IDAHO SPRINGS, Colo. — A former lifeguard is demanding change after an incident at Indian Hot Springs on Thursday afternoon.
"That could have been my son. That could have been somebody that I love," the tourist, who did not want to be identified, said Friday.
She and her family were left shaken after witnessing a woman get pulled out of the pool. She was unresponsive and had no pulse.
"I knew that something had to be done very quickly if she had a shot of making it at all," the tourist said.
She immediately stepped in to help with her training as a former lifeguard quickly kicking in.
"I was a lifeguard from 16 to 18," she said.
As she yelled at the employees standing around to call 911, she began performing chest compressions, she said. She also asked the employees for a first aid kit, an AED and a Seal Easy Mask to help clear the woman's airways. What they said shocked her.
"They said, 'We don't have anything. We don't have any training. We've just, I've just been here four months,'" she said.
An Idaho Springs police chief said an officer eventually arrived and also tried to perform CPR. Clear Creek EMS later transported the woman to a nearby hospital. Her condition was not released.
"This was probably one of the most frustrating moments in my life where I have felt like my hands were tied and there's nothing else I could do," the tourist said.
According to Indian Hot Springs' website "no lifeguard is present" at the pool, but the tourist says that's no excuse.
"Anything can happen at any given time, and knowing that they don't have any tools to help in a situation like that, it's just not safe for the public," she said.
Denver7 reached out to Indian Hot Springs by email and phone Friday, but as of 3:45 p.m., no one had responded.
The tourist said she and her family won't ever return unless changes are made to keep people safe.
"I cannot wrap my brain around the fact that there were no tools available to help save that woman's life," she said.
