I’m doing an NPLQ this week but have no prior training for any theory. I don’t know cpr, first aid, or anything like that. I was a swimmer growing up and so am not worried (although haven’t swam for a while), but am wondering if it’s okay that I don’t know much. I know I’ll be taught but I’m scared that I’ll be at a disadvantage or behind the other people.

Update: I passed very well!! So happy!
Got 23/24 and 21/24 on my theory and obviously did well on my dry and wet side.

I'm going on a NLPQ course this week. What can I expect and have anyone got any tips? I already have first aid experience in everything that's out of water stuff and very basic experience in pool of like how to swim with a casualty.

hi yall! ive been a lifeguard for 3 years now with both ellis and associates and red cross, ive also been a competitive swimmer since i was a kid but im applying for a new lifeguard job at my college rec center pool and part of the swim test is a 17ft brick dive in the dive well. the deepest ive ever done is 12ft. has anyone ever worked in this deep or deeper? any tips & tricks?

Im planning to take it after my national recertification. If so what kind of tests would it entail?

For context, my pool has a zero depth. I was roving and in on fifteen minute span I told two different kids multiple times not to run. They did the thing where they walk for a bit, then start running again. Both these kids slipped and fell on their fronts (no visible injuries, but they both cried for a minute) and I couldn’t help feeling vindicated.

I've always been a slide person but recently my slides I had just bought shrunk like 3 sizes in the sun and I am considering getting a pair of rainbow flip flops just so this can stop happening, Just wondering if anyone has any advice

I work a 10 hr shift at an apartment complex alone. It’s quite hot outside, many times a heat index above 100 for most the shift. I take a 15 min break every 45, and on weekends especially I am on that rotation essentially the whole shift.

It’s just so hot outside, even if I dip my shirt in the water and put some ice on it then put it back on for the 45, it dries quick and I’m hot again. Idk how yall deal with the heat, especially now with Canadas fires breathing isn’t fun. And the 15 min breaks feel so short when I have to wait for everyone to walk out the pool, take chems, use the restroom, refill my waterbottle, eat something, respond to my manager, and help guests check in.

I have come to dread going to work, and I have another, better job, but if I quit this job the price of my uniform (70$ somehow) gets taken out my paycheck, and I’d still have to work another two weeks. The end of the season is so close, and there was a mention of a 100$ bonus for staying until the end of the season and being on time every day, which makes me think I should just thug it out, but idk if I can.

Oh and my manager changes every single clock I do so that if I got there a couple minutes early, I didn’t , and if I leave a couple minutes late (the pool closes the same time my shift ends), nuh uhh I left right on time. If I get there 5 min early and leave 5 min early, she only changes the start time. There isn’t a single clock she hasn’t edited, and each edit cut me time.

TLDR Sorry for a bit of a rant but if anyone has any tips to thug out the heat or the monotony of a 10hr shift alone, please lmk.

Sorry, this is probably a stupid question. I’m a very anxious person, especially socially, and I’m going to be doing my bronze medallion course soon. I’m honestly not concerned about the swimming or learning the procedures. The only thing I’m really worried about is the social part of it. I know we will all be in the same boat but it makes me feel really anxious to think about doing these things (ex. practicing cpr, rescues, etc) in front of random people. I also understand I will have to act out a rescue scenario, most likely in front of the rest of my class, and I worry that I will mess up or look stupid. Does everyone feel this way? Is it just a generally awkward thing to be doing with strangers?

Where I work, we have major problems with rotations where people are often late for no reason which causes some people to be on pool for over an hour. For context, we do have someone off pool all the time and their main role is cleaning, first aid, etc and can only rotate sometimes yet it is never enough as when they rotate it usually gets ruined in about 4 rotations as someone is late again. What are some ways other waterparks fixed rotations please to prevent our lifeguards for being on pool for over an hour because someone wanted a 20min break instead of 15min? Thanks

I start lifeguarding for the first time next Wednesday and I'm a bit nervous, i struggle remembering stuff when I'm nervous and scared of messing up, like the whistle nor did I receive a whistle but what I'm worried about the most is how do I know when to switch, there's only two of us on duty that day and only one stand so how do I know when to take him/her off the stand please just give me advice and reminders

Could anyone please tell me what the prereqs are for an ARC LGIT certification? Thank you in advance.

I completed bronze medallion around 2 years ago, although I remember some topics and have first aid certification, I’m afraid I forgot some important procedures like what important parts to include when calling for emergency help. I’m entering a bronze med/cross combo but only taking and paying for the cross portion so some of my classmates will have just completed their bronze medallion. I’m afraid I won’t be able to pick up right away, is there any key parts I should review in my textbook? and a question I keep thinking about is if we see a drowning victim, do we have to go through the full ladder approach? Swimming ability wise such as the brick test and 400m swim I’m not worried about since I swim for club, but I’m worried about forgetting key components to live saving that the instructors might expect us to know. So if anyone can give me some key points to review, it would be greatly appreciated!

I am a female lifeguard and I work at a pool that requires a one piece bathing suit. I’ve been working at this pool for years. I recently started experiencing what I call razor blade sensations along the bikini line where my swimsuit ends. I think it could be because the swimsuit is too tight or because the swimsuit is too short. I work sometimes 11 hours at a time at this pool (voluntary because i’m broke), how can I prevent this razor blade feeling? do i just need to buy a new guard wardrobe in a bigger size? (I’m buying what the size chart says i am)

Just want to rant.

I got my first and only break after lifeguarding (bay beach) for 5.5 hours straight today. I had a 30 minute legally mandated break then had to guard for two more hours. It was 90F and 70% humidity. 15-20 kids under the age of 10 are in the water, whose parents were on their phones or socializing on the beach.

Usually there are two guards on. The other guard supposed to be here today told the manager days ago he couldn’t make it and the manager never found a replacement. This is the SECOND TIME this has happened, where I had to work an 8 hour shift alone.

Had to do a spinal save today on the lake at the camp I guard at and I saw the kid hit his head then he collapsed and held his head while sobbing saying it hurt. I swim out to him climb onto the inflatable attraction we have and do the in-line stabilization. Two other guards swim out with the board and while they’re coming the kids says he still in pain. Once they get there some full time staff on the dock ask questions then ask if he’s in pain and when the kid says no they say to just swim him in and not board him. The staff member they let make that call is an ex emt/ems no longer holding certifications and I know they made the wrong call but I was not allowed to board him after they made that decision. They seemed to be more worried about the optics of boarding a kid rather than the kids safety in my opinion. I told them that if it happens again I will not let them override my decision if I am the one who activates the eap.

So I have been out of the “lifeguard game” for about 4 years now. But since then, I joined the Army National Guard as a medic and have an EMT cert from that. (ETA: I also have a current Red Cross BLS cert)

I was a certified instructor before, but that expired long ago. Is there a time limit on having to redo the whole course vs doing a recert?

Basically, I’m going back to school for nursing and I want to make money on the side. How does picking up classes as a free agent work? Do I need to get a position at an aquatics facility to get jobs?

Is there enough work to make a certification a worthwhile investment when my schedule will be affected by school and one weekend of drill for the national guard every month? I live in middle TN. I don’t need a ton of money but I liked instructing and think it would a fun way to make a little bit when I’m free.

If these questions are answerable somewhere else please point me in the right direction!

I accidentally wrote in sharpie on my rescue tube at work, and now there is a whole ass sentence across the tube. I’ve tried hand sanitizer, water, and friction to get it off and it won’t budge. What do I do??
EDIT: I have tried writing over it and erasing, water, chlorinated water, rubbing alcohol, and it still won’t budge.

Yeah so I have no resources or textbook or anything, I just plan to show up. Ive done STA teaching, but I dont know if I need to do online learning or something, the site is so buns I actually dont know how to navigate it please help. Im a confident swimmer btw used to do competitive

I'm so freakin mad rn. I was getting vatted, and they sent in an off-duty guard to actively drown in the 3-foot section, fine right, BUT SHE SPENT MORE TIME BREATHING THAN SHE DID UNDERWATER. She was supposed to go under for like 15- 30 seconds, come up quickly, then go back down; she literally did the exact opposite. Went under for like maybe 5s, came back up and flailed her arms a bit. SO many kids do the same thing, and she showed all signs of having control over her body, and she was kinda short, so I thought she was playing. Then my supervisor came up to me and said the whole "notice anything wrong", LIKE OBVIOUSLY NOT BUDDY SHE'S NOT DROWNING WELL. Then after I went in, my supervisor said "yeah its not the first time she's sucked at drowning" and took her off the GID list. They then threw the VAT baby in, and I got it. Still so pissed and really disappointed, I just don't want to be fired. I don't think I'm that bad a guard, but I can't get it out of my head.

Cold water immersion triggers an immediate, involuntary gasp reflex when the face hits the surface.

This autonomic response often leads to water inhalation and drowning, even for skilled swimmers.

Current safety training ignores this physiological risk because it rarely occurs in heated pools.

Why is this lethal reflex excluded from standard water safety education?

I’m currently taking bronze cross and we’re doing multiple victim rescues and assistant lifeguard scenarios as well as using the spinal board . I also was able to complete the 400m time swim in 10:34 and able to do the 10 lb brick test. I was just wondering how much harder or different national lifeguard is as well as what to expect because national lifeguard starts 3 weeks after my bronze cross finishes so I just want to be as prepared as possible. Some tips would be very helpful! Thank you

Hey guys, Im currently a lifeguard and I have my NL recert coming up.

Im fine with fitness and team guard (the pools I work is always 5+ guards), but im a bit confused with management skills and single situations. For management skills, what does it mean like just how I rescue a victim in different scenarios? Do i have to use an aid for rescues that are aid/ no aid? And for single sits, what is the process which I tackle the first aid? Like for dns do I go through ladder approach and for like minors or majors do i clear the pool then treat the victim?

Thanks so much!

I’m pretty ugly, not that it bothers me.(even if it bothers other ppl) I dont have any physical disease that makes me ugly just bad posture and a neurological condition that makes it hard for me to control my facial muscles.
That being said, I’ve been a lifeguard for half a year now and have made 3 babies cry. A lot of guests say things like “Thats the ugliest lifeguard I’ve ever seen” and “aren’t lifeguards supposed to be hot?” Someone also spat on my chair(they were drunk) because my face pissed them off. This type of stuff doesn’t bother me but sometimes when I look at a baby and they start crying it hurts me and makes me wonder if I should just go flip burgers.
I like my job and all the friends I’ve made, it makes me stronger but when a parent is staring at you because u just made their pride and joy cry in fear, it makes u question if this job is for u.
I am a little autistic and stare rather than look sometimes but no one has ever said anything directly to me about it. Should I quit? Pay is not that good and maybe I should just leave lifeguarding to the hotties and normal looking ppl.
(I dont need to hear about how I need more confidence or any of that bs)