Lifeguard Re-certification

Lifeguard recertification is a review class designed to help you update your skills. Now, who should take this class?

According to the Council of the New York State Department of Health, the lifesaving skills acquired can begin to decline after a few months of retention. Moreover, the statistics have shown that less than half of the participants in recertification can only pass the skill test after one year of training.

Lifeguard recertification is for those lifeguards who are currently certified to renew their two-year lifeguard certification. After two (2) years of validity, your lifeguard certificate needs a renewal. This also extends your certification for another two (2) years if it has still within 30 days past the expiration date.

However, there are some participants that are ineligible due to the differences in the training programs of other organization. Thus, be sure that you are an eligible participant to the training program you are applying.

Each participant must pass the pre-requisite swimming test to be eligible to take the lifeguard recertification, he or she should be able to execute the following:

Swim 300 yards nonstop. First 100 yards is freestyle with a supportive kick and rotary breathing. Second 100 yards is a face in the water, breaststroke with a pull-breath-kick-glide motion. The last 100 yards is freestyle or breaststroke.
The participant should swim 20 yards to retrieve a 10-pound object from 7 feet deep and resurface to the starting position within 100 seconds.

The participant should tread water for 2 minutes with their hands placed underneath their armpits, they should keep their heads clear off the water in a manner that allows for a comfortable breathing.
Some organizations, especially the New York State Department of Health recommends to have a lifeguard refresher every three months to keep your skills and knowledge keen and sharp. This refresher materials are often provided free of charge to those who wants to have it. It demonstrates the standard knowledge and accepted emergency practices.

If you have not acquired a lifeguard certification yet, join the lifeguard training class and you will be taught hands-on skills and comprehension of written exams. The only requirement for the lifeguard training is you must be at least 15 or 16 years old, and you must pass the pre-course swimming skills.

Do not disregard when you certification lapses, these recertification is implemented to ensure that you are properly trained and prepared during the times of emergency and accidents in the water.

The Lifeguard Recertification course is outlined to review the core knowledge and skills of lifeguarding to recertify the lifeguards. However, when your lifeguard certification has lapsed, you have to retake again the full lifeguarding course, and not the recertification course.

This review course is a one-day class, which includes pool recertification, lifeguarding, First Aid, CPR and AED for the Professional Rescuer trainings. The minimum hour for the recertification course is for 4 hours, and may extend to 10 hours if it is a large class.

The course teaches the professional rescuer to respond to breathing and cardiac emergencies in adults, children, and infants, an emergency. Other than that, they are taught how to recognize a life-threatening emergency, and how to provide the basic life support in the case of an airway obstruction or choking.

Cardiopulmonary resuscitation or CPR is a combination of chest compressions and rescue breathing. It is given to maintain perfusion to the victim’s vital organs while attempts are made to restore spontaneous breathing and cardiac rhythm.

They are also trained for First Aid to identify and eliminate potentially hazardous materials in the environment, they are trained to recognize emergencies and make appropriate and quick decisions for first aid care amidst an emergency situation. First aid is the assistance given by a certified provider to any person suffering from a sudden illness or injury. The goal of providing first aid is to preserve life, to prevent the condition from worsening, and to promote recovery.

So much for the requirements and certification, there are also some physical requirements that is needed to become a lifeguard. A lifeguard needs much endurance, since you are required to do prolonged standing, bending, stooping, and stretching while you are on duty. To become a lifeguard you should possess a good eye-hand coordination, with a manual dexterity to manipulate the equipment and activities. Your hearing and eyesight should be in a normal range, to be able to record, prepare and communicate properly. More so, being a lifeguard requires you muscle endurance, you should have the ability to lift a 50 pound.
Take note that this course still needs a strenuous physical activity, thus it is your responsibility to ensure that you are able to deal with this type of activity.

Have the desire and ability! To be a lifeguard is more than just a job to render. It shapes you into a better individual with the valuable skills you have gained. This is an incredible opportunity that can allow you to develop your personality, skills, and allows you to meet more people.

Do not forget to be fit and healthy! It is a salient point to be healthy when you are a lifeguard. It can help you do your job responsibilities better by allowing yourself to be alert, cautious, and keen to the signs of potential trouble, and to be able to provide aid safely and confidently in an emergency situation.

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