Lifeguard Job Description

A lifeguard is a skillful swimmer, who monitors the activities going around and ensures the safety of the swimmers. A lifeguard can be employed in various sectors that consist different types of water bodies. In short, they are present in all the private or public water body areas, where people are allowed to swim. The main objective of a lifeguard is to patrol the water body area and rescue the swimmers who are in danger. Before moving on to the lifeguard job description, let us first know what are the basic requirements to become a lifeguard.

Basic Requirements

The first and foremost basic requirement for becoming a lifeguard is, ability to swim. Moreover, the lifeguard should have a good physique and good presence of mind to work in emergency situations. He/she should be well aware of all the water hazards, that can take place over the swimming pool or the beach. Moreover, one should also have good public relation skills, leadership qualities and quick decision-making skills. He/she should know all the lifesaving techniques, that may be required after rescuing the victim. Many of the communities that hire lifeguards, ask for a current Red Cross Advanced Lifesaving Certificate, as a minimum qualification for becoming a lifeguard. This certification is a mandatory requirement, since, it covers all the important knowledge that a lifeguard should know. Renewal of the certificate is necessary after every three years.

Job Description of a Lifeguard

As mentioned earlier, a lifeguard can be employed in any of the public or private water body, where people are allowed to swim. They are basically trained for ensuring the safety of the people inside the water bodies. The duties and responsibilities of a lifeguard can change with the type of water body he/she is patrolling. Given below are some of the areas where lifeguards can be employed:

• Hotels
• Beaches
• Public swimming pools
• Private swimming clubs
• Municipal recreation departments

The basic duty of a lifeguard is ensuring safety of the swimmers. A lifeguard must always wear the uniform provided to him/her and arrive at the workplace 10 minutes before the allotted time. Usually, lifeguards position themselves such that the whole pool area or the maximum beach area can be easily viewed. They are equipped with high intensity binoculars to view the activities going on around the beach or the pool area. Lifeguard should know all the practical and theory knowledge of Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR). The lifeguards employed for pools may have additional set of duties to perform, like, maintaining cleanliness and quality of the pool water. They should be patrolling the water body area and warn the swimmers if they are not following the rules and regulations set by the committee, that owns the water body. A lifeguard should keep an eye on the facilities provided to the swimmers on the pool. If they notice any unsafe condition in the pool, they must report to the supervisor or the aquatic manager at the earliest. A lifeguard should also consult the aquatic manager when he/she finds scarcity of any important equipment, required for the rescue of a victim.

Salary of a Lifeguard
Lifeguards are usually paid on hourly basis, thus, the average salary of the lifeguard depends on the number of hours he/she has worked. The salary of a lifeguard freshman starts somewhere near $7 per hour. Moreover, the salary also depends on the type of water body that the lifeguard is patrolling. Some people work as lifeguards on seasonal basis, while some work as permanent lifeguards. The salary of these permanent lifeguards is more, as compared to the former. An experienced lifeguard can earn up to $20 per hour. Thus, we can say that the salary range of a lifeguard is somewhere between $7 to $20 per hour.

This was a brief information on lifeguard job description. Many people work as lifeguards during holidays or as a part-time job. Being a lifeguard is a good act of serving humanity. I hope this article has provided you with the details, you were looking for.