KEY POINTS:
A husband and wife have accused West Wave Aquatic Centre of failing to act quickly enough after a near drowning.
They claimed a lifeguard did not know to put an unconscious teenager in the recovery position after he almost drowned and another lifeguard took too long to assist.
Bobby and Sharon Zand, of Kumeu, took their young son to West Wave in Henderson on Sunday.
Mr Zand was watching his son playing on an inflatable obstacle course in one of the pools when he saw a lifeguard jump in the water to pull out a teenager floating unconscious in the water.
Mr Zand helped pull the teenager out of the water but believes it took several minutes for the lifeguard to notice his predicament.
Mr Zand then had to tell the lifeguard, aged about 18 to 20, how to put the teen into the recovery position instead of on his back so he did not choke.
Another lifeguard took some time to assist.
"He [the teenager] was turning purple. The whole thing didn't feel right. It seemed like they didn't really have any idea what to do. I don't know whether they just panicked or what."
Staff closed the pool while they attended to the teenager, who Mr Zand believed regained consciousness soon after. He was taken to hospital for a check-up.
Mrs Zand wrote to complain to West Wave but manager Mark Blake said he had not seen her complaint so could not comment specifically on her claims.
However, he was aware of the near drowning and believed his staff acted appropriately. All the lifeguards had the National Pool Lifeguard Award, an employment qualification for them.
