Lifeguards and security staff put their rescue knowledge and practice to good use at the Student Recreation Center pool Nov. 7 when they completed a flawless water rescue, the interim director of the center said.

"From an administration standpoint, the lifeguards did an outstanding job handling the rescue," said Brian Carswell, interim director of the Rec Center.

That Thursday afternoon, 22-year-old Maryam Kavoosi was holding her breath underwater when the lifeguard in a chair above the pool became concerned and called another lifeguard over to watch the woman.

"She called another guard over to watch the woman so she could keep her attention focused on the rest of the pool," Carswell said.

When the second lifeguard noticed Kavoosi had not moved for 15 seconds, he jumped in and brought the woman out of the water, Carswell said.

The rescuer laid the woman on the ground and found she did not have a heart beat and had stopped breathing.

"Two lifeguards directly began CPR and two additional lifeguards were present in addition to the security staff," Carswell said.

Kavoosi, who was transported to University Medical Center, has remained in critical condition.

She was a math graduate student who last attended the University of Arizona in the spring of 1992, according to a spokesman in the Registrar's Office.

Carswell said that when a pool emergency occurs, the lifeguards are taught to adhere to specific crisis procedures.

"First, the lifeguards clear the pool and blow their whistle twice, which indicates to the other lifeguards that there is an emergency," he said. "An additional lifeguard rescues the individual, and others begin to administer CPR if needed and use the bre athing mask."

The Rec Center lifeguards continue CPR until the paramedics, who continue trying to revive the victim, arrive on the scene, Carswell said.

Josh D'Acquisto, Rec Center aquatics coordinator, said the lifeguards could not have done a better job accomplishing the rescue.

"I feel they have performed by the textbook. It was very well done and there was nothing they could have done better," he said.

Carswell said it is common practice for Rec Center employees to be surprised with emergency drills. These drills make sure each employee knows what to do in case of an emergency.

"We take notes on what went well and what didn't, and then we meet with the individuals and discuss their evaluation," Carswell said.

Exercises performed inside of the Rec Center are called red-shirt drills, and mock rescues in the pool are termed red-cap drills. These exercises are performed in the pool two to three times each week by different staff members, D'Acquisto said.

"Someone will go into the pool wearing a red swim cap and the lifeguards on duty must respond as if it were the real thing," D'Acquisto said. "We perform these on an ongoing basis."

A red-cap drill was performed in the pool only a week before the incident, said Esteban Azevedo, Rec Center lifeguard supervisor and an exercise and sports sciences senior. He said the pool has continued to practice its drills after the rescue.

"We did two red-cap drills last Saturday, after the situation with Maryam (Kavoosi)," he said.

D'Acquisto said lifeguards who work at the Rec Center are required to receive first aid and CPR instruction prior to employment.

"We hire lifeguards certified by the Red Cross. They are required to go through four hours of first aid instruction and nine hours of CPR for the professional rescuer," he said.

D'Acquisto said the Rec Center lifeguards, whose employment lengths at the Rec Center range from two years to one semester, receive a total of 30 to 35 hours of rescue instruction.

As a part of their safety instruction, the lifeguards are taught to watch new swimmers as they enter the pool, D'Acquisto said.

He said they keep an eye on those who appear as though they have had little experience in the water.

"There is no (swimming) pretest or anything because most of the swimmers we see are regulars," D'Acquisto said. He said Kavoosi has regularly attended the pool since last summer.

He also said the lifeguards are concerned for Kavoosi's recovery. "We are all pleased with how it went, and we are all concerned for the victim," Azevedo said .

"They have been going through the situation in their minds, hoping they did the correct thing. I keep assuring them that they could not have done anything better," D'Acquisto said.

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