The lifeguards at Wayland Town Beach Tuesday morning received some serious on-the-job training.
The Wayland Fire Department arrived early that morning, before any of the lifeguards, and sank a 210-pound dummy in Lake Cochituate just off the town beach dock.
Hours later, fire Lt. Kenny McGuire started the drill by telling the lifeguard on duty that his friend was missing.
The team of town beach lifeguards sprang into action, calling 911 and searching the water for the "victim."
They quickly located the sunken dummy, got him to shore and began performing CPR.
"I'm really proud of them," Beach Director Megan Leigh said afterward. "It's real-life experience without the high stakes. When they do have high stakes, they'll be calm and know what to do."
Fire Deputy Chief David Houghton said the training is designed to build confidence in the lifeguards and also show Wayland Fire officials that the lifeguards are capable.
Houghton explained that the fire department conducts the CPR and first-aid training for the lifeguards and the town beach lifesaving equipment is identical to that the fire department has. When fire and medical personnel arrive at the scene of a town beach incident, Houghton said, they know exactly what the lifeguards have been doing and the equipment they've been using to help the victim.
In addition to the drill with the dummy, lifeguards also rescued McGuire from the water during a drill in which he claimed to have suffered a neck injury.
"As the victim, I thought it was really smooth," McGuire told the lifeguards. "The communication was good. My neck didn't move at all."
Houghton said the department will conduct a similar drill with a different team of lifeguards later this summer.
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