Teen Lifeguard and Rescues

[Anonymous]

My DD is 17 and her friends have all been talking about lifeguarding together this summer. A few of her friends started last summer but DD and another friend would take the training together over spring break. I'm all for DD getting a job and working in the summer but I am a little worried about how she would handle the responsibility of lifeguarding. I know they usually sit around twirling whistles or cleaning but there is still the very real chance an emergency could happen and she would be in a life or death situation and be expected to perform. Have any of your children worked as lifeguards and actually ever had to react in an emergency?

[Anonymous]

Of course. THIS IS WHAT THE TRAINING IS FOR.

[Anonymous]

I'm thinking about this too for my DD. Honestly, I'm steering her away from water parks where there are a zillion kids. And sticking to the quieter, local pools (less risk).

[Anonymous]

I was a lifeguard at 15 and had a rescue within my first two weeks of work. An older guy swimming laps went unconscious and sank all the way to the bottom (10ft) of the pool like an anchor. I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me but I will say my training clicked in and I did what I had to do. I was very petite but was able to bring him to the surface and get him to the side by myself. A co-worker helped me pull him onto the deck and we gave him rescue breaths while waiting for EMS to arrive. Fortunately he came to and rumor has it he had an undiagnosed seizure disorder.
Bottom line, make sure she takes a reputable American Red Cross course and not one of those shady two-day classes some gyms offer. The course length should be between 30 and 40 hours.

[Anonymous]

It’s extremely hard to pass the test. If it isn’t they are not at a good place for training.

You know your kid the best. If you are even remotely unsure then consider steering in the another direction.

If they pass the training and you are still not quite comfortable smaller pools are better. This is not a friend activity after passing the test. I don’t mean they can not work together but as we all know the job is very important and hanging with friends has to be at the bottom of the thought process.

On the other hand I know college kids who made money working part time at their schools pool. Nice gig for students with decent pay. Or small neighborhood pools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Of course. THIS IS WHAT THE TRAINING IS FOR.

+1

OP, why even ask? If 10 people reply and say their kid worked for years and never had a rescue it doesn't matter. If there is one incident, your kid would need to step up.

[Anonymous]

Don’t send the message that your kid who has the swim skills and the full training will be unprepared or will not perform— that’s exactly the wrong thing to do

[Anonymous]

In my opinion, busier pools are better because the guards are more likely to have to deal with emergencies and it becomes second-nature. I know when I worked for a pool management company, all the scary news stories they shared with us were from small, 1 or 2 guard pools where staff was so laid back they completely missed kids dying at the bottom of the pool. Like a PP mentioned, my first rescue was a little frightening but you get used to them and they don't happen constantly. I maybe jumped in once or twice a summer.

[Anonymous]

I am a teacher who also works as a lifeguard instructor for the Red Cross and I will say that the training is very thorough nowadays. Participants have to pass the pre-req swim test, read an entire textbook, watch the videos and spend countless hours in the pool practicing skills. The skills build on one another and the curriculum requires participants to complete many realistic scenarios throughout the course. In fact, one of their final scenarios to pass the course requires them to work as a team to do a full passive, submerged victim rescue from start to finish. This includes everything from pulling the victim up, doing a rapid extraction on the backboard, starting CPR and utilizing an AED. Not to mention the two long written tests that have to be passed with an 80% or higher. If your DD passes the class she should be more than ready.

Now some words of wisdom from a parent of a lifeguard -
1) Never allow your child to work at a single-guard pool like those found at apartments or condos. Any emergency he/she may encounter will require more than one lifeguard to manage according to ARC training.
2) Look for a pool mgmt. company that offers on-going in-service training so that her skills don't degrade over time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am a teacher who also works as a lifeguard instructor for the Red Cross and I will say that the training is very thorough nowadays. Participants have to pass the pre-req swim test, read an entire textbook, watch the videos and spend countless hours in the pool practicing skills. The skills build on one another and the curriculum requires participants to complete many realistic scenarios throughout the course. In fact, one of their final scenarios to pass the course requires them to work as a team to do a full passive, submerged victim rescue from start to finish. This includes everything from pulling the victim up, doing a rapid extraction on the backboard, starting CPR and utilizing an AED. Not to mention the two long written tests that have to be passed with an 80% or higher. If your DD passes the class she should be more than ready.

Now some words of wisdom from a parent of a lifeguard -
1) Never allow your child to work at a single-guard pool like those found at apartments or condos. Any emergency he/she may encounter will require more than one lifeguard to manage according to ARC training.
2) Look for a pool mgmt. company that offers on-going in-service training so that her skills don't degrade over time.

My 16 year old daughter will be in her 3rd summer of lifeguarding. The training described is exactly what she had to do. She had to rescue a kid twice her size in order to pass. She’s a competitive year round swimmer so this is a perfect fit for her. She works at our neighborhood pool where we are members. There are never less than 2 lifeguards and a manager on duty. I wouldn’t want her working for one of the management companies that sends guards everywhere.

[Anonymous]

My son's second week on the job, he was in the chair when a kid slipped on the diving board, whacked his head and fell in the water. My son said he was out of his chair and on his way to assist so fast he doesn't even remember doing it. Kid surfaced and was ok, but he was struck by how well trained he was that he didn't even hesitate. And my kid is kind of dreamy but he took his responsibility very seriously

[Anonymous]

I worked as a lifeguard and lifeguard trainer for ten years. The training as others have said is intensive and thorough and certainly the company I worked for put a great emphasis on the importance of vigilence. They had many safety protocols built in. However as a teen, I don't think I truly fully understood the responsibility I had and in many ways that made the job easier. We still fooled around at times and I feel extremely fortunate that nothing ever went wrong my watch. I liked the adrenaline aspect of rescuing people and don't think I had any understanding of how traumatic it could be if something had gone wrong.

As I got older, I found the job got harder. The teens were still carefree as I had been and I was taking it much more seriously. By then I knew of people who had been guarding during a drowning at another facility and how incredibly traumatic that was for them. I had also come to realize how quick and quietly people drown. I was also aware of how many facilities didn't take training and safety as seriously as we did. We only hired the best guards and when we would not hire someone I would think about where they would get hired and know that the places with lower standards were also getting the guards with less skills / training / ability. The reality of the responsibility was much greater.

I loved guarding - it was a great team job and a great foundation for a career in healthcare. Once I got into healthcare I actually used my guard training more in emergencies and first aid than my healthcare training! Guard training is so many drills, and you train all the time. We did guard competitions and we were constantly focused on improving our skills. It was a fantastic job that I did through college and it was very hard to give up to go into the 'real' world of work. It has been 20 years since I guarded and my co workers from the pool are still some of my closest friends. It can be a job that really bonds people.

It was also great for me to see the business side. In later years I managed one of the pools in the summer and got to learn all about management and running a facility, programs, and overseeing a staff.

[Anonymous]

I was a lifeguard who barely passed the test. I was actually a great lifeguard and could rescue when needed - about once a year. It will help your DD grow up but she can do this. I fooled around with the best of them on breaks but in the chair I knew someone’s life could be in my hands.

Stick to pools bc it is easier to see people struggling than lakes or oceans.

[Anonymous]

I agree with the other posters - she's 17 and wants to work so you should let her go for it. I was 15 when I started working at pools and was a lifeguard at the beach when I was 17. If I could handle the ocean at 17 I'm sure she will be fine with the pool.

[Anonymous]

I was a lifeguard for three summers As a high school student, and rescued a toddler who was in the water under the chair, so hard to see. I think chairs are different now and they don’t create a blind spot.

There are other guards there. She wouldn’t be the only one in an emergency. I blew the whistle to alert fellow guards and then I just scooped the kid out. So I didn’t need anyone else. But if it had been an adult, I would have had help.