Lifeguard in-service training: who benefits?

Who will benefit from effective lifeguard in-service training? The answers seem simple and perhaps too obvious. Certainly anyone helped by a lifeguard will consider himself or herself the beneficiary of effective lifeguard in-service training. Our community park boards or private owners should appreciate that in-services provide important training and preparation. And onsite managers should expect to see improved lifeguard performance. These obvious answers can easily fail to include the most significant participant in any supervised aquatic event--the professional lifeguard. In-service training will benefit the professional lifeguard both now, on today's job site, and in his or her future.

Training films for the National Pool and Waterpark Lifeguard Training Program include interviews with lifeguards who have professionally managed critical incidents and rescues. When asked to review the importance and value of his in-service training, one of the lifeguards interviewed recalled that while he was shaking, he knew exactly what to do. Effective in-service trainings prepare lifeguards to perform during an incident. Equally important, that preparation translates into confident response and performance and enables the individual to continue with his or her personal and professional life after an incident.

As aquatics managers, we all schedule and assign lifeguards to perform the one essential, professional duty that only they can perform--preventing drownings. Any staff member or even our guests can enforce our pool rules. Our lifeguards may not be able to keep a child from running or falling on our pool deck, or prevent a swimmer from suffering some distress and needing assistance or rescue, but they can prevent drownings if we enable and require them to maintain constant vigilance. As our aquatic programs move away from the conventional attitude of "pools for use by accomplished swimmers only" and welcome more diverse guests and activities, we incur greater exposure to health emergencies and accidents. Critical incidents will occur, but vigilant lifeguards will prevent those incidents from progressing to drownings.

Integrate Skills

Effective lifeguard in-service training integrates experience, judgment and rescue skills. Would you accept this as a working definition or description of effective lifeguard in-service training? Effective lifeguard in-service training develops the lifeguards' ability to prevent drownings by providing them an opportunity to integrate their experience, their judgment and their rescue skills.

We can all anticipate that a "real deal" critical incident immediately presents limitless opportunities for panic and complete chaos. Professional incident management requires teamwork, poise and self-confidence. Lifeguards must be able to quickly prioritize and implement highly skilled, coordinated responses. To be effective and realistic, in-service must:

* Require the lifeguard team to anticipate, recognize and manage a variety of incidents. Effective incident management requires that a lifeguard's basic rescue skills be adaptable and responsible to a variety of possible situations. We can certainly foresee an incident which would indicate immobilizing a guest for a potential cervical injury. But if the guest has recovered to a kneeling position, the lifeguard will not have to turn the guest from a face-down to a supine position. An in-service program that stresses realism will identify if your lifeguards have the mistaken impression that all spinal victims will be facedown.

Effective incident management also requires a lifeguard to possess more than basic rescue skills, and we want to avoid conducting in-services that teach lifeguards that their job entails only water rescue skills.

We have learned that including all the elements and signals of our EAS protocol built our lifeguards' understanding of their part in a comprehensive response system, especially when they weren't the primary rescuer.

If your protocol for rescue breathing or CPR includes use of a pocket mask or barrier shield, be sure to include actual use of the equipment in your in-service trainings.

* Break down the lifeguard's natural self consciousness and reluctance to initiate action. Most of us will go to great lengths to avoid drawing attention to ourselves. When we began scheduling our in-service trainings during our public hours and sessions, we witnessed an increase in our lifeguards' poise and serf-assurance. Our guests' positive responses to our lifeguards' performance increased our lifeguards' confidence and helped them realize that our guests really do appreciate and respect them.

* Include the benefits of an element unique and central to our profession. Effective in-service trainings must certainly include the elements that will be present in a "real deal." But before you break out the fake blood and simulated fractures, remember the benefits of an element central to the very essence of our profession: Hay. Professional lifeguards can learn some very serious skills and acquire some serious abilities through serious play.

* Induce stress or place the lifeguard under pressure to perform. The positive stress experienced in "fun" situations can also build confidence and abilities that will serve a lifeguard well during a serious incident. We have learned that individual and team competitions during in-service trainings require quick choices and actions. We frequently include a line drill which requires the lifeguard to sequentially manage an active victim on the surface, a submerged victim and a passive victim. Participants build endurance and learn the value of perseverance while being encouraged by those watching.

* Place the lifeguard in unique, unusual or unanticipated situations. An effective rescue may require the lifeguard to maneuver around some guests to reach the guest in distress. The tailing actions of a guest requiring rescue may actually prevent the lifeguard from clearly seeing the guest even after he or she makes contact. To introduce that reality, and to include some fun, we blindfold either the rescuer, the "guest" or even both the rescuer and the "guest." A lifeguard wearing a blindfold quickly learns that he or she doesn't have to be sighted to achieve an affective rescue. A blindfolded "guest" actually behaves more realistically because he or she is unable to anticipate and respond to the rescuer's actions. If you choose to try this drill, put a third lifeguard (with a rescue tube) in the water to call or direct the rescuing lifeguard to the "guest." When our staff trains during public sessions, our real guests actually cheer for the blindfolded lifeguard as he or she completes the rescue.

Professional lifeguards must be able to perform the duties unique to their responsibilities. A guest may suffer a fatal accident despite the most valiant efforts of a lifeguard. But professional lifeguards, properly sited and held accountable for constant vigilance and professional performance, will prevent drownings. Effective in-services will build a lifeguard's ability to prevent drownings. But as recreation professionals, we appreciate that play can make a unique contribution to the very serious business of saving lives.