Preventative Lifeguarding

the swimmer out to too far in a strong [Music] undertoe he's too tired to make it back to the beach [Music] popular beaches like here at Daytona Beach Florida each lifeguard is part of a well organized and efficient team which can mobilize in seconds to deal with emergencies constant vigilance and good Communications along the beach bring a support team to help with the rescue [Music] [Music] an excellent demonstration by skilled [Music] lifeguards the community swimming pools and lakes in your town may seem tiny compared to that huge beach in Daytona but the principles of effective lifeguarding are the same everywhere FL is down you may not need two-way radios to communicate between guards you better have a telephone handy to contact the rescue squad a doctor of the police department and those emergency numbers should be posted right here by the phone I can tread for about [Music] 20 you may not need rescue trucks to get around your facility but you should have rescue equipment ready to handle emergencies a first aid kit is a must blankets stretchers backboards reaching poles and lines also should be handy and of course guards should be thoroughly trained in first aid skills your guard towers may not have to be four stories high but guard should be stationed on elevated stands high enough to see their assigned areas clearly and it's important to be able to see clearly below the surface too if you can see a 7in black disc on the bottom of the deepest part of the pool you'll be able to easily spot any Swimmers at that depth this is also a good indication of the cleaniness of the water to help keep the water sparkling clean and sanitary swimmers should be required to take a hot soap shower before entering the pool area and this rule should be strictly enforced by pool staff most people think of lifeguards as Life Savers ready to LEAP into the water at a moment's notice to bring back swimmers in trouble and this is an important part of the job but the main function of the Lifeguard is to prevent accidents and injuries preventive lifeguarding involves strict enforcement of pool rules and an awareness of the danger areas and Hazards at the swimming site ladders can be danger areas that demand special attention they should never be used as gymnastic equipment and guards should be quick to enforce rules against this sort of activity running on the decks is an obvious Hazard that should be prohibited guards can often use situations like this as a way to point out safety rules to swimmers now you boys were running I said stop running but once you look at this see what's happened to this young boy running around the deck he's slipped and he's ready to fall down and crack the back of his head maybe hurt himself badly also you want to be considered of other people because in running around you may not fall but you may run into somebody else and hurt them and you wouldn't want that to happen would you we don't want you to get hurt because we want you to come back every day all summer long and swim but we want you to swim and have fun and swim safely diving areas are another build-in Hazard at most pools for everyone's protection the diving area should be physically separated from the swimming area here it is done with a Lifeline no swimmers should be allowed in the diving area hazards in the diving areas can be minimized by being sure that only one person at a time is allowed on the diving board one bounce to the dive with all Dives made from the front of the board all divers should be required to swim directly to the exit point before the next dive is made diving from the pool deck into the diving area is dangerous hey son don't dive in front of the board an alert guards will prevent it the same goes for diving into shallow water see it's only 3 and 1/2 ft deep here even with a racing dive you may hit the bottom of the pool so if you want to make that kind of dive go downwards about 6 ft deep that way it' be a lot safer all right even well-designed swimming facilities have blind spots areas which are difficult for the guard to see because of the sun angle or physical obstructions it's a good idea for the guard to send an aid to keep an eye on swimmers in blind spots by the way one of the most often neglected blind spots is right under the guard [Music] stand at camps and lakes that have organized groups entering and leaving the Waterfront area a tag check-in system is strongly recommended each swimmer is assigned a number and as he enters the Waterfront he places his tag in the in column when he leaves he puts it back in the out column this system gives guards and instructors an easy and immediate way of accounting for all swimmers just as pools should have the diving area separated Camp waterfronts should have separate areas designated for different water activities this well-designed Waterfront has a diving area at the far end and enough swimming areas of different depths for several classes to be carried on simultaneously lifeguards are always on [Music] duty class count off by one one 2 three four 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 now stand next to your buddy during swimming classes and whenever possible during free swimming instructors and lifeguards should insist on us of the buddy system frequent buddy checks like this keep swimmers aware of the importance of having someone in the water with them to help out if necessary group number one come [Music] back no lifeguard can maintain peak alertness hour after hour without breaks that's why build-in relief periods should be part of every lifeguard team attend minute break each hour with periodic rotation of assigned positions is one commonly used system whatever procedure is used a LIF guard may never leave his assigned area until he is properly relieved than in these few minutes we've tried to point out some of the ways lifeguards can prevent accidents a good look around your swimming facility will probably suggest to you many common sense ways you can put these techniques to practical use spite of all your efforts though accidents and water emergencies occasionally will happen and when they do the Lifeguard becomes a lifesaver specific techniques for handling water emergencies are covered in other films in this series the job of lifeguarding is not glamorous or romantic at times it could be monotonous dull and exhausting work but if you approach the job with a professional attitude and keep up to date on the latest skills and techniques you'll find meaningful rewards and you earn the respect of your colleagues as well as the swimmers you're there to protect [Music]