Suit Required, Tie Optional
The view rivals the one enjoyed from the coveted corner office. The benefits include physical fitness and an ocean breeze. The perfect summer job? Maybe. Except the hours aren’t limited to warm summer days, and it is a job where the stakes run considerably higher than financial earnings and losses.
The duties of a San Diego beach lifeguard are far ranging. All full time guards are certified EMTs (Emergency Medical Technician) and may be called upon for boat rescues up to three miles from the shore as well as coastal cliff rescues. Most full time guards are also peace officers with full powers of arrest.
Specially trained guards assist in river and flooding rescues, marine firefighting and dive rescues and recoveries. Recent incidents handled by area lifeguards include an exploding scuba tank, a floating blue whale carcass and a directionally challenged harbor seal wandering yard to yard through an area neighborhood.
Clearly, this is not a job for those who value a routine existence. But it’s “ocean front” at no extra charge…
Adventures in “US National Parks”
