The Drowning Iguana

As a lifeguard, we are trained to respond to emergency situations. We communicate through whistles and we are expected to respond accordingly. One long whistle means a relatively minute emergency. Three long whistles means something serious is happening ... so get on top of things and deal with the emergency as quickly and as efficiently as you possibly can. The three long whistles take priority – so stop whatever you are doing because all help is needed. Lifeguards in training go through rigorous training, preparing ourselves for anything we might experience as we lifeguard of the side of the pool. But none of our training deals with iguanas, or any animal/reptiles for that matter.

It was a hot day in late July, summer of 2007. I was finally a fully certified lifeguard, and I was ready for anything, any emergency that might come my way. It was a beautiful sunny, yet muggy day at the outdoor pool in the east end. The pool was packed to maximum capacity. It seemed like on that particular day, the heat got to people’s minds and made them all do crazy and stupid things. People were fighting, pretending to drown, kids ran around the pool. On that particular day, I personally had to jump in twice to rescue a drowning child from the deep end. The lifeguards were stressed and fed up! We just wanted the day to end.

It was finally ten to five. At five o’clock in the afternoon, the pool temporary shuts down in order for the staff to eat dinner. That's when the dreaded call happened. I was lifeguarding at the big pool. The three long whistles came from my boss at the wading pool. I immediately became nervous for I did not know what was happening, or what emergency must have happened with one of the small kids from the wading pool.

I evacuated the big pool. Made sure no one was left in the pool and without delay went straight to help out my co-worker at the wading pool. I prepared myself for the worst, like someone who was not breathing or had a spinal cord injury or even worse, a head injury. I was scared for what was to come, for it was my first real emergency.  Once I got to the wading pool, I saw something green “drowning” or trying to save itself from the water.

“What are we suppose to do for this thing?” I asked. “We can’t go in the water and potentially put our lives at risk,” my boss answered back. And so, 8 lifeguards stood at the side of the pool just staring in awe of the frantic iguana drowning in our water. We were incredibly confused. Where did it come from? Was this a joke or a prank? We did not know.

The men were too scared to do anything with the iguana, so one of the female lifeguards took a net and scooped the iguana and placed it in an empty garbage can. What exactly were we suppose to do with it? We waited for the SPCA and due to something dangerous which could hinder the safety of our clients, we were “forced” to close for the evening, or we just wanted some time off!