Borough lifeguard's vigilance saves 17-year-o

MAT-SU— Tuesday night Ed Nutter blew a whistle, stepped off his lifeguard chair, and dived 13 feet down to the bottom of the Palmer Pool to bring an unconscious 17-year-old to the surface.

In his nearly 22 years of vigilant poolside watch, Nutter has never had to perform what’s called an unconscious deepwater rescue. It wasn’t even his shift. He was called in to sub for someone else. Yet experience and training were on his side.

(Photo left: Lifeguards Levi McAuliff, Sandra Ault, Eddie Nutter)

“I am really glad that we train as often as we do,” said Nutter, a Water Safety Instructor II for the Matanuska-Susitna Borough. “I dived down holding the rescue tube, grabbed him, yanked on the tube strap, and up we came. Everything clicked,” Nutter said.

Sandy Ault, Water Safety Instructor II, was on the pool deck ready with the aquatic rescue board. Levi McAuliff, an 18-year-old, Water Safety Instructor I, cleared the pool and called 9-1-1. Just like in the regular trainings, the backboard was dipped in the water, the patient was lifted onto the deck and assessed.

Swimmer, Stephen Warta, was blue, but within seconds he began seizing and aspirating. The lifeguards turned him on his side. He was breathing on his own but struggling. Nutter monitored his sporadic breathing closely. When the breaths stopped for 20 seconds, Nutter rolled him on his back, cleared his airway, and was about to begin rescue breathing for Warta. Just then Warta took his first good breath.

The rescue occurred at 7:30 p.m. After Borough medical personnel gave Warta a clean bill of health, the 17-year-old went home with his family by 8:10 p.m. The teenager returned to the pool to swim again today. His mom brought the staff home-baked cinnamon rolls.

(Photo right: Sandra Ault, one of the key rescuers)

During the water rescue, Warta’s mom and dad and siblings were there. His mom, Diane, is a Registered Nurse. She watched the Borough staff as they went through the careful steps. “I thought, ‘they’re in charge,’” Diane Warta said. “They were very professional, very aware of what was going on in the pool.”

“Lifeguard staff train and train for these type of situations, but never are called on to respond simply because they are so rare,” said Jeff Dillon, Community Development Manager with the Borough. “The entire Borough should be proud of the professional way in which our lifeguard staff responded to a very serious situation. This is simply a job very well done,” Dillon said.

“I’m so proud of Eddie and our staff,” said Palmer Pool Manager Paige Appelo-Dilley. This afternoon, she shared an encouraging talk with her staff in the bleachers poolside, offering praise and support for what the team experienced.

Appelo-Dilley said the swimmer may have experienced shallow water blackout, when a person holds his breath while swimming underwater and loses consciousness. Warta was swimming in the deep part of the pool, where a bulwark separated the shallow end from the deep dive area. He was swimming under water for possibly three lengths of a shortened pool or about 45 yards. Lifeguard Nutter focused on him because he was swimming under water.

(Photo left: Palmer Pool Manager Paige Apelo-Dilly shares conversation with some of the members of her crew: L to R Ed Nutter, Craig Brumagin, Josh Jackson, Tannere Shelton. Not pictured: Aurora Watson, Misty McCoy, David Psenak, Samantha Hamming, Sierra Branham, and Sam Heindel.)

Photos by Patty Sullivan/MSB.

For more information call Patty Sullivan at 745-9577 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or Paige Appelo-Dilley at 745-0207.