What is an aquatic lifeguard or a lifeguard :

An aquatic lifeguard or lifeguard, formerly called a lifeguard, is a person trained and accredited to monitor, prevent and attend, whose main mission is to guarantee safety, but who provides an immediate response of aquatic rescue and/or basic emergency care to those who are in a situation of emergency. the danger in or around the water, in the aquatic areas of tourism, recreation, and sport, such as swimming pools, rivers, lakes, or beaches; these being the main tasks of aquatic rescue as a recognized profession in many parts of the globe, that some local or regional authorities have instituted the protection of those who come to these sites.

American lifeguard association:

American Lifeguard and Safety Training™ with the lowest price guarantee. Individual and group training can be completed anytime/anywhere to get certified right away with the support of employers and government agencies nationwide.The American Lifeguard Association (ALA) has been offering training for over 30 years. It is a national educational association that has the full support of both the Swimming Pool and Spa Association and Global Lifeguards, a nonprofit 501(c) (3) organization. These organizations are all members of the Global Lifeguard Association, which make up one of the largest worldwide aquatic consortiums and has certified over 250,000 individuals, and saved countless lives over the past quarter of a century. The American Lifeguard Association helps with the development of testing protocols and the administration of health and safety programs like lifeguard courses near me , lifeguard certification,etc at swimming pools, waterparks, waterfronts, and beaches.

What these people have done:

These men and women have as their main task the anticipation and prevention of risk behaviors or conditions that may lead to unfortunate incidents within their surveillance zone, with constant scanning and attention calls, as well as carrying out rescue maneuvers when outside. necessary. Lifeguards need to be physically fit, highly motivated, and able to respond responsibly to dangerous and emergency situations our service lifeguard certification near me prepares lifeguards to be mentally and physically fit to deal with these kinds of situations.

The term lifeguard:

The term lifeguard (from the English Lifeguard ) was mentioned for the first time at a meeting of the National Aquatic Safety Council of the United States of America in 1983, to imply that the role of lifeguards (a lifesaver in English) had changed from expected to situations that arise, to run, to attend to them, to adopt and seek preventive measures aimed at minimizing the potential risks that can lead to a dangerous situation, which makes rescue or first aid necessary.

A lifeguard (also known as a lifeguard in South America ) is responsible for the safety and well-being of people, particularly in an aquatic area and the areas adjacent to or surrounding it. Your priority is to ensure that no harm occurs to users in your area of ​​responsibility. Although this responsibility is often paid, there are also volunteers.

These professionals:

These professionals are capable of providing all the elements to help prevent drowning (or other emergencies) in their area of ​​responsibility and for this reason, this should be the primary focus of the activities that define their work "save lives", be the best. stopping an event before it occurs as in reacting to one in progress.

  • Their training is oriented around seven axes:

  • Recognize risk conditions that can become dangerous situations.
  • Tell visitors to your surveillance zone what the risks are
  • Recognize the victim(s) in a situation of danger in the water.
  • Entering the water in pursuit of the victim(s)
  • Swim to reach the victim(s)
  • Extract the victim(s) from the dangerous situation back to shore or to a safe place
  • Provide basic first aid if required.
  • Swimming styles in water rescue 

Within the aquatic rescue, at the moment of making assistance or rescue in the water, several swimming styles are used to be able to approach the victims and the elemental swimming techniques require certain variations in order not to lose sight of it. These styles are:

Front crawl:

Front crawl lifeguard (called freestyle swimming): It has two mechanisms: Freestyle with the head out of the water and, as long as the conditions allow it so that visual contact with the victim is not lost, freestyle with the head can be used out of the water alternately, where the head is hidden and brought out every couple of strokes.

  • Lifeguard breaststroke (called breaststroke): in which you always have eye contact with the victim.
  • Side, Scissor, or Marinera style ( over in English): it is used to tow the victims towards the nearest shore.
  • Towing or dragging styles of victims 
  • Underarm Trailer
  • tow by the chin
Also, read about lifeguards' training:Job Description of a Professional Lifeguard

Through the armpits:

 The victim is placed on his back, on top of the belly of the lifeguard who grabs his armpits with both hands, propelling himself towards the shore making the same leg movement as in the breaststroke style, but face up. The victim must be conscious.

Chest Crossing: 

The victim is placed face up, one arm is crossed from the shoulder to one armpit and pressed against the body. The lifeguard will carry her against him, supported on the side and hip and will use the scissors swimming style to bring her to shore.

Whiplash Victim Towing: 

This type of tow is the most complicated if material is not available, since the rescuer must form a collar around the victim with their hands and arms. It is performed when it is presumed that the cause of drowning is a strong blow that could have caused a cervical injury and, surely, unconsciousness. The rescuer should place both hands around the neck, one on the jaw and the other at the base of the skull, and will place their forearms close to his body, in line with the sternum and spine. So the lifeguard should swim sideways, always trying not to misalign their arms. If the victim was face down, they will first be held in this way and then the rescuer will dive into the water and turn around the drowned person to turn them face up without making any sudden movements.

Tow by the chin (deprecated):

 With the victim on their back, the rescuer will hold their jaw with one hand, so that one of the victim's arms is wrapped by the rescuer's arm. That is, the lifeguard's arm will go through the victim's armpit and hold his jaw, so he will have an arm to swim faster to the nearest shore. It is essential that the victim is conscious and that he has not suffered any blow, since he could suffer a cervical injury.

Neck tow (in disuse): For unconscious victims, the lifeguard will grab the base of the skull with one hand (supination), and with his free arm he can help himself to pull the victim out of the water while giving a breaststroke or side kick ( always keeping the airways of the unconscious person out of the water). For this type of trailer, you need to have quite a bit of arm strength.