FREE in-service training for ANY certified lifeguard!

You must have a current lifeguard certification. Please email your certification to the Aquatics Director at [email protected] upon registration. 

What is an In-Service

In-services go under many different names, such as skill practices, drills, or practice sessions. Call it what you will, but they’re an important part of operating a safe aquatic environment, both for your aquatics staff and patrons. In-service is, at its core, a staff only training session. During that training session your lifeguarding staff is given the opportunity to practice their emergency situation response and skills in a safe and controlled environment. Giving staff the opportunity to maintain and improve upon their lifeguarding skills is an invaluable tool for your lifeguards. Of course, honing your lifeguarding skills is vital for keeping your patrons safe in the event of an emergency.

What are the Benefits of In-Services

The benefits for holding regular lifeguard in-service trainings are numerous. From any way you look at it, there benefits for almost every aspect of your organization. And they all work toward ensuring you have a safe pool, with a well-prepared lifeguarding staff. So, let’s get into some of the most important benefits that effective lifeguard in-service trainings provide.

Open Lines of Communication: Providing your lifeguards the opportunity to ask questions they may have about emergency situations and emergency response procedures, does wonders for staff communication. Having an open dialogue during in-services serves to increase their familiarity and understanding of their lifeguarding skills, but it also serves another purpose. By being accessible and willing to answer questions you ensure staff know you are available for their future questions, and that can go a long way towards opening up lines of communication between your staff and their supervisors.

Teamwork: Perhaps one of the biggest benefits of lifeguard in-service training is the opportunity for your lifeguarding staff to become familiar with each other. Encouraging teamwork and teaching your staff how to work as a unit can be key in performing well in high-stress emergency situations. And again, any teamwork built during in-service training is sure to carry out into other aspects of their job performance.

Mental Preparedness and Readiness: Preparedness and readiness may seem like two words for the same thing, but in an emergency setting, it can have two very different implications, with each being equally important. During in-services your lifeguards gain mental preparedness, becoming mentally prepared if an emergency situation occurs. Readiness, on the other hand is less about the skills they’ve acquired and honed, and it’s more about their ability to use them. It’s always a fear people have, that despite their training, and how prepared they are, they won’t be mentally ready to act. But practicing their skills and going over emergency scenarios with staff can go a long way toward empowering them and making sure they are not only mentally prepared for an emergency, but mentally ready to act.

Physical Prep and Conditioning: Performing a deep-water head, neck, or spine injury rescue can be a very physically demanding incident. Making sure your staff are physically capable of performing a rescue of any type at any time, is not only a matter of skills, and mental acumen, but also of that of physical ability. Aerobic conditioning and physical preparations are important to making sure your lifeguard can handle the rigors of a real emergency situation, and in-services give them the opportunity to improve their conditioning in a number of ways.

Maintain and Hone Skills Developed in Lifeguard Training: As stated above, if you don’t use your skills, you lose them. Which is why affording your lifeguarding staff the opportunity to practice, maintain and improve the lifeguarding skills they learned in the training courses is of the utmost importance. Each lifeguard is certified on the day of completing their lifeguarding course that they are capable of the skills required, but without continual repetition of the skills, knowledge, and experience accompanied with each aspect of emergency response, their capabilities can fade away. Regular practice of each aspect of lifeguarding, from surveillance to rescues and first aid, keeps the information fresh in their minds, and the skills at their fingertips.

Keep Up to Date: Finally, the science behind rescues, CPR, and lifeguarding procedures as a whole is always advancing, and as it does, so do the skills lifeguards utilize. With any changes, or new information, holding regular lifeguard in-services can be the most effective way to ensure your staff are up to date on all the latest information.