Welcome to our comprehensive guide on implementing realistic training tips and techniques for lifeguards, designed to empower aquatic professionals in creating dynamic and effective training programs.
In today's ever-evolving aquatic environments, lifeguards require more than just basic skills—they need immersive experiences that simulate real-world emergencies. This blog post will explore innovative techniques and equipment, from lifelike manikins and simulated drowning scenarios to inclusive first aid kits and improvised training aids. Whether you're a seasoned aquatic professional or new to lifeguard training, this guide offers invaluable insights to elevate your training sessions and ensure lifeguards are fully equipped to handle any situation they may encounter.
Create a training culture of realistic practice
Set the expectation with your team that you will practice in situations and environments that reenact real life situations as closely as possible to ensure that they are rescue ready. Modeling an “everything is figureoutable” mindset in scenarios allows your team to build resilience and adaptability when situations don’t go as planned. Train your management team to encourage staff to stick with scenarios and to use critical thinking during and after practice in their actions and reflections.
Include other first responders in your training
Invite other members of first responder teams to take part in your response scenarios and emergency action plan practices. If you are a municipality talk with your public safety, fire department, and police department about co-training. Don’t forget to reach out to county and city ambulatory services to ask for opportunities to have your team work through transfer of care, ask questions to first responders, experience life saving equipment that other responders use, and to trade resources like pool space for search and rescue needs and classrooms or equipment for practice.
Use real, appropriate equipment
At a minimum, your facility should be using all of the required equipment that your certification agency mandates in your training and realistic versions of your:
- AED
- Crash Bag (stocked with actual equipment and supplies used)
- Hip Pack (stocked with actual equipment and supplies used)
- Bag Valve Masks
- CPR Masks (appropriate sizes)
- Lungs for Manikins
- Feedback-based Manikins
- Submergible Mankins & Silhouettes
- Tourniquets
- Diving Bricks/Submergible Retrieval Items
- PPE
Don’t shy away from DIYing equipment
Embracing a do-it-yourself approach to lifeguard equipment can enhance preparedness and resourcefulness…and stretch your resources! From crafting to improvising here are some ideas to dive into the world of DIY training equipment.
- Inclusive First Aid Kits - fill a supplemental kit with fidgets, translation cards, and a small white board to improve communication
- Breast Inserts/Add-Ons - pad sports bras if you can’t afford buying new trainers
- Foaming Manikins - we love to follow Lifeguards Love YouTube for this!
- Used Suits for Removal - ask for donations!
- Act Fast EAP Cards - create a quick reference card to keep with hip packs and crash bags
- Wound Kits and Moulage - see some ideas below!
- Wound Limb Trainer - DIY one with a pool noodle
Incorporate core concepts to create realism
Elevating lifeguard training to the next level requires a strategic focus on core principles such as airway management, first aid, CPR, and AED care. Incorporating these fundamental skills enriches lifeguard training, ensuring readiness to tackle emergencies head-on.
Airway Management
- Slippery airway - practice with aloe, water, and other slippery substances
- Foaming airway
- Wet practice
- Effective breaths
- Feeling pulse/breathing/airway on real person – make sure your team practices how to do this with someone with a pulse!
Cardiac Emergency Care
- Using all CPR and AED equipment accurately
- Providing care for guests with breasts, large chests, and large bodies
- Cutting off suits – don’t simulate the motions, include them in real practice
- Effective compressions
- Properly use bag valve masks and emergency oxygen (if trained to do so)
First Aid
- Roleplay
- Prompt free response – make sure your team can use critical thinking and context clues, so they aren’t waiting for you or someone else to “cue” them IRL
- Moulage
Measure realism as a value
When auditing and evaluating your staff layer in a component that emphasizes and measures the realism. Ensure evaluations and audits are all as realistic as possible. During coaching conversations be sure to point out efforts towards true-to-life training situation and responses and give feedback that emphasizes the importance of realism when setting up feedback and corrections.
Use correct language
It’s crucial to use appropriate language during training to be compliant with your certification agency, consistent with testing your team will be subjected to, and to be as realistic as possible. Here are some common words to emphasize appropriate use.
- Use manikin, not dummy.
- Shallow water blackout and hyperventilation are two different things.
- Use fatal drowning and non-fatal drowning when appropriate.
- Primary assessment and secondary assessment are not the same.
- Use person-first language such as "person with a mental health condition" to emphasize the individual rather than their diagnosis.
- Consider other uses to victim if appropriate in your certification programming.
- Use substance abuse disorder instead of short handed language like addict or alcoholic.
Learn about moulage and create a DIY kit
Moulage is the art of creating realistic simulated injuries or medical conditions using special effects makeup and other materials. In lifeguard training and other emergency response contexts, moulage is often used to enhance the realism of training scenarios by creating lifelike wounds, injuries, or medical conditions on simulated victims and practice manikins.
For Lacerations, use:
- Petroleum Jelly
- Corn Starch
- Cocoa Powder
- Blood
For Bruises, use:
- Abrasion Base
- Carpenter's Line Chalk (blue, red)
- Spray-on Hair Color (burgundy)
For Abrasions, use:
- Lipstick & Lip Liner (various colors)
- Sponge Sand, Rock, Plant Material
- Cup for Melting
- Fine Wheat Cereal + Red Blush
- Coffee Grounds
For Bruises and Blisters, use:
- Abrasion Base
- White Color Fibers
- Water
- Black Eyeliner
- Petroleum Jelly
For Blood, use:
- Fake Blood
- Red Food Coloring/Dye
- Corn Syrup + Coloring (medium)
- Liquid Laundry Starch + Dye (thin)
- Corn Starch + Syrup + Dye (thick)
- Ivory Dish Soap + Coloring
For Bile and Vomit, use:
- Fine Wheat Cereal
- Yellow Food Coloring
The above "recipes" are from the American Red Cross.
For Foaming Manikins, use:
These Directions from Lifeguards Love YouTube
Factor in human response factors
Understanding human response factors is crucial for lifeguards and their training, as it directly impacts their ability to effectively respond to emergencies. By addressing factors such as hesitation, adrenaline, and the bystander effect in training programs, lifeguards can develop resilience and readiness to navigate challenging situations with confidence and competence. Here are some considerations to know, train on, and incorporate concepts into realistic training.
- Hesitation/Freezing – Delay or inability to take action due to uncertainty or fear in emergency situations.
- No prompt scenarios – Training scenarios where lifeguards must initiate response actions without cues or prompts from instructors.
- EMS simulations – Simulated exercises involving coordination with emergency medical services (EMS) to practice seamless transitions from lifeguard response to professional medical care.
- Lack of real-life practice – Insufficient training with live simulations involving real people to mimic real-world emergencies.
- Tiredness – Fatigue that can impact lifeguard performance and decision-making during long shifts or intense training sessions.
- Adrenaline – Physiological response to stress or emergencies that can enhance performance but also impair judgment and motor skills.
- Pressure – External factors such as time constraints, expectations, or perceived consequences that influence lifeguard behavior and decision-making.
- Bystander effect – Phenomenon where individuals are less likely to intervene in emergencies when others are present, assuming someone else will take action.
- Brain defects to positive outcome since were used to airways & faces in water – Cognitive bias or difficulty recognizing positive outcomes in water-related emergencies due to our ingrained focus on airways and facial features.
By embracing realistic training methods, aquatic professionals can instill confidence and competence in lifeguards, ultimately enhancing the safety of aquatic facilities and the well-being of patrons. Let's continue to innovate and evolve our training practices to ensure lifeguards are always prepared to respond effectively in the face of any challenge.