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SCMP Reporter

A LIFEGUARD told the Coroner's Court he did not perform mouth-to-mouth resuscitation on a woman who was found drowning in the swimming pool of a Tsim Sha Tsui hotel because he was not sure whether she had any infectious diseases.

  But Tse Ping-chee, a qualified lifeguard who worked at the Holiday Inn Harbour View's swimming pool last summer, said he had immediately performed artificial respiration on American hotel guest Sally Ann Nowak after he dived into the pool and lifted her out of the water.

   He first checked the pulse and respiration of the 44-year-old tourist before performing artificial respiration. His colleague, Leung Ho-piu, conducted external cardiac massage.

   Mr Tse was testifying before a jury in the case of Nowak, a housewife, who died at the hotel's swimming pool on September 18.

   When Mr Tse was asked by coroner's officer Paul Madigan whether any type of resuscitation was recommended in his training as the best, Mr Tse said: ''You can't say which is the best.''    He continued with the resuscitation for about 10 minutes until an ambulance arrived.

   Earlier Mr Tse testified that at about 1.45 pm he saw Nowak splashing water in the shallow end of the pool. Two or three minutes later he spotted her on the bottom of the pool.

 ''I immediately shouted for help. I waved my hand to signal somebody to come over,'' he said.

  His subordinate fellow lifeguard Mr Leung said he was at the time working in the gymnasium as a physical training instructor.

    When Mr Leung was asked whether he had asked Mr Tse to use mouth-to-mouth resuscitation at the time, Mr Leung said: ''No. Because I saw something like a scar at the corner of the woman's mouth. Perhaps Mr Tse thought it inappropriate to carry out mouth-to-mouth respiration because he was not sure whether the woman had a contagious disease or not.''   Forensic pathologist Dr Tso Chi-bun said results of samples taken from Nowak for analysis by a chemist showed a significantly high amount of alcohol in her body, also traces of codeine and other sedatives.

  He said alcohol and drugs could have made Nowak rather drowsy and unsteady but he could not tell whether it was the alcohol that caused the drowning.

   Mr Madigan also called witnesses to give evidence regarding two other cases of death by drowning last summer.

  The jury heard that Fong Yee-hon, 23, drowned at the Kowloon Park pool, and seven-year-old Yip Ching-yeung died of drowning at the Riviera in Sai Kung.

   Fong's elder brother Fong Yee-dung asked lifeguard Fu Yu-keung whether his colleague at the lookout post nearest to where his brother was found had been distracted by other things such as beautiful girls.

  ''That's within the scope of our duty. We had to keep an eye on swimmers regardless of whether they were beautiful or not,'' Mr Fu replied.

   Mr Fu, who first discovered the drowning boy, said the lifeguard at post No 3 had not been aware of the incident, probably due to a number of factors including the fact that the pool was crowded with 200 to 300 swimmers on July 30, 1993.

   Mr Fu, who was patrolling in the pool, said he had observed Fong for 10 seconds before lifting him out of the water because he was in a posture like someone practising holding his breath or diving.

  The young man, who was described as not a strong swimmer, died despite resuscitation efforts from Mr Fu's colleagues.

    In the case of Ching-yeung, Chan Man-kam, management supervisor at the Riviera, said the incident happened on August 12, 1993, - the first day at work of substitute lifeguard Fan Mei-ki.

  The hearing before Coroner Rodney Venning continues today.



Alcohol, sedatives in blood of pool victim