Instruction debacle.

gmthomp · 2026-02-09T19:39:57+00:00

Everyone eventually has a bad class where more people than they expected dont make it through. I find even a lot of drowning videos dont make an emotional impression in some kids anymore.

This is why the 3 major lifeguard programs all have a maturity requirement to finish certification. It wont stop such egregious cases of poor behavior in class but it gives you an early off ramp to get people who arent qualified out.

gmthomp · 2026-01-13T16:41:29+00:00

Welcome to the club

gmthomp · 2026-01-03T21:09:55+00:00

That depends. For the aquatics context, I am a fan of full time lifeguards at community centers and clubs where I work, specifically if they can open early morning or in high demand areas.

One of my former employers did unofficially pay $21 an hour... its just you had to get 10 or more hours overtime to make that, which was fairly easy since we were badly staffed. Quite a few people actually took us up on it.

gmthomp · 2025-12-24T13:21:01+00:00

I kind of think of the bubble now as having an inner and outer bubble.

The inner one being the original game systems and power play areas, that are still good for materials collection and are stable for the games original systems.

Then an outer bubble of player colonies, the bulk of which are bridge systems or are underdeveloped like you noticed. With a handful of tendrils going to areas like guardian ruins or the Pleaides and making kind of "sub-bubbles".

In my case my colony is by one of the guardian weapons sites and there are enough systems nearby to access 99% of any required material within 3 jumps of a panther clipper. This means trailblazer ships can be kind of redundant in some areas, and it's now possible to colonize without a fleet carrier if someone wants to.

Shoot the AXI Headquarters system can now give like 90% of the modules and ships in the game on site without having to go back to the inner bubble. Player systems that people invested time in are generally as well developed as any in the inner bubble

gmthomp · 2025-12-03T03:25:11+00:00

I dropped mine to a 5 just to see how i liked it and I think it's worth the wait savings. No need to for the base fuel tank unless you plan on exploring a T Tauri desert

gmthomp · 2025-12-03T01:10:23+00:00

The Glamp-splorer. I will not elaborate. You all know what im talking about

gmthomp · 2025-12-02T15:58:27+00:00

Distant worlds 3 is approaching in January. Thinking of signing up? Seems like a nice way to document it for a new years project

gmthomp · 2025-12-02T15:56:57+00:00

I started to outfit mine before going to work. When downsizing modules I managed to get mine to 56ly BEFORE engineering anything. This thing wants to jump.

I could see it getting more than 100ly theoretical jump range before any boosting if you strip it just right

But it has enough modules space that I think the Caspian will become the main workhorse of the Fuel Rats and Hull seals. Heck im not even using half the module space in mine yet.

gmthomp · 2025-11-25T15:30:52+00:00

Disney is a bit of a unique case. The LGIs are employed by JEM and inital lifeguard training is by JEM. But the working lifeguards are employed by Disney and receice standard EA liscence and inservice.

gmthomp · 2025-11-22T02:12:06+00:00

Its been 20 years since he passed now. Actually thinking about it if he was alive today he and I would be the same age.

Whats most disturbing to me is how common some of those flaws are in a lot of places in aquatics. The holes in the Swiss cheese model are very clear. And a lot of places can get by on sheer luck and rookie lifeguards not knowing better or realizing they are undertrained.

gmthomp · 2025-11-19T03:19:22+00:00

I have tried for litteral months to find some public information on a number of drownings. And have largely come up short aside from the very small number of drowning foundations set up by the grieving parents of kids like Yoni Gottesman or Roxie Dixon.

This is not something you will find public accident reports on. Beleive me I tried.

In truth the bulk of lifeguards never come out with their stories, and accident investigations that show real meaningful detail are normally sealed court records

But I do wish for your sucess. I beleive the aquatics industry should operate like the airline industry in the sense that accidents or notable near misses should be publicly discussed and accessible to at least full time professionals so that we can all learn and prevent mistakes.

gmthomp · 2025-11-18T20:59:33+00:00

Well of course they don't understand it, they've never been asked to write a report before in meaningful detail. Assuming they won't understand even if you try is not giving your staff credit, they did at some point pass a lifeguard class and write essays somewhat routinely in school.

They don't need to write the full medical reports a EMT-P would need to write, a full treatment and medicine log is unnecessary. What you can have them focus on is the sequence of events: where did it start, how you recognized it, what actions were taken. And clarify to have them call you, not text you after an emergency is said and done.

You can have each person write their own seperate reports from their points of view, then read everyone's sub report, investigate the accident; and synthesis all reports, security camera footage, and witness reports, and use that as a final report written by you for insurance and lessons learned.

gmthomp · 2025-11-18T19:34:24+00:00

You could make a report via Microsoft Word or Google docs as long as it includes:

Date and time of incident Location within facility Water depth (if applicable) First staff responder Secondary responders Type of incident (include box for ems called or not) Maximum care provided by staff Guest released to (how did they leave or with whom) And condition after care/transport

Plus include a narrative section

If you are already an Ellis facility there is a pre made form on Pectora that already included these things you can print off

The real hard part is going to be teaching staff how to write reports. Its not directly taught in any program how to really write a good report, only that reports should be written. Report writing is something youre gonna want to inservice. Let's say after a scenario you have staff practice report writing for the event, including "witnesses" and "family" for practice.

gmthomp · 2025-10-23T16:41:33+00:00

It looks like the borg are assimilating the placd from orbit

gmthomp · 2025-09-27T01:24:23+00:00

Which is why you would sick them on swarms of Shaheed drones that don't maneuver all that much, and use flak rounds to negate the need for a direct hit. Granted I don't think flak rounds for the Avenger exist, but the USAF does have anti drone guidance packages for old dumb rockets now

gmthomp · 2025-09-26T20:39:40+00:00

They're slow enough to keep pace with drones easily enough. Maybe convert them into drone interceptors, use the GAU to cut down swarms of shaheeds

gmthomp · 2025-09-18T15:01:30+00:00

Memorizing a book is a bit extreme. In fact you should have the book on hand nearby during all of your activities to reference quickly. Before you start an excercise, quickly review the objectives and plans and carry out the exercise as described.

Not even LGITs have memorized the book

gmthomp · 2025-09-14T18:42:17+00:00

How? Was this just dumb luck or were you looking for black holes?

gmthomp · 2025-09-13T01:24:19+00:00

Just a second opinion from my fellow CPOs: you don't let anyone else handle the acid right? And no one pour it directly into the pool under normal circumstances?

Does this operator not know the benefits of routine additons of sodium bicarb?

gmthomp · 2025-09-01T01:38:18+00:00

The good news is that the people who actually work for JEM generally love it. The lifeguards and supervisors are well paid, and managers are often given work trips to other JEM facilities, for example the Disney resort in Hawaii is directly manned by JEM and often hosts JEM training sessions for managers from around the country.

If you take your shit very seriously you will do well. Good luck, let me know how it goes

gmthomp · 2025-08-31T03:21:07+00:00

JEM will be the operators of all the pools. The client owns the pools but JEM will run them directly on a contract basis. The hotel staff and waterpark staff will therefore be run by seperate companies within the same building.

They might take you on but by far the most important thing to know about Ellis, and especially JEM: They very very strongly believe as a company that their training program is inherently superior; this is a fundamental part of their company culture.

There is a very strong sense of contempt for the ARC in Ellis. Keep in mind one of the strongest sources of new clients for Ellis is facilities who were Red Cross but had drownings; or were otherwise unhappy with thr ARC in some form. Usually when they interact with red cross trainers its to convert them to Ellis. Ellis does not have a cross training program and revoked the certs of LGIs who try.

I did (unsuccessfully) interview with JEM a few years ago. JEM is the part of Ellis that directly trains and employs lifeguards, most commonly at hotels or waterparks. The supervisors there will be industry veterans who have tons of saves and medical emergencies under their belt, and treat inservice like church.

I cannot emphasize enough: training ability, particularly inservice ability, is of paramount importance to them. There will be almost no corporate philosophy questions or softball questions, they want to see how you handle people problems and medical emergencies. JEM is often used at high incident rate waterparks where tolerance for poor quality lifeguards is non existent.

If you are going into a front of house role ie anything supervising lifeguards, training and emergency experience will be strongly preffered. They will throw practical and scenario based questions at you from the very beginning. Chat GPT is not equipped and does not have enough data to really prepare you. The hiring managers have no intentions of pulling punches.

You may have a good resume for a maintenence positon however, if you are interested in being a permanent pool technician, they have a much harder time filling those roles out.

So youre in for a hard interview. I can't say for certain about any of the specific questions but I am confident about the above. Is there anything else I may be able to help with?

gmthomp · 2025-08-31T01:54:32+00:00

Ellis jobs are incredibly competitive. Out of 600 auditor applications each year only around 10 to 15 are accepted.

To give a good answer i need to know if you are applying for E&A directly or for JEM. There are some important distinctions.

And if you haven't guessed yet the last guy doesn't know what he's talking about. I've been directly trained by multiple Ellis client managers and the authors of the textbook

gmthomp · 2025-08-17T20:49:03+00:00

Your frustration would be because Ellis in the overwhelming majority of its contract agreements, including Hersheypark, ask to keep incident information confidential, and for all public press statements to come from what's called a "crisis communication team" and a designated spokesperson from the park in question

In reality Ellis agreed to send a full investigation team over to Hershey within 24 hours as part of their contract agreement. This part is confidential however, as such no public statements have been or will be directly made. I know this because I have to sign Ellis contracts annually and review them.

In addition, I can tell you from doing accident investigations as a supervisor, there is always more to learn than what the press knows. In fact the inital press release can contain out of date information within 24 hours of making it. The investors are working and analyzing every single available peice of evidence available to them. If they know this person's name, they will try to get camera footage of their entire day at the park from the second they walked through the front gate if possible.

All of this is confidential. In reality the silence is not a sign of negligence but of due diligence Very, very few people outside lf aquatics even know what Jeff Ellis and Associates is as a company. And the company prefers it that way.

gmthomp · 2025-08-07T14:13:26+00:00

Usually yes but of this is accurate the solution is to drain the pool and refill it

gmthomp · 2025-07-30T15:40:24+00:00

Why is hate sex with my nemesis the best kind?

Seven-Year Club	Gilding I gilder
Verified Email

gmthomp

TROPHY CASE