Lifeguard
[2] This means that the effectiveness of a lifeguard unit can be measured not by the number or rapidity of rescues, or the skill with which they are executed, but by the absence or reduction of drownings, accidents, and other medical emergencies.
Prevention is an effective skill that is vitally important to a lifeguard because it can aid in maintaining the safety of the aquatic patrons.
[4] Lifeguards may also be required to attend occasional in-service meetings to discuss strategy, patron safety and water skills.
[12] These in-service trainings are meant to serve as practice in order to maintain and develop skills taught during the certification process.
[7] Visits are generally unannounced and may include videoing of on-duty lifeguards, skills evaluations involving a scenario meant to model real life, and vigilance awareness testing.
[13] While performing patron surveillance (usually from an elevated stand or a water-level standing or sitting position) lifeguards watch for and recognize struggling or drowning swimmers, and swimmers with sudden medical conditions such as a stroke, heart attack, asthma, diabetes, or seizures.
The chair or tower can also act as storage for the lifeguard, holding important rescue and communication equipment nearby.
Types of rescue watercraft: Effective communications are vital for lifeguards and they may choose to use whistles, two-way radios, megaphones or signal flares.
Surf Lifesavers are a large voluntary organization that patrol beaches on weekends and public holidays during the warmer months (usually from mid-September to late April) and also perform public training of kids, the nippers, as well as competitions, such as surf carnivals or winter swimming events.
Beach lifeguards in Belgium are trained by the WOBRA[21][22] and are mostly students who are employed for a month during the summer holidays (July and August).
In Brazil, firefighting services, accident assistance, and the rescue of people drowning on beaches, rivers, and lakes are maintained by each state's fire department.
All public pools (both commercial and government) are required to "provide a secure and safe environment" and thus lifeguards.
In Germany three major organizations exist that train people in swimming, lifesaving and which maintain lifeguard services at public beaches, lakes etc.
The DLRG (Deutsche Lebens-Rettungs-Gesellschaft – German Life Saving Society) is the largest aquatic lifeguard organization in the world with more than 1,000,000 members and promoters.
In Germany, anyone who wants to be a ILS Pool Lifeguard equivalent requires the following certification: 'Rettungsschwimmer Silber' (DRSA Silber) In order to attain this, they have to demonstrate various practical and theoretical skills, e.g. 25m distance diving, three deep dives to 3-5m depth retrieving 5kg brick, 300m swimming in clothing in 12 minutes, rescue exercises, and various other skills.
Drishti Marine holds government contracts with a body of 710 professionally trained lifeguards across Goa and Mumbai.
Also Italian Red Cross has a special branch called OPSA[38] (Polyvalent Water Rescue Operators) that has some lifeguards duties in some parts of Italy.
Additionally, many local rescue teams have one or more disaster units which can be called in case of major flooding anywhere in the country.
Lifeguards have to earn their Lifesaving 1, 2 and 3 awards before they are allowed to move on to Bronze Medallion which is the minimum requirement for employment in most Singapore pools.
The International Lifeguard Society and Royal Spanish Rescue and Lifesaving Federation[40] are a couple of the prominent organizations.
[42] These clubs recruit new members into the Lifeguard niche by way of their nipper and Junior Lifesaving Award programs.
In Taiwan there are three main lifesaving organizations providing lifeguard licenses and training, one is called National Water Life Saving Association Republic of China (NWLSAROC) another is called The Red Cross Society of the Republic of China and National Chinese Surf Life Saving Association(NCSLSA).
[46] A full Pool Lifeguard course lasts a minimum of 36 hours and ends with external examiners testing the individuals both on land and in the water and includes an examination paper (verbal in Generation 8 NPLQ, however this has been replaced with multiple choice questions in the new Generation 9, consisting of three sections; first aid, lifeguarding situations and pool specifics).
They are trained in lifeguarding, first aid and CPR and are typically stationed at beaches, pools, or other bodies of water where there is a risk of drowning.
[48] The three alternative schemes for qualifying beach lifeguard in the UK are run by the Royal Life Saving Society UK, who offer the 'National Vocational Beach Lifeguard Qualification' (NVBLQ), Surf Life Saving Wales and Surf Life Saving Great Britain (in association with the Royal National Lifeboat Institution) who offer the 'National Rescue Standards Beach Lifeguard Qualification' (NaRS BL).
Inland water sites such as lakes, rivers and estuaries – typically where there is a specific need, such as sports competitions or public events.
Typically in the UK voluntary groups of this type are either local to that particular stretch of water or provide a service across the country.
[58] The American Red Cross, USLA and Ellis and Associates establish standards which are universally adopted for lifeguard training.
In Australia, the annual Surf Lifesaving competition at Kurrawa Beach on the Gold Coast is the largest athletic event in the world after the Olympic Games with tens of thousands of lifeguards competing.
Purely physical competitions have recently become more popular, often including various combinations of running, swimming, paddle boarding, and surf skiing.
