THE competence of lifeguards at the Trafalgar public pool has become a talking point after the death of a local woman at the council-owned facility.

On Sunday 5 February, 42-year-old Margaret Daniels from Woodstock died from an asthma attack after jumping into the pool.

Much to onlookers’ dismay, lifeguards were unable to perform CPR on the woman, who was in need of air.

James Adams from Woodstock, who was present at the time of the incident, recalls that there were five lifeguards at the scene and not one of them could perform CPR.

“They looked at each other in amazement and waited for somebody in the crowd to jump into action,” he says.

Another onlooker, Wilma Fredericks, tells People’s Post that the lifeguards looked “shocked to see somebody struggling to breathe” and were all too afraid to assist.

“They looked really helpless. One went to phone the ambulance while the others stood around trying to control the crowd surrounding the poor woman,” says Fredericks, who vowed never to return to the baths.

Tandeka Gqada, the Mayoral Committee Member for Community Services, says the City is aware of the incident and confirmed that the asthma attack occurred while lifeguards were present at the pool.

“The lifeguards attempted to assist the victim until Metro Police (who are trained to assist in such emergencies) arrived. The sufferer required medical attention and the lifeguard immediately phoned the paramedics,” she says.

All lifeguards are trained in basic first aid and are able to apply basic CPR to save a life and attend to minor injuries.”

However, she says this does not cover all situations encompassed in level one first aid.

Another concern raised by avid swimmers is the sporadic closure of the public facility, which is supposed to remain open till 17:00.

Ayesha Adams and her family, who are regular visitors to the baths, says her enjoyment is regularly hampered by “poor time management”.

She explains that many swimmers are “chased” out of the water an hour before closing time.

“We all go there to enjoy an afternoon with our families but they cut it short without notice. They just come around and say you must pack up and leave, then they chase people out of the water. That isn’t right,” she says.

A worker at the facility, who asks to remain anonymous, clarified that the pool closes early at times for maintenance purposes.