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Who should take the Lifeguarding Class
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Who should take the Lifeguarding Class?
If you are wondering who should take a lifeguarding class? Then it could be you. Lifeguarding can be a great new skill for everyone. You would become a professional rescuer and even know how to save someone's life. With a complete lifeguard certification, you can now apply for that active summer job you've been looking for, or keep your kids safe when they are swimming in the sea or at the pool. You'll be able to increase your own safety and knowledge in the water and also improve your confidence.
Below we will be explaining what it takes to become a certified lifeguard, what you will go through on the course. Skills you will need before enrolling and, most of all, who these kinds of courses are for. If you have been looking for a guide on starting your journey to becoming a certified lifeguard, sit back and relax, and let us dive right in!
Who are Lifeguarding Classes for and how you Taking Lifeguarding Classes?
Lifeguarding classes are for everyone; as long as you're over 15 years old and are already a decent swimmer, an American Aquatics and Safety Training lifeguard certification. could be for you. Taking a lifeguard training course is a great way to gain a new skill that could give you more confidence in the water and give you the knowledge to save someone's life potentially.
New parents are also a great choice for these lifeguard training courses. Beach days with kids or at the local pool are made safer when you successfully complete a lifeguard course.
No matter your age, strength, or knowledge of swimming, as long as you can complete the initial swimming skills test needed to start the course, you can gain all the rescue skills needed to lifeguard at a swimming pool or the beach.
What do I need before I enroll in a course?
Before enrolling in an American Aquatics and Safety Training lifeguard class, there are a few prerequisites that you will need to complete to be accepted. These skills are to show you will finish the tasks necessary for the lifeguard training class.
The first is that you must be at least 15 years of age on or before the course's final session. Second, each candidate must show that they can swim 300 yards, demonstrating their breathing control and rhythmic breathing. The applicant can swim front crawl, breaststroke, or a combination of the two. Swimming on your back or side is not permitted for this opening challenge, but goggles are allowed.
After the front crawl swimming, you must tread water for 2 minutes using only your legs. In this task, you should place your hands under your armpits.
The final challenge before enrolling in the American Aquatics and Safety Training lifeguard class is completing a timed event under 1 minute 40 seconds. This challenge starts in the water. Swim 20 yards with your face in or out of the water without goggles. After this, you need to dive between 7 and 10 feet to retrieve a 10-pound object. Return to the surface with the weight and swim to the starting point with the object in both hands. Swimming underwater isn't permitted for this section.
Finally, exit the water without using any steps or ladders, and the swim test is complete, you are ready to go on your lifeguard course.
What will the course cover?
Through this class, you will gain several skills that will help you protect and save people in and out of the water. This includes rescue skills, caring for the head, neck, back injuries, First Aid and CPR AED skills. These will have to be demonstrated in 3 different rescue scenarios that you will have to successfully complete at the end of your course, along with an exam in which you need to score 80% or higher.
The three final skill scenarios that are needed to be demonstrated are like this;
- The first skill scenario is an active, drowning victim. This is where the victim is conscious but is physically incapable of calling out, grabbing, or waving. The victim is fully consumed with trying to breathe and will be panicking and not be able to concentrate on anything else.
- The second scenario is a submerged, passive drowning victim. In this scenario, the victim will be motionless floating face down. This could be on the bottom or near the surface of the water.
- The final skill scenario is to demonstrate Head, Neck, or Back Injury skills. This can be cared for in several different ways, but in this specific scenario, the victim will be facing down with the student needing to rotate them face up. This can be done in many different ways; it is for the candidate to choose one of the many saves for this purpose.
Honest prerequisites, and who should wait
The entry standard is a 300-yard continuous swim, two minutes of treading water using legs only, and retrieving a 10-pound brick from between 7 and 10 feet of water. Those are not warm-up exercises; they are the floor, and they are assessed before training begins. Candidates who can swim comfortably but have never swum 300 yards without stopping should spend two or three weeks building that distance first. It is far less discouraging than discovering the gap on the morning of the course.
Age matters differently depending on where you intend to work. Pool positions generally accept candidates from 15, waterfront and open-water postings from 16, because the rescue environment is less forgiving and the judgment required is greater. If you are 15 and set on a beach job, it is usually better to certify now, work a season on a pool deck, and move to waterfront the following year with a season of scanning experience behind you.
Some people genuinely should wait. If you are recovering from a shoulder or back injury, if you are not yet confident putting your face in the water, or if you cannot commit to the full in-person session, the course will not go well. It is a physical assessment as much as a class, and there is no partial credit. Nothing is lost by taking it next season instead, and a candidate who arrives prepared has a much better experience than one who arrives hopeful.
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.
About Us
We are a nonprofit that trains and certifies in Lifeguarding, Waterfront Lifeguarding, Junior Lifeguarding, Shallow Pool Lifeguarding, Sexual Harassment Training, CPR/AED, CPR for Lifeguards, First Aid Emergency Oxygen, and swimming lessons.
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