An extra safe guard: is in-service training for lifeguards necessary?
Certified on-duty lifeguards are a must at the majority of public and quasi-public aquatic facilities. It’s easy for aquatic supervisors and managers to assume that if a guard is certified, her rescue-skill abilities are high. After all, for a lifeguard to be certified, he must have completed specialized training that includes formal learning sessions, demonstrating rescue, first aid and CPR skills, and a written test. This is a dangerous assumption, however, because many lifeguards need more practice than what the certification process and normal guarding duties demand. Many aquatic facilities choose to hold in-service training sessions for lifeguards. In-service training is supplemental training that’s separate from the certification process; its purpose is to better prepare lifeguards for an aquatic emergency. Although in-service training isn’t required, facilities are encouraged to provide facility-specific training for employed lifeguards. In the 1998 International Lifeguard Surve
