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Lifeguard Rescue Approaches
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Lifeguard rescue approaches are judged on two things: arriving fast, and arriving in control. A guard who sprints the whole distance and reaches the victim gasping has converted one casualty into a difficult rescue.
How do lifeguard rescue approaches work, up to the final yards?
The swim. Front crawl for speed, breaststroke where you need the victim in sight throughout or the water is crowded. The rescue tube trails behind on its strap, clear of the arms, not clutched to the chest.
The last few yards. This is where the approach is won or lost. Lift the head, slow, and bring the tube forward from behind you into your hands. You must be looking at the victim and holding the tube before you are within their reach.
Contact. The tube goes to the victim, not the guard to the victim. Push it out at arm’s length, or across the chest for a rear approach, so the victim grabs buoyancy rather than the rescuer.
Front or rear
Approach an active victim from behind wherever possible. A victim who cannot see you cannot grab you, and a rear approach lets you position the tube under the arms before they know you have arrived.
A front approach is used when going behind would cost too much time, or when the victim is already submerging. It demands the tube be extended and the guard stay beyond arm’s reach until the victim has hold of it.
Approaching a passive victim
Speed matters more and self-protection matters less, because a passive victim will not grab anyone. Get there, roll them face up supporting the head, clear the airway from the water, and start moving to extrication.
What goes wrong
Three things, consistently. Arriving without the tube in hand, because it was still trailing. Approaching an active victim from the front within reach. And swimming the approach with the head down all the way, arriving at where the victim was rather than where they are now.
Lifeguard rescue approaches: frequently asked questions
What are the correct lifeguard rescue approaches?
The lifeguard rescue approaches are front crawl for speed or breaststroke to keep the victim in sight, with the tube trailing, then head up for the final yards, tube brought into the hands, and the tube extended to the victim rather than the guard closing to arm reach.
Should you approach from the front or the rear?
From the rear wherever possible for an active victim. A victim who cannot see you cannot grab you, and you can position the tube under their arms before they react.
Why keep the head up at the end?
So you arrive where the victim is rather than where they were. A head-down sprint all the way in is how guards surface next to empty water.
Reviewed by Jackie Stern, Lifeguard Instructor, Firefighter and EMT. Jackie Stern has taught lifeguarding for more than 20 years and works as a firefighter, EMT and swim instructor. She reviews course content, prerequisites and rescue standards against current certification requirements.
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