Helping staff or prospective employees renew or acquire lifeguard certifications
What Recreation Managers Need to Know about Lifeguard Certifications
If you need certified lifeguards for your business or facility, you may need to take an active role in helping potential candidates get certified or renew their expiring certifications. Scheduling required courses has been challenging lately, and we want to keep you updated so you can navigate these changes.
Experienced lifeguards can take a shorter review-only course to renew their certification. However, if they let their certification go beyond the 30 day grace period, they will need to take the full-length training course to become recertified.
Have your Employees Met the Prerequisites for Lifeguard Certification?
If your employee turns 15 this summer, that is old enough to enroll in the Lifeguard Certifications Course. They must pass a swim test, including:
- swimming 300 yards continuously with rhythmic breathing using any combination of front crawl or breaststroke
- treading water for 2 minutes without the use of their hands
- retrieving a 10 lb. brick from a depth of 7-10ft and exit the water without using a ladder or stairs in under a minute and forty seconds
To obtain certification, participants must attend all class sessions (no exceptions), demonstrate competency in all rescue skills and practical exams, and pass the written exams with a score of at least 80 percent.
Lifeguard Instructor & Instructor Trainer Certifications that were extended due to Covid-19 shutdowns will be expiring at the end of this summer.
If you have employees with Lifeguard Instructor or Instructor Trainer Certifications that were granted an extension due to Covid-19, that extension expires on August 31st. They will have a 30-day grace period which means they will need to have their re-certification course completed and passed by September 30th.
Prerequisites for the Lifeguard Trainer/Instructor Review Course
Instructors and instructor trainers must have a current, or less than 30 days expired, American Red Cross Lifeguard Instructor/Trainer Certification. Instructors must have taught or co-taught a full or review core Lifeguarding course within the last two years. Instructor trainers must also have taught or co-taught a full or two review LGI courses within the last two years. Participants are also required to have:
- instructor manual
- participant manual
- hip pack
- separate adult and infant rescue masks or Seal Easy Mask
What Will Be Covered?
All Lifeguard courses cover the following skills and test participants on:
- Water skills
- First Aid
- CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation)
- AED (use of automated external defibrillator)
American Red Cross Lifeguard courses are designed and taught by leading industry professionals and use the latest safety and rescue techniques.
Upcoming Lifeguard and Lifeguard Instructor Trainer Courses
To get started on lifeguard training or instructor courses, you can view our list of available classes for aquatics on our calendar. Should your desired course be filled at this time, please sign up for our waitlist to be in the next open class. Upcoming lifeguard training events are coming soon!