1. Nicole Van Winkle
Cheryl Salazar
Riverside County Regional Park and Open-Space District

2.  58% of Parents do not consider drowning a threat to
their children. -National Safe Kids Campaign
 19% of drowning deaths involving children occur in
public pools with certified lifeguards present.
–Drowning Prevention Foundation
 Drowning is the leading cause of death for infants and
young children between the ages of 1-4.
-U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2007

3.  “Inattentional Blindness occurs when people
fail to notice stimuli appearing in front of
their eyes while they are preoccupied with
another visual task.”
– US Lifeguard Standards released in Jan 2011

4.  Why do people drown
in lifeguarded pools?
◦ The things we can
control:
 Lifeguards lack vigilance
 Lifeguards lack proper
training
 Lifeguards lack proper
supervision
 Lack of rules or
enforcement of rules
 Ineffective hiring practices

5. Preventative Lifeguarding
 Updated certification programs
 Focus on training
 Holding staff accountable for vigilance
 Psychic Ownership

6. What are we working with?
 Technologically-savvy generation
 “It’s not my fault, you didn’t remind me.”
 Strong-willed
◦ Positive and Negative effects
 Overstimulated environment
 Job vs. School confusion
SO… how do we reach them?

7. Experiential Trainings
 Generation X and Y are focused on instant
gratification
◦ Standard lecture or meeting-type in-service
trainings are ineffective
◦ Require trainings where they experience what you
want them to learn
 Attention-span will improve
 Comprehension will greatly increase
 Application is much clearer

8. Types of In-service Trainings
 Self-Discovery
 Perception
 Self-Discipline
 Direct Feedback

9. Self-Discovery
 An in-service designed to guide the
participant to gain knowledge without being
explicitly told the information
 Ex: Sudden Death Backboarding or CPR
◦ Two teams compete against eachother for who can
backboard perfectly the quickest. The moderator
identifies errors and the team must start over when
an error occurs.

10. Self-Discovery cont’d.
 Evaluation tools:
◦ Peer observation-peer
moderation
 Do they recognize the
errors?
 Do they adjust their
actions based on the
errors?
◦ Switching roles or teams
based on strengths
 Who are the leaders in an
emergency situation?

11. Perception
 Perception in-services focus on honing the
introspective skills of the participants and
teaches them to evaluate the way others
perceive their actions
 Ex: Silent Saves
◦ Two rescuers stand on opposite sides of the pool.
The rest of the participants act as patrons in the
pool by swimming laps, jumping off the diving
boards, and playing games. A few “patrons” are
given rules to break.

12. Perception cont’d.
◦ The rescuer must communicate the rule being
broken without speaking. They may use gestures
or act it out, but must still provide patron
surveillance over their water.
◦ Results: The staff will develop ways to communicate
with one another in noisy environments when they
cannot hear.
◦ Evaluation Tools:
 Can they adjust their attempts according to how the
other rescuer perceives their actions?
 Do they persevere?
 Even while communicating, can they remain vigilant?

13. Perception cont’d.
 Ex: Blind Rescues
◦ Participants work in teams of 3. One victim is sent
out into the pool to act as the victim. The rescuer is
blindfolded and the third team member leads the
rescuer to the pool using verbal commands.
◦ Once the rescuer reaches the side of the pool, the
leader will instruct them on the best way to enter
the water. Using verbal commands, the leader will
guide the rescuer to the victim and instruct them on
the proper rescue to execute.

14. Perception cont’d.
 Results: Staff work on communication skills and learn
to rely on senses other than sight when responding.
 Evaluation Tools:
 Did the leaders communicate effectively?
 Did the rescuers communicate effectively?
 Did the teams rely on senses other than sight to perform
their duties?

15. Self-Discipline
 Self-Discipline in-service trainings will
provide important tools to aid participants in
preparing themselves for future incidents.
 Ex: Area of Responsibility Exercise
◦ Create a map of the facility and let the staff explore
the best coverage zones
 Ex: Real-Life First Aid
◦ Various emergency scenarios are re-created as
lifelike as possible using fake blood, etc.

16. Self- Discipline cont’d.
◦ Results: Participants become accustomed to the
“shock” of the blood and gore of an emergency, as
well as the sounds that accompany a disaster.
 Evaluation:
◦ Do they know what types of materials are required?
◦ Can they recognize what type of care is needed?
◦ Can they organize or lead a team?
◦ Afterwards, can they analyze the scenario?
◦ Can they write specific, accurate reports?

17. Real-Life First Aid

18. Direct Feedback
 Direct Feedback in-service trainings are the
least interactive.
◦ They should be used sparingly and only when a
serious matter needs to be addressed.
 Ex: Drowning Stories
◦ Reading drowning stories aloud mid-way through
summer when guards become complacent.
 Evaluation: It is difficult to evaluate whether
staff has internalized the information until
you observe their operations, at which point,
it may be too late!

19. Emergency Action Plan Training
 Before simulation
◦ Your EAP should be well-rehearsed
◦ Use lead staff or seasoned lifeguards
◦ Management staff should be unified
◦ Prepare staff by informing them that you will be
calling EMS and they will need to provide care until
they arrive
◦ Stress that they are to treat the situation as a real
emergency
◦ Secretly pre-designate a victim

20. EAP Training cont’d.
 During the simulation
◦ Remain calm- tensions run high
◦ Do not forget your part
◦ Have designated lead staff among participants to
ensure simulation remains uncompromised
◦ Use management staff who are unaware of the
scenario details

21. EAP Training cont’d.
 Your Aquatic Safety Team
◦ Invite the Fire department ahead of time
 Request they use their sirens if possible
 Simulate care on a manikin, including AED if possible
 After the Simulation
◦ Request feedback from EMS
 Victim placement
 Staff care
 Direction and access to facility/victim
 Future considerations for improved transition

22. EAP Training cont’d.
 After the simulation (cont’d)
◦ Request feedback from the staff involved
 Rescuers
 How did it feel?
 Did you forget your skills?
 Are you exhausted from CPR?
 Other staff watching
 Management Staff
 Observations
 EMS suggestions
 Future adjustments

23. Vigilance Evaluation
 Towel Drills
◦ A red hand towel is thrown in the area of
responsibility of a lifeguard
◦ Lifeguard has 30 seconds to recognize the
“emergency,” activate the EAP, and rescue the towel
 If lifeguard does not see the towel within 30 seconds:
 1st miss- Discussion of proper scanning techniques and
importance of vigilance (re-test within 1 week)
 2nd miss- Removal from schedule for 2 weeks
 3rd miss-Termination
◦ Very effective for reinforcing scanning critiques.

24. Questions?
Nicole Van Winkle
nvanwinkle@rivcoparks.org
Cheryl Salazar
cherylsalazar@rivcoparks.org
(951)360-1974