Hahn Makes Motion For 2021 Junior Lifeguards At LA Beaches

REDONDO BEACH, CA — The Junior Lifeguard program may be back this summer thanks to a motion Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn is expected to make at the end of the Board of Supervisors meeting Tuesday.

Hahn, whose district includes Redondo Beach, Hermosa Beach, Marina del Rey, Torrance and the Palos Verdes Peninsula, is expected to read a statement calling for "the Los Angeles County Fire Department, in consultation with the Department of Public Health and the Office of Emergency Management, to report back in 30 days on how to safely resume the Los Angeles County Junior Lifeguard program in the summer of 2021." The report back should include:

• Public safety protocols for the Junior Lifeguard program; and
• Staffing reallocations required to resume the Junior Lifeguard program by its intended start date.

The Junior Lifeguard program was canceled last summer due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Hahn shared the following statement:

"This decision made sense at the time, but we are now in a very different place than we were one year ago. We know much more about how the virus is spread and what it takes to participate in activities safely. The science supports outside, socially distant, non-contact activities with low cohort sizes and proper safety precautions. The Junior Lifeguard program lends itself perfectly to these safety measures. Our youth have lived through almost a year of restrictions on school, extracurricular activities, and sports because of the pandemic, so it is more important than ever to allow youth to return to activities like the Junior Lifeguard program."

Kids ages 9 through 17 participate in the program, held each summer on a multitude of beaches in LA County, including nearby Manhattan Beach.

The annual program includes instruction in beach and ocean skills, including swimming, body surfing, first aid, rescue techniques, and CPR.

"Youth from across the County participate in this program each year, learning vital water safety skills and getting a firsthand look at the important work that our L.A.County lifeguards do," said Hahn in the motion statement.

The program has been in the beach cities for more than 90 years.

- Patch Editor Liz Spear contributed to this report.