Help my son feel comfortable with lifeguarding
October 16, 2014 2:55 PM Subscribe
My son (16yo) completed a one week lifeguarding course but did not do the assessment. He's excellent in the water, but really uncomfortable doing the speaking to casualties side of it, especially the role play that has to be done as part of the assessment.
Do you have any tips for him to either help him feel comfortable enough to do the assessment, or any other words of advice?
We're in the UK and he'll also be reading your answers.
Thanks for any help!
What about the assessment process makes him uncomfortable? Will he be working with dummies or with live people standing in as victims?
For whatever it's worth, I lifeguarded year-round from ages 15-24 (yes, it got me through high school and college) and the closest I came to an actual casualty was a toddler, in floaties, who floated too far out and had to be retrieved. He was mostly freaked out, but no other damage incurred. I found it to be a great part-time job for the money and flexibility, and I was able to swim for free before/after my shifts.
His MMV in open water settings, of course, but if he's going to lifeguard at a lap pool or similar, the chances of his involvement with casualties is very low. He should be prepared and stay on top of his training, of course, in case something does happen. But for the most part, it's long stretches of time spent staring into water and yelling at kids to stop running. He might have to clean bathrooms--honestly, that was the most traumatic experience I had in 9 years of that work!
posted by magdalemon at 3:18 PM on October 16, 2014
For whatever it's worth, I lifeguarded year-round from ages 15-24 (yes, it got me through high school and college) and the closest I came to an actual casualty was a toddler, in floaties, who floated too far out and had to be retrieved. He was mostly freaked out, but no other damage incurred. I found it to be a great part-time job for the money and flexibility, and I was able to swim for free before/after my shifts.
His MMV in open water settings, of course, but if he's going to lifeguard at a lap pool or similar, the chances of his involvement with casualties is very low. He should be prepared and stay on top of his training, of course, in case something does happen. But for the most part, it's long stretches of time spent staring into water and yelling at kids to stop running. He might have to clean bathrooms--honestly, that was the most traumatic experience I had in 9 years of that work!
posted by magdalemon at 3:18 PM on October 16, 2014
This is where all those years of playing pretend come in. If you are good in the water, you know how life guards act, just pretend to be one. Pretend that you are an actor playing the part of a life guard. Try not to look shocked when those around you drop into their parts of swimmer interacting with the lifeguard and respond appropriately. Just follow the script. Improvise a little if it feels right, just to keep it from feeling wooden. Sometimes this is called fake it till you make it. You must really feel the part, just like when you pretended as a kid, you were practicing how to act confident and capable. Remember how that felt, it is a life skill you practiced as a child, now it is time to transfer it to your real life. You will find that it transfers to most areas of your life. Good luck with your new job!
posted by BoscosMom at 3:33 PM on October 16, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by BoscosMom at 3:33 PM on October 16, 2014 [2 favorites]
In Canada I took our lifeguard certification test many years ago. Here is what I remember from the test.
Our entire lifeguarding class took the test at the same time. Real people were positioned at various "stations" - one in the change room, one in the pool area, etc. This is a procedural and skills-based test. He must signal the other lifeguards, use safest possible rescue (talk, throw, row, go, tow, carry), assess scene for hazards (such as electrical), do the ABCs, use the appropriate gear, and get the victim to ambulance transport while doing the minimum. He must say aloud the steps as he does them.
You need minimum skills to pass this test. You can be completely awkward. I assume he has a lifeguarding book from his course. He should review the procedures and practices from the book. Pretend he is studying for a driving test and train to "think out loud". A First Aid course should provide a review on role play in assessing injuries in an instructional setting if he thinks he needs additional role playing practice. In Canada, we took a St. John's First Aid course.
If it was like our test protocol, his nervous classmates will be there commiserating with him and this might make him more comfortable. Our test protocol did not vary much between tests. He should ask some certified lifeguards what the testing procedure was like, the types of scenarios they faced, and what they would do better if they did the test again.
In Canada we repeated this sort of thing in training (we called them "crit-sits") on hire and every three months or so. He will get used to this routine with practice.
Everybody is nervous for this test (and also cold, because there's lots of sitting around in wet bathing suits). That said, hardly anybody fails. Tell him to do his homework and he'll be fine.
posted by crazycanuck at 4:07 PM on October 16, 2014 [1 favorite]
Our entire lifeguarding class took the test at the same time. Real people were positioned at various "stations" - one in the change room, one in the pool area, etc. This is a procedural and skills-based test. He must signal the other lifeguards, use safest possible rescue (talk, throw, row, go, tow, carry), assess scene for hazards (such as electrical), do the ABCs, use the appropriate gear, and get the victim to ambulance transport while doing the minimum. He must say aloud the steps as he does them.
You need minimum skills to pass this test. You can be completely awkward. I assume he has a lifeguarding book from his course. He should review the procedures and practices from the book. Pretend he is studying for a driving test and train to "think out loud". A First Aid course should provide a review on role play in assessing injuries in an instructional setting if he thinks he needs additional role playing practice. In Canada, we took a St. John's First Aid course.
If it was like our test protocol, his nervous classmates will be there commiserating with him and this might make him more comfortable. Our test protocol did not vary much between tests. He should ask some certified lifeguards what the testing procedure was like, the types of scenarios they faced, and what they would do better if they did the test again.
In Canada we repeated this sort of thing in training (we called them "crit-sits") on hire and every three months or so. He will get used to this routine with practice.
Everybody is nervous for this test (and also cold, because there's lots of sitting around in wet bathing suits). That said, hardly anybody fails. Tell him to do his homework and he'll be fine.
posted by crazycanuck at 4:07 PM on October 16, 2014 [1 favorite]
I was a lifeguard in the dark ages of the world. I've performed three real-life rescues in my life: a windsurfer knocked unconscious, a girl who jumped into a lake and put a branch through her foot, and I shared doing CPR on a colleague while EMS waited for an elevator to get upstairs.
Role playing set scripts in my mind that came in handy. It is excruciating as a teen. Once those situations present, remembering to tell people "you, Geoffrey, call 911, tell them this man has no pulse and we are on the 5th floor" is, well, life saving.
posted by warriorqueen at 4:25 PM on October 16, 2014 [2 favorites]
Role playing set scripts in my mind that came in handy. It is excruciating as a teen. Once those situations present, remembering to tell people "you, Geoffrey, call 911, tell them this man has no pulse and we are on the 5th floor" is, well, life saving.
posted by warriorqueen at 4:25 PM on October 16, 2014 [2 favorites]
I have no experience lifeguarding, but I have many years of experience with 'role playing of casualties', which we in medicine call simulation sessions.
My best advice is to run the scenarios again and again. You don't even need to have a mannequin to do this, although it's nice for realism. But the thing that I think most young/inexperienced people need to get more comfortable with is the idea that they are the leader in this situation, even if there are older people around, and they NEED to take charge and lead in order to be effective. It's an awkward thing to try to take control of a small crowd of onlookers when you're not used to it, and the best way to get used to it is to do it so many times that it's like second nature.
It's not about knowing the medical stuff which is usually very straightforward, as much as it is about knowing what to say, how and when to say it, i.e. "Sir, sir, are you OK?" "You, Person X, call 911!" and then running through the same steps over and over again (i.e. checking airway, breathing, circulation). If I were a dad in this situation, I'd just keep having him run these sorts of role-plays with me as a bystander until it got boring because he'd done it so much - you can mix things up after the first few by pretending to be a difficult bystander, like a hysterical mother who is getting in the way of her child's resuscitation, etc.
posted by treehorn+bunny at 7:51 PM on October 16, 2014 [1 favorite]
My best advice is to run the scenarios again and again. You don't even need to have a mannequin to do this, although it's nice for realism. But the thing that I think most young/inexperienced people need to get more comfortable with is the idea that they are the leader in this situation, even if there are older people around, and they NEED to take charge and lead in order to be effective. It's an awkward thing to try to take control of a small crowd of onlookers when you're not used to it, and the best way to get used to it is to do it so many times that it's like second nature.
It's not about knowing the medical stuff which is usually very straightforward, as much as it is about knowing what to say, how and when to say it, i.e. "Sir, sir, are you OK?" "You, Person X, call 911!" and then running through the same steps over and over again (i.e. checking airway, breathing, circulation). If I were a dad in this situation, I'd just keep having him run these sorts of role-plays with me as a bystander until it got boring because he'd done it so much - you can mix things up after the first few by pretending to be a difficult bystander, like a hysterical mother who is getting in the way of her child's resuscitation, etc.
posted by treehorn+bunny at 7:51 PM on October 16, 2014 [1 favorite]
Best answer: To mgrrlson: It's good to be uncomfortable. People's lives are literally in your hands. A coworker's niece drowned a few years back. The lifeguard was right there, the kid was probably underwater for less than a minute before they pulled her out, the ambulance was there in less than three minutes, and she still died. Very extreme case, god willing you never have to even so much as tell a kid to stop running, but that's what this training is for.
So, to get over your discomfort, try method acting. Yes, it's silly to try and assess consciousness of an obviously living, breathing, awake person who's pretending to be unconscious, so before you start, talk yourself into it. "Okay, this person is literally not moving and I can't tell if he just got tired or is having a heart attack or whatever, so I am going to do (process)." Then act. If you start thinking, "Wow, I feel like a chump here," redirect your thoughts to who you are and what you're doing, "I'm the lifeguard in charge, and I need to assess the situation/call for help/get the person out of the pool."
I'll tell you, it does get a lot easier when you get older, and I thought I was a failure because I couldn't get over my own discomfort (because I was in your exact shoes years ago). But you can definitely get better at it the more you practice. And remember you're not starring in the Baywatch movie, you're doing something literally a billion times more important, i.e. protecting my kids.
posted by disconnect at 10:12 AM on October 17, 2014
So, to get over your discomfort, try method acting. Yes, it's silly to try and assess consciousness of an obviously living, breathing, awake person who's pretending to be unconscious, so before you start, talk yourself into it. "Okay, this person is literally not moving and I can't tell if he just got tired or is having a heart attack or whatever, so I am going to do (process)." Then act. If you start thinking, "Wow, I feel like a chump here," redirect your thoughts to who you are and what you're doing, "I'm the lifeguard in charge, and I need to assess the situation/call for help/get the person out of the pool."
I'll tell you, it does get a lot easier when you get older, and I thought I was a failure because I couldn't get over my own discomfort (because I was in your exact shoes years ago). But you can definitely get better at it the more you practice. And remember you're not starring in the Baywatch movie, you're doing something literally a billion times more important, i.e. protecting my kids.
posted by disconnect at 10:12 AM on October 17, 2014
Response by poster: Thanks all! I've read and digested, he's still thinking...
posted by mgrrl at 4:21 PM on October 21, 2014
posted by mgrrl at 4:21 PM on October 21, 2014
« Older What can I expect from an online competency... | What do you do when you're burnt to a crisp? Newer »
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by straw at 3:18 PM on October 16, 2014