LIFEGUARD CERTIFICATION CHALLENGES | ALA

By Sara J. Wheeler 1 year ago

Public service comes in many different ways and becoming a lifeguard is one of the best ways to serve your fellow citizens while having fun in the water. For this purpose, you need lifeguard certification from a recognized institute. to get a certificate in this form of public service you need to be physically fit and have a positive attitude. These two qualities will earn you a lifeguard certificate from your respective institute. They give you a certificate according to your swimming skills and physical strength with a positive attitude.

What Is A Lifeguard

You have seen many people in places where people go to enjoy open waters for swimming and surfing. These places are pools and beaches and even lakes. to ensure the safety of people enjoying surfing and swimming in these places there are certain people who are serving as guards to save people who might be caught up in a dangerous situation. These people who are serving to save people in these kinds of places are called lifeguards. They are experts and certified in areas of swimming and rescuing in water.

Responsibilities

One of the major responsibilities of these lifeguards is to save the lives of people by ensuring that people are following the rules and regulations of that pool or beach. Besides this, they also have responsibilities for which they have trained in areas of mountain climbing, deep water diving, and providing first aid to people in emergency situations. 

To fulfil these responsibilities you must be physically fit, so to get certified as a lifeguard you must meet certain criteria where following things are must:

  • your age
  • Physical strength
  • Good swimming skills
  • Life-saving abilities
  • Positive attitude 

These things are considered to be the key elements to ensure your ability to fulfil the responsibilities to save lives and serve people.

When you start the lifeguard training to become a professional, you are not only training your physical abilities but also you are being trained to become mentally strong to handle the difficult situations of emergency with a positive attitude. There are different training programs for different types of water places. The supervisors and administrators share their experiences of beaches and pools respective to your training programs. There are basic skill programs and then there are advanced-level programs, so making the right choice is a challenge. 

Also Read About: What class do you take to have your lifeguard certification?

Some of the better choices of courses are:

  • The first aid
  • Cardiopulmonary resuscitation course (CPR)
  • Automated external defibrillation (AED)

During a lifeguard course, you will learn to:

  • Identify and prevent common land emergencies.
  • Avoid distractions.
  • Work together with the rest of the lifeguard team.
  • Activate your facility’s Emergency Action Plan (EAP).
  • Interact appropriately with customers.
  • Perform CPR and use an Automated External Defibrillator (AED), a piece of equipment that can help shock the heart into a normal rhythm.
  • Provide first aid and emergency care.
  • Properly scan a body of water to ensure all customers are safe and abide by the rules.
  • Identify water-based emergencies.
  • Perform water rescues for distressed swimmers and drowning victims.
  • Remove victims from the water.
  • Respond appropriately to a victim with a head, neck, or back injury.
  • Dash a victim in the water or on land when a head, neck, or back injury is suspected, this helps prevent movement that could cause further injury.
  • Act as a secondary rescuer, assisting the primary rescuer in a variety of tasks.
  • Complete the paperwork and report after an emergency.

Each program has its own specific criterion and requirement that depends on your knowledge of that area and basic skills for that program. Good swimming skill is the basic thing for being able to register for any program at any institution. The American Lifeguard Association offers a number of lifeguard training programs to choose from. They have programs for teenagers and grown-ups, for shallow water and for deep water. When you are looking for a lifeguard training program and lifeguard certification near me, please check The American Lifeguard Association programs on their online platform. They are located all over the country and have training centres in all major cities. To work as a certified lifeguard to earn the status of a lifesaver, The American Lifeguard Association (ALA) is just waiting for you around the corner.