‘We do not feel safe’: Lifeguards pen open letter requesting Austin pools remain closed

Lifeguard Cuyler Mazen works at Rosewood Pool on Tuesday June 2, 2020. [Jay Janner / American-Statesman]

Pamela Horton, 23, intended to work as a lifeguard at Barton Springs Pool through the end of June. While the pools were closed, she planned to take cleaning and park monitoring shifts before leaving to attend medical school in the fall. Instead of finishing her employment with the city, however, she quit soon after the announcement that pools would reopen for the summer.

She’s not alone. Some lifeguards have quit, while others have opted for alternate assignments within the city so as not to return to the pools. Some remain because it’s their primary source of income, despite concerns about employees or patrons getting sick.

With signatures from 26 of the more than 200 city-employed lifeguards, Horton wrote an open letter to Austin Mayor Steve Adler, the Aquatics Division, and the Parks and Recreation Department in late May requesting that public pools remain closed until the coronavirus pandemic slows. Between 11% and 13% of active lifeguards signed the letter.

Despite the letter, and a continuous increase in both COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations, 11 city pools opened the first week of June.

Weeks later, cases continue to rise in Travis County and Texas, with the state experiencing sequential days of record-high case counts and hospitalizations. The Texas Department of State Health Services reported 5,747 new cases Saturday, with 5,523 patients in Texas hospitals.

In response to the continued increase, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced plans to suspend all elective surgeries Thursday and issued an executive order to close bars across the state and further limit restaurant capacity beginning Friday.

“I left the City early because of that,” Horton said of the pools’ reopening. “I didn’t feel safe lifeguarding while the pools were open. I think it’s definitely a risk, and I think it will worsen the COVID pandemic.”

The letter, obtained by the American-Statesman through a request under the Texas Public Information Act, outlines the lifeguards’ primary concerns, such as the increasing rate of coronavirus cases and that current conditions and policies, including making saves and screening patrons, puts both lifeguards and guests at risk.

“We recognize the important role aquatic facilities and recreation centers play for the public as spaces to exercise and socialize,” the letter says, “but with the current policies and safety procedures, we do not feel safe staffing aquatic facilities.”

Although he signed the letter requesting that pools remain closed for now, Scott Cobb says lifeguarding at Barton Springs is his primary source of income. So he returned to work earlier this month. To mitigate the risk to his health, though, he has reduced the number of shifts he’s taken.

While he worries for the safety of his co-workers and their families, Cobb said the decision to sign the letter, for him and for others, was born out of concern for the community and his peers.

“We all love our jobs. We love working at Barton Springs. We love the people out there,” Cobb said. “You really meet the people of the community and interact with them. It’s dangerous work but, if the city says the pools are open, then lifeguards are going to guard lives.”

When pools opened, Cobb was screening visitors and taking temperatures as 450 people flooded into Barton Springs every two hours. The new citywide policy requires guests to wear masks, be screened and have their temperature taken before entering the pool.

After taking the temperatures of hundreds of poolgoers, he said he was left feeling uneasy.

“The possibility of having to do in-water rescues is more worrisome than checking temperatures,” Cobb said. “Though after I did the temperature checking, it showed me it is a problem too. I know people all around the world are doing temperature checks, but they’re not wearing their swimsuit and only wearing a mask.”

Beyond screening swimmers and checking temperatures, the letter emphasizes lifeguards’ concerns about the possibility of saving swimmers, especially for anyone with preexisting respiratory or immune conditions.

Horton, who has an autoimmune disease, is at a higher risk for contracting the coronavirus than others. Her mother, she said, also has an immune deficiency, which influenced her decision to leave her job.

“There’s always a risk that when you save someone they’re going to cough or spit in your face,” Horton said. “We’re having to jump into that situation with no mask.”

Austin lifeguards make about 500 saves in a normal year, Horton said, the majority at Barton Springs.

“Although patrons may remain far away from each other while swimming, the requirement for lifeguards to be in close contact with distressed swimmers without a mask drastically increases the hazard of our jobs,” the letter reads.

Jake Nunis, a 21-year-old open water lifeguard at Barton Springs, also signed the letter. Nunis said he’s considering stopping visits to one of his grandmothers, who is immunocompromised, while he continues work at the pool.

“I love my job, and I love the pool. I love my co-workers,” Nunis said. “If there’s an opportunity to be there and to help the aquatics office, I’m there.

“I don’t think it’s contradictory to say I’m concerned and that I think it’s a bad idea, but that I’m willing to be there,” he said.

When Nunis returned to work earlier this month, he said it felt nearly like any other summer. It felt good to be back poolside, though he was met with a nagging sense of concern.

“At the same time, there’s a feeling of anticipation,” he said. “What if this was a bad idea, and that feeling is going to go away, and in two weeks we’re going to see a bunch of spikes and people getting sick? What worries me is the idea of a member of our staff getting sick and we all get sick from that, and it’s because we couldn’t keep closed for a few more weeks.”

Nearly a month after sending the letter, the lifeguards have yet to hear back, other than to be offered alternate work assignments, which some have taken. Even as the numbers of cases, hospitalizations and deaths rise, they have not heard whether the city will reconsider its policies.

“They keep saying they’re really receptive to our feedback and our comments, but I haven’t really seen any changes in the policies based on that,” Horton said.

Jodi Jay, the city aquatics division manager, acknowledged she hasn’t corresponded with the lifeguards who signed the letter. She was unsure if anyone else had reached out, other than to discuss alternate work assignments.

No lifeguard should be scared of losing a job for speaking out, she said.

“It’s a scary time, and people have to be comfortable doing the job that they’re assigned. Whenever those lifeguards are ready to be back in the stands, they’re absolutely welcome,” Jay said.

A statement sent to the Statesman by Kimberly McNeeley, director of the Parks and Recreation Department, echoed Jay’s position, saying they respect lifeguards’ choice not to return until they feel comfortable. McNeeley said the department consulted with Austin Public Health before opening pools to maintain staffers’ and visitors’ health and safety.

The department used protocols outlined by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and StarGuard Elite, an agency that offers aquatics risk prevention training and certifications, McNeeley said.

However, the three lifeguards said at least at Barton Springs, the pool’s new policies are being enforced poorly at best. Many people don’t wear masks, and social distancing guidelines are often shirked.

Neither McNeeley nor Jay said she would reconsider the policies or shutting down the pools.

“Think back to 1918,” Cobb said. “They had a pandemic where, worldwide, tens of millions of people died. But it’s a sliver of time in history. No one remembers if they were able to swim between July and September of 1918.

“These couple months, we need to be closed.”