California lifeguards will soon be recognized as first responders. Though the change lends credence to the importance of open water lifesavers, there is still further to go when it comes to meaningful change.
The designation comes about as a result of Senate Concurrent Resolution 192. Which, according to the text of the measure, “would recognize open water lifeguards as first responders, in acknowledgment of their essential role in emergency response, public safety, and drowning prevention, as provided.”
The legislation was first introduced in July, then quickly passed through the Rules Committee and Senate, before being approved by the State Assembly on August 19. The resolution will take effect once it is signed by the Secretary of State.
The resolution may have been aided by the very public recognition Southern California lifeguards have gotten of late. In August, the president invited 16-year-old Santa Cruz lifeguard Ryder Williams to the White House, after a video of him rescuing a child went viral. The topic of the legislation even came up in the meeting itself.
Though advocates agree it is a step in the right direction, the fact that 192 is a concurrent resolution means that the distinction is not actually codified into law. “I don’t think this single resolution adds any crazy changes to our field, but they do start the process with recognition,” San Diego lifeguard Drasko Bogdanovic, head of the nonprofit Lifeguard Project told Times of San Diego. “It levels the playing field of what lifeguards are even considered from an image and response perspective, which then allows us to advocate more.”
The resolution is not binding, but the fact that lifeguards are receiving this recognition could give them more power to advocate for themselves when it comes to meaningful changes, like better pay, benefits and working conditions. What’s more, it could lend momentum to future federal legislation that would make those changes enforceable.
