 20-plus years that this may be the situation we're encountering."
While these are forces beyond the city's control, officials will make certain that the messaging is "even more than clear" if there are no lifeguards.
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