KSHB 41 reporter Elyse Schoenig covers the cities of Shawnee and Mission. She also focuses on issues surrounding the cost of health care, saving for retirement and personal debt. Share your story idea with Elyse.
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While many pools across the country struggle with staffing shortages, facilities in Shawnee and Mission are ready for summer swimmers.
The American Lifeguard Association said a third of the country's pools were closed partially or fully last summer due to staffing shortages. The group predicts this summer could be as bad or worse.
This is Kaia Haigh's fourth year as a lifeguard in Shawnee.
"My whole job is to help somebody. So being able to be that person for someone means a lot to them and me," Haigh said.
It's year seven for Alice Brandt in Mission.
"We all come here for the same cause, which is protecting our community while they're having fun at the pool," Brandt said.
There aren't enough lifeguards like Haigh and Brandt nationally. But officials in Shawnee and Mission said their pools are fully staffed and ready to go this summer.
"Nationwide, we had a lot of pool closures, so we actually lost the retention of that staff, and had to build up, build up from scratch, essentially," Sean Keenan, Shawnee Recreation Superintendent, said.
Keenan said a fully staffed team for them is 100 lifeguards. He said this is the first year post-pandemic they've hit those numbers.
"It's a very competitive job in the summer. It is a great job to work for this demographic with a ton of responsibility," Keenan said.
He also said hiring starts in November.
They teach lifeguard certification classes, and lifeguards also must take water park modules, oxygen training, CPR, AED, backboarding, and first aid. There are also incentives to get reimbursed for training.
In Mission, fully staffed means around 75 to 80 lifeguards. Aquatics facilities manager Jenna Dickman said they've hit these numbers for the last three years.
"We're seeing a bunch of staff coming back wanting to be lifeguards, which was something we were struggling with," Dickman said. "I think we're out of the woods."
But she said they remember the years right after 2020, when they even had to close the pool at times.
Retention for them is in big thanks to the younger siblings of current lifeguards.
"It is an amazing opportunity and amazing first job," Haigh said.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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