MONDAY/ WEDNESDAY 12-1:15DETTMERJANUARY 28, 2001How to Become a LifeguardAfter long summers of lounging around the pool having other people watch you from the tall white stands, your parents tell you that you need to get a job if you want to have gas to drive your car around with friends. So if the ideas of being indoors and not going back to school with a great tan frighten you then you should definitely think about being a lifeguard. Your friend who is a lifeguard tells you that the YMCA (Young Men’s Christian Association) is hiring kids that are sixteen years old and up. You decide that you want to get paid to get tan and the pay is awesome as most starting guards get paid at $7.00 by the hour.To achieve this great tan one must sign up for the three-week course that the YMCA offers for $100. During the three-week course, you learn how to spot potential victims and accidents. You will also learn how to communicate with pool patrons who have lost their children and those who are breaking the rules. Not, only do they teach you how to watch the pool, but they teach you about skin safety. You learn about which hours are the worst times to be out in the sun and how much SPF to use during those times and how to inform patrons about sun skin safety. Its not all by the book; you will have to get into the water to show your swimming ability and practice techniques, such as how to enter the pool when someone has a spinal injury. Also you need to learn how to deal with victims who are in shock and ways to approach victims who are delusional. You will learn to be assertive with the rules, and when it is necessary to use your whistle. They teach you when to close the pool in emergencies and how it is appropriate to close the pool during thunderstorms. You will also learn to work as a team with your fellow guards, how to use the tube, and the correct ways to clean out the pool with the vacuum.To be a successful lifeguard, you m...
