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A collection of guides for lifeguarding and teaching swimming

Welcome 👋, jump to a section 👇

  • Dive into 🛟 Lifeguarding

    A thorough introduction to lifeguarding and the priority action approach

  • Kick it with 🏊‍♂️ Teaching Swimming

    Learn to effectively teach swimming.

  • Ask away in Github Discussions

    Ask questions and get answers from other lifeguards.

  • Take a look at the Blog!

    Life's too short. Read the blog.

What this guide hopes to achieve?

I've long been frustrated by the lack of ready information of how to lifeguard. Sure you will find some information in the Lifesaving Society's Alert Lifeguarding manual. But I've personally found that most of the information is pretty vague.

It does have some pretty interesting stuff regarding the general principles of lifeguarding. But when it comes to practical application and first aid skills. If definetely lacking.

Most of what you learn comes from actual instructors. What I found is that I'd learn it for a course and then quickly forget it. Too often I wouldn't take notes so would be guessing to what the answer is. Often relearning something many times over. Unless you're applying something on a daily basis, you're gonna forget.

The other issue is that most lifeguarding courses assume you learned all your first aid skills from your standard first aid course. Theoretically they should be teaching you the full scene and primary survey and how to apply it. The reality is often they dumb it down as most people are not gonna need all the details. Most people take it simply because their job requires the certification.

The unfortunate result for the future lifeguard is that their first aid education is greatly lacking. Well this is what I am hoping to solve. I want to combine general lifeguarding principles with their applications. Think of this guide as your handy cheat sheet.

About the author

Hi 👋, I am Harrison. I've been a lifeguard for over 5 years in Langley, British Columbia. Throughout my years as a guard, I've dealt with many various situations. Hopefully I can pass on some useful information.

Resources

  • Your most useful resource in addition to lifeguarding principles is a thorough understanding of first aid. An essential book to have is the Canadian First Aid Manual by the Lifesaving Society. It is extremely detailed and contains everything you need to know regarding first aid.

  • Additional useful lifeguarding information can be found in the Lifesaving Society's bulletins. These are packed with useful information that is hard to find elsewhere. Go to resources and click Resources for Lifeguards.

Disclaimers

The information in this guide is user contributed and specific to the standards set in British Columbia, Canada. Always refer to your local lifeguarding body's guidelines.