The Lifeguarding
A lifeguard is a rescuer who supervises the safety and rescue of swimmers, surfers, and other water sports participants such as in a swimming pool, water park, spa, beach or river. Lifeguards are strong swimmers and trained in CPR/AED first aid, certified in water rescue using a variety of aids a…
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To summarize, here are the steps to becoming a lifeguard:
Upon completion of the course, the YMCA will issue a certificate for lifeguarding, CPR, AED, and first aid, which is valid for two years. The YMCA also offers a blended, certified lifeguard training program that typically consists of seven hours of online lessons and around 20 hours of in-person training.
CPD must cover content from the NPLQ syllabus:
Now here is how I beat the lifeguard brick test:
A swimsuit (women: modest one piece is recommended, men: trunks or jammers), a towel, goggles are recommended, pen or pencil, notebook for notes, water bottle, and a lunch/snacks.
Lifeguard recertification can be achieved with Lifeguarding Review classes that refresh your knowledge and skills and update your certification for another two years. To participate in the Lifeguard Review class you must have a current lifeguard certification, or certification expired by no more than 30 days.
Vital Lifeguard SkillsStrong swimming skills.Responsible.Attentive.Patient.Energetic.Physically fit.Ability to remain calm and act quickly.Good customer service.More items...•
You are responsible for the safety and wellbeing of anyone using the waterfront or pool facilities, so reliability is key to prevent unnecessary incidents.
You will be required to renew your qualification after three years from completion of the assessment.
The salaries of Beach Lifeguards in the US range from $10,030 to $169,999 , with a median salary of $30,576 . The middle 57% of Beach Lifeguards makes between $30,577 and $76,881, with the top 86% making $169,999.
Alternative titles for this job include Swimming pool attendant, recreation assistant, beach lifeguard. Lifeguards look after swimming areas, help swimmers to stay safe and carry out rescues in emergencies.
If you're looking for a job with an opportunity to learn, take ownership in your work, and assume more responsibility as you go, lifeguarding is an excellent fit. Remember: lifeguards protect the safety and well-being of anyone who comes to the pool. Few summer jobs can top that in responsibility.
Skills section sample: Your lifeguard toolkitSurveillance Techniques.Excellent Swimming Ability.Attentiveness.CPR, AED and First Aid Certified.Effective Communication Skills.Leadership Skills.
There are four main types of water entries slide-in entry, compact jump, stride jump, and run-and-swim entry. Slide-in is the slowest of the four entries. This technique is used when a victim has a suspected head, neck, or spinal injury.
Safety yellow aids in promoting a team environment because lifeguards easily find their closest teammate for support when they need it most. Red is, and will probably always be, the stereotype for what people think lifeguards wear.
5 Characteristics of a Professional LifeguardReliable. A good lifeguard should be reliable! ... Good communicator. Lifeguarding requires excellent communication skills. ... Highly skilled. It goes without saying that a lifeguard needs to be good at what they do! ... Leadership. ... Professional.
Skills are the expertise or talent needed in order to do a job or task. Job skills allow you to do a particular job and life skills help you through everyday tasks.
Lifeguard Job Requirements and Responsibilities: Warns swimmers of improper activities or danger and enforces pool regulations and water safety policies. Administers first aid in the event of injury, rescues swimmers in distress or danger of drowning, and administers CPR and/or artificial respiration, if necessary.
There is a high probability that as a lifeguard, you will experience an emergency situation. This will require you to think on your feet. When dealing with high stress situations, you will quickly learn how to problem solve while staying calm. It's an important skill you can use in any work or life situation!
Steps to Become a Certified LifeguardEnroll in a lifeguard training program locally.Complete the pre-test to move on to your training.Complete the training course and earn your lifeguard certification.Earn your CPR, First Aid, and AED certification.
Absolutely! Everything gets better with practice, and when considering the importance of being a lifeguard, updating your lifeguard certification is one of the best things you can do.
A re-certification course is only for those who already have a lifeguard certificate, and the prerequisites for a re-certification course are as follows:
Lifeguard refresher courses are very important because they allow you to keep up to date on all the developments within lifeguarding. Lifeguard certifications only last for 2 years, which allows for techniques to be updated and for new techniques to be founded during this time. Therefore, it is important to stay on top of this.
The Lifeguard Recertification course is outlined to review the core knowledge and skills of lifeguarding to recertify the lifeguards. However, when your lifeguard certification has lapsed, you have to retake again the full lifeguarding course, and not the recertification course. This review course is a one-day class, ...
Lifeguard recertification is for those lifeguards who are currently certified to renew their two-year lifeguard certification. After two (2) years of validity, your lifeguard certificate needs a renewal. This also extends your certification for another two (2) years if it has still within 30 days past the expiration date.
The course teaches the professional rescuer to respond to breathing and cardiac emergencies in adults, children, and infants, an emergency. Other than that, they are taught how to recognize a life-threatening emergency, and how to provide the basic life support in the case of an airway obstruction or choking.
The only requirement for the lifeguard training is you must be at least 15 or 16 years old, and you must pass the pre-course swimming skills. Do not disregard when you certification lapses, these recertification is implemented to ensure that you are properly trained and prepared during the times of emergency and accidents in the water.
Have the desire and ability! To be a lifeguard is more than just a job to render. It shapes you into a better individual with the valuable skills you have gained. This is an incredible opportunity that can allow you to develop your personality, skills, and allows you to meet more people.
A lifeguard needs much endurance, since you are required to do prolonged standing, bending, stooping, and stretching while you are on duty.
It is a salient point to be healthy when you are a lifeguard. It can help you do your job responsibilities better by allowing yourself to be alert, cautious, and keen to the signs of potential trouble, and to be able to provide aid safely and confidently in an emergency situation.
You must show that you’re able to tread water for at least 2 minutes using just your legs. You’ll also need to do an event within 1 minute and 40 seconds. Lifeguard participants will need to swim 20 yards, then perform a surface dive to around 7-10 feet deep to retrieve a 10-pound weight.
Going through a lifeguarding review course will also allow you to administer emergency first aid and CPR safely. Being able to perform CPR could save a person's life, so it’s crucial that you know how to do it quickly and correctly.
Is your certification up to date? You may not realize it but it’s essential to take a lifeguard re-certification exam every two years. Ensuring that your qualifications are up to date means you’ll have the knowledge and skills to potentially save someone's life.
To take a review course, The American Aquatics and Safety Training requires all lifeguards to have completed section 1 of the first aid CPR/AED of the Professional Rescuer and section 2 of the Lifeguarding Skills with a minimum pass of 80 percent. You must also attend and actively participate in all classes.
It will expire after two years and you can’t legally be employed as a lifeguard with an expired qualification. Putting yourself through a re-certification class online will mean your skills are up to date and you’ll be able to apply lifesaving measures to a person in trouble.
Lifeguarding is a serious job so it can be daunting, you want to get your training and qualifications right. Don’t worry though, in this article we’ve got some great tips and advice on how to get your updated lifeguard certification. From why you need it to advice on how to pass your exam.
The American Aquatics and Safety Training Lifeguard review course offers two ways of completing the exam, you can either attend all classroom-based training, or if you prefer you can do a mix of classroom and online training.
American Red Cross lifeguarding and water safety students must be at least 15 years old by the last day of class, and pass a pre-course swimming skills test prior to taking our courses.
At the American Red Cross, lifeguarding and water safety courses are available year round – from trained professionals who can help you gain the skills and confidence necessary for providing care and instruction when it's needed most .
Your National Lifeguard Exam will consist of lifeguarding situations , also known as "Sits". Candidates will be faced with a number of situations in which they will be able to demonstrate their ability and skills. See below for the criteria to pass your National Lifeguard exam.
The National lifeguard course is the certification that all lifeguards hold nationwide. This course is a 40-hour long training that consists of physical training as well as learning the theory behind lifeguarding. See below for what is included in the Lifesaving Society's National Lifeguard course.
The purpose of the physical items in the National Lifeguard program are to ensure the lifeguard's physical fitness and ability to rescue victims during the time of emergency. All National Lifeguard candidates are encouraged to train and ensure that they're able to meet these physical requirements prior their course and even after successful ...
Hey there! My pool is not following lifesaving society standards and lots of our guards are very worried. What steps can we take? Our management rejected our request for a safety audit.
Any other Canadian lifeguards feeling rattled from the announcement that the Red Cross is phasing out swimming and water safety/lifeguarding and handing it over to lifesaving society. 98% of my pool’s programming is Red across and now we have to switch everything and retrain all our staff 💀
I'm 15 and just received my NL pool certification, and I'm doing my WSI in the next few months.
Do you demonstrate the in water skills by getting into the water and showing your participants? This includes the rescues, spinals, deep water, etc.? I think it's easiest to do this way, but another LGI at my facility says that LGIs should not get into the water at all.
I'm filling out a job app where I'm listing certifications and I went ahead and put my Red Cross Lifeguarding with CPR/AED for Professional Rescuers and one of the things I have to put is either a state, or "national." Does anyone know if this is valid in *every* state (nationally), or only the state I received it in? And if you have an answer, could you provide the source? I looked all over the red cross site and couldn't find anything about that..
The purpose of a National Lifeguard recertification is to reconfirm that National Lifeguards can perform at the NL standard. You should practice with your coworkers and on your own regularly.
The revised National Lifeguard program puts additional emphasis on physical fitness, which is a cornerstone of lifeguards’ job responsibilities, enabling them to remain vigilant, attentive, and alert to signs of potential trouble and to respond safely and confidently in an emergency.