Remember when 18 year old lifeguard, Tomas Lopez, was fired by the private contractor, Jeff Ellis Management for rescuing a drowning man outside the Management companys contracted section of beach in the City of Hallendale Beach, FL?
Recently the role of the contractor and the Lifeguards have reversed themselves. Good paying full time lifeguard jobs and 3 part time jobs were filled by the City to patrol and protect beach goers. These are much better paying jobs the what the contractor offered.
Video Link portraying the new hires with short story availabe here.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/...
Jeff Ellis and associates paid the lifeguards $8.25 per hour. I find that stunning for young people risking their lives going into rip tides and strong currents to save a life and this pittance is what they were rewarded with.
Hallendale Beach originally hired this firm back in 2003.
Hallandale Beach began outsourcing its lifeguards in 2003 as a money-saving measure. The city was paying the company about $334,000 annually to provide four lifeguards and one supervisor at the beach year-round. The city's new program covering the beach and pools will cost $757,000 each year.
Today we now have a wage that although modest, does allow these heros to provide for themselves. And one of the good parts to this is that former US Navy and Coast Guard Divers now have a job.
Former divers with the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Coast Guard — along with five former members of the Cuban Water Polo Team — are now among the new lifeguards protecting the shores of Hallandale Beach, officials announced Monday.
The squad of six full-time lifeguards and six part-timers officially started on Monday, hoping to rescue the tiny Broward coastal city from a public relations nightmare that splashed across the globe earlier this summer.
snip
The new job pays between $32,240 and $40,268 per year in addition to basic benefits. The lifeguards working for the private firm made $8.25 an hour. A full-time supervisor, three full-time lifeguards and two part-time lifeguards were also hired for the city's pools.
And the swimmers get excellent service going forward. Great story all around.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/...
Unlike the previous guards, the new group will be required to cover the entire city beach area, including sections behind private condo buildings. The new lifeguards, who'll also be part of the city's fire department, are trained as emergency medical technicians and successfully passed a grueling qualification exam.
Private Contractors suck when doing a job better is available while working a full time job with benefits.
6:46 AM PT: The victim that Tomas Lopez and the other fired guards that saved the life of 20-year-old Maksim Samartsev . From the Miami Herald July 9th 2012.
A man with a boogie board already in the ocean paddled over. Together, they got Samartsev on the boogie board and dragged him to shore.
López heard screams from the crowd gathering on the beach and took off running, even though it meant leaving his coverage zone.
He got there as the boogie board with Samartsev’s near-lifeless body on it was pulled onto the beach.
A nurse stepped in and began giving Samartsev CPR until the paramedics arrived.
Ivan Samartsev said he was in his apartment in the Hemispheres Condominium when two officers knocked on the door to tell them that his son had been in an accident.
Samartsev said his son is on a three-month vacation from Estonia before he heads off to university and had only been in town for about two weeks when the incident occurred.
“I was so scared,” the elder Samartsev said.
The young man spent several days at Aventura Hospital getting oxygen. His father said he worries his son may have brain damage.
“We just don’t know,” he said. “We have to go back to the doctor.”
But Samartsev said that his son “walking and talking” is a miracle.
And he is so grateful for the heroes who saved his son’s life.
Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/...
Update from DisNoir36 excellent point in the comments.
The old contract called for 4 life guards and 1 supervisor and was only for a beach.
The new plan costs more but from what I gathered calls for SIX full time lifeguards, SIX part time lifeguards PLUS a supervisor, THREE full time lifeguards AND TWO part time life guards for the city's pools. Not to mention the lifeguards are for ALL the beaches.
That means the city is spending $757,000 as opposed to $334,00 but they're getting 18 lifeguards as opposed 5, the lifeguards will get better pay and benefits and all the beaches and pools will be safer for the people.