Lifeguard Courses

The courses can be taught at any facility that has a 25 meter/yard pool.

Course Purpose 

​The primary purpose of the American Red Cross Lifeguarding program is to train lifeguards to act with speed and confidence in emergency situations both in and out of the water. Topics include:
  • Prevent, recognize and respond to aquatic emergencies.
  • Provide professional-level care for breathing and cardiac emergencies, injuries, and sudden illnesses until emergency medical services (EMS) professionals take over.
  • Water rescue skills, surveillance, and recognition.
  • First aid, breathing and cardiac emergencies
  • CPR, AED and more.
Courses and support tools have undergone a refresh and revise process resulting in new tools to support training, updated content, a new look to the manuals and updated outlines for teaching and evaluating participants. The r.24 program reflects the latest emergency cardiovascular care (ECC) science.

Course Prerequisites ​

To participate in the Lifeguarding course, participants must:
  • Be at least 15 years old on or before the final scheduled session of the Lifeguarding course.
  • Successfully complete the two prerequisite swimming skills evaluations:
​Prerequisite 1: Complete a swim-tread-swim sequence without stopping to rest:
  • Jump into the water and totally submerge, resurface then swim 150 yards using the front crawl, breaststroke or a combination of both. (Swimming on the back or side is not permitted. Swim goggles are allowed).
  • Maintain position at the surface of the water for 2 minutes by treading water using only the legs.
  • Swim 50 yards using the front crawl, breaststroke or a combination of both
​Prerequisite 2: Complete a timed event within 1 minute, 40 seconds:
​
  • Starting in the water, swim 20 yards. (The face may be in or out of the water. Swim goggles are not allowed).
  • Submerge to a depth of 7 - 10 feet to retrieve a 10-pound object.
  • Return to the surface and swim 20 yards on the back to return to the starting point, holding the object at the surface with both hands and keeping the face out at or near the surface.
  • Exit the water without using a ladder or steps.

Certification Requirements

​To earn certification, participants must:
  • Complete all online course content in advance of the corresponding in-person sessions.
  • Attend the entire course and participate in all class sessions.
  • Actively participate in all course activities, including assuming various roles during skill practices,
  • Skill drills, activities and scenarios.
  • Demonstrate proficiency in all skills.
  • Pass the final written exam with a minimum grade of 80 percent.
  • Pass the final skill assessments.

Certification

  • Participants who successfully complete the Lifeguarding course will be issued the following American Red Cross certificate: Lifeguarding (Including Deep Water) with CPR/AED for Professional Rescuers and First Aid OR Shallow Water Lifeguarding (Water up to 5′, 6' or 7') [dependent on the facility's water depth]. Certification is valid for 2 years.
  • To maintain the Lifeguarding certification, a currently certified lifeguard must successfully complete the American Red Cross Lifeguarding Renewal course.

Course Objectives

​During their training, participants are required to demonstrate knowledge acquisition and skill competency in four main areas:
  • Foundational lifeguarding concepts (recognizing distress and drowning, surveillance and scanning, and recognizing and preventing injury)
  • Water rescue and extrication
  • Resuscitation (including CPR/AED for Professional Rescuers) and first aid for adults, children, and infants
  • Individual and team rescue and response

The following are high-level program objectives:
  • Demonstrate the professionalism required for working as a lifeguard.
  • List the lifeguard’s responsibilities related to ensuring a safe physical environment for patrons.
  • Understand the lifeguard’s critical role in preventing death and disability from drowning.
  • Identify the behaviors of a swimmer, a distressed swimmer, an active drowning person and a passive drowning person.
  • Demonstrate proper technique for scanning and rotations.
  • Describe the general procedure to follow when responding to a water emergency.
  • Demonstrate how to safely and effectively perform assists to persons in the water.
  • Demonstrate how to safely and effectively rescue a person when they are at or near the surface of the water or submerged.
  • Demonstrate how to safely and effectively extricate a person from the water using rapid extrication techniques.
  • Demonstrate how to safely and effectively rescue and extricate a person from the water using spinal motion restriction techniques.
  • Describe the general procedure to follow when responding to a medical emergency.
  • Demonstrate care for respiratory arrest using a resuscitation mask and a bag-valve-mask (BVM) resuscitator.
  • Demonstrate high-quality CPR and use of an automated external defibrillator (AED) as a single rescuer and as part of a multiple-rescuer team response with up to 4 rescuers.
  • Demonstrate the ability to work as part of a team to implement an emergency action plan (EAP), perform a rapid and secondary assessment and provide resuscitative or first aid care.
  • Recognize and care for sudden illnesses and injuries that may affect people in an aquatic facility.

How to Register

Click on the Course Dates & Cost Button Below

Questions? Email us at [email protected]

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Chesapeake, Virginia

We provide swim lessons conveniently located in the Great Bridge, Hickory and Grassfield areas
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