Face shields, dry suits, showers: Lifeguards in South County, Calif., adapt to persistent sewage contamination

—Opt for patrol boats or waterborne drones to avoid getting in the water during rescues;

—Local governments could issue citations to people who fail to heed a health order, resulting in lifeguards having to conduct a rescue ;

—Lifeguards should receive specialty pay and medical care when exposed.

The goal is to have guidelines established and adopted regionally, and eventually nationally.

"They have to be detailed and specific enough to address this issue, but ambiguous enough to be accepted nationally," Carey said.

Brewster said standards for lifeguards exposed to cross-border pollution could arise in preparation for the next edition of the USLA's manual.

"(B)ut as a national organization, we have to consider the breadth of applicability," he said via email. "This is not an issue that affects other ocean lifeguards of which I am aware."

"In the big picture, I would note that lifeguards are in a unique position among the safety services in that it's impractical to fully protect them from exposure to the environmental conditions in which they work," he added. "There are certainly measures that can be taken to minimize risk and those become increasingly appropriate when contamination is chronic, as in south San Diego County."

Matt Wilson, who teaches Imperial Beach's Junior Lifeguard program, said standards are necessary, but must be carefully thought out.

"I don't believe in citing people for getting in the water," he said. "I'm wary of that, but I am for there being standards where (lifeguards) can communicate that under certain circumstances, 'We will not go in. We'll throw something in instead.'"

In addition to purchasing new equipment, the cities of Coronado and Imperial Beach are taking other steps to support lifeguards.

In Coronado, lifeguards have access to Company Nurse, a business that triages workplace injuries when they occur. Lindquist said he is looking into bringing the service to Imperial Beach.

"You call, talk to a real nurse about what you did and what you've been exposed to and they help you," he said. "That versus waiting to incubate something in you and then go to (Human Resources) and get authorization to go to (a medical clinic)."

Imperial Beach City Manager Tyler Foltz said the city is conducting a classification and compensation study for its Marine Safety Department to assess equipment and staffing needs and compensation related to exposure. Results are expected to come before the City Council later this year.

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