Basic Guarding
A lifeguard is texting while on surveillance duty and fails to recognize a swimmer in distress. What legal principle could be a problem for this lifeguard?
Negligence
To quickly screen a person for signs and symptoms of a strokes remember F.A.S.T. What does each letter stand for?
Face
Arm
Speech
Time
What is the purpose of rapid and secondary assessment?
Rapid: to quickly identify and care for life-threatening conditions.
Secondary: to obtain additional information about injuries.
An adult has collapsed in the locker room. Two rescuers are on the scene. The EAP has been activated and EMS has been called. Additional rescuers are on the way with an AED and BVM. The person appears unresponsive. What are you next steps?
1. Put on gloves
2. Perform a rapid assessment and check for responsiveness.
3. Look, listen, and feel for no more than 10 seconds.
4. Begin CPR if not pulse and not breathing.
5. Continue until AED arrives.
6. Continue CPR until EMS arrives.
High-impact or high-risk activities often cause head, neck, and spinal injuries. List three examples of high-risk, high-impact activities that could take place in an aquatic environment.
1. Entering Shallow Water Head-first
2. Diving in the pool
3. Striking a submerged or floating object
4. Colliding with another swimmer or the wall
5. Falling from a height greater than one's standing height.
A lifeguard needs to obtain consent from an injured patron before providing care. List three things lifeguards should tell the injured person in order to obtain their consent?
1. Their Name
2. The type and level of training they have
3. What they plan to do.
A person is stung by a bee. They do not know if they are allergic to bee stings. What signs and symptoms could indicate a severe allergic reaction (anaphylaxis)?
Trouble breathing, signs and symptoms of shock, swelling of the face, tongue, or lips.
List the five components of the rapid assessment in order.
1. Size up the scene.
2. check for responsiveness
3. Check for breathing, a pulse, and life-threatening bleeding.
4. Give 2 initial ventilations if the person is around water.
5. Provide care for conditions found.
An infant has just been rescued from the water. Two rescuers are on the scene with an AED and BVM. The EAP has been activated, and EMS has been called. The infant appears unresponsive. The infant's parents or guardians are not present. Additional rescuers are on the way with an AED and BVM. What are you next steps?
1. Perform Rapid Assessment.
2. If air goes in do CPR.
3. If air does not go in, look for an object. If seen, do a finger sweep.
4. Continue cycles of 2 breaths, 15 compressions, and checking the throat for issues.
5. When the AED and BVM arrive, attach pads and place the BVM.
6. Continue cycles of CPR and analyzing until EMS arrive.
Under what two conditions should you suspect that an injured person in the water has a head, neck, or spinal injury?
1. You witnessed a high-impact or high-risk activity.
2. Signs or symptoms of a head, neck, or spinal injury are present.
List 3 pieces of emergency equipment that should be easily accessible to a lifeguard while on duty, along with when each piece of equipment should be used.
1. Backboard - used to remove a person from water.
2. AED: used during CPR
3. PPE: worn when giving care
4. First aid kit: supplies for injuries
5. BVM: used for ventilations.
List the four general steps, in order, that lifeguards follow when there is a medical emergency.
1. Activate the EAP
2. Perform a rapid assessment.
3. Perform a secondary assessment when the person's condition allows.
4. Report, Advise, Release.
Where do you check for a pulse in an adult or child? An infant?
Adult or Child: Carotid Artery
Infant: Brachial Artery
An adult is submerged in deep water. Two rescuers are on the scene. The EAP has been activated and EMs have been called. Additional rescuers are on the wya with an AED and BVM.
2. Performs rapid assessment.
3. Give two ventilations.
4. Give cycles of CPR consisting of 30 compressions and two breaths.
5. When the AED arrives, attach it to the victim's chest.
6. Continue cycles of CPR, AED analysis until EMS arrives.
You enter the water to rescue a person with a suspected spinal injury. The person does not appear to be breathing. What should you do next?
Remove the person from the water using a rapid extrication technique.
It is a sunny, hot afternoon, but thunderstorms are in the forecast. You are on surveillance duty when you hear thunder. What should you do?
Activate the EAP and clear the pool.
What does S.A.M.P.L.E. stand for?
Signs and Symptoms
Alleriges
Medications
Pertinent Past Medical History
Last Oral Intake
Events Leading Up to.
Lack of oxygen to the brain can stop the heart (cardiac arrest) and prevent blood from reaching the brain and other vital organs in as little as _____ minutes after submerging. Brain cell damage or death begins to occur within ____ to ____ minutes.
3 minutes
4 to 6
You notice a swimmer in the deep end who is vertical in the water, facing the wall, and not making any progress toward safety. They appear conscious but are not calling for help. What type of victim is this, what rescue should you use, and what should be your immediate priorities upon reaching them?
This is an active drowning victim. The appropriate rescue is the front or rear rescue with a rescue tube, depending on approach angle. Upon reaching the victim, secure them with the tube under their shoulders, keep their airway above water, and immediately swim them to safety while maintaining control. Once on the deck, perform a quick assessment to determine if further care (like a secondary assessment or oxygen) is needed.
A swimmer dives off the diving board and hits their head on the board. After the swimmer exits, they appear dazed and seem confused. What injury should the lifeguard consider in this situation? What is the first aid care that should be given?
A concussion should be suspected.
Have the person stop the activity and rest without moving. Activate the EAP. Give care for other injuries that may be present. Have them follow up with a medical provider is EMS is not called.
What is the difference between total zone coverage and multi-zone coverage?
Total Coverage, one guard is responsible for conducting patron surveillance for the entire pool area. In multi-zone coverage, the pool area is broken into smaller zones.
You are completing a rapid assessment of a person who has just been removed from the water after drowning. You notice frothing around the person's nose and mouth. What should you do?
Complete your assessment, including providing two initial ventilations, and then begin care without taking time to clear away the froth.
What are the four core principles that a lifeguard should follow in every rescue situation?
1. Ensure the safety of the person, yourself, and others.
2. Use a rescue technique that is appropriate and effective.
3. Perform an appropriate assessment and treat life-threatening situations first.
4. Handle the rescue with a sense of urgency.
A teenage swimmer runs and slips on the deck, hitting their head and falling partially into the shallow end of the pool. They report tingling in their hands and neck pain, but are breathing normally. The water is 3 feet deep. What steps should you take, and what specific equipment and techniques should you use according to American Red Cross spinal injury protocols?
This is a suspected spinal injury in shallow water. You should activate the EAP, enter the water using the slide-in entry, and approach the victim without causing water movement. Perform in-line stabilization using the head splint technique. Call for backup to bring a backboard. Once a second rescuer arrives, use the over-arm head splint technique to position the victim on the backboard while maintaining in-line stabilization. Secure the victim using straps and head immobilizers, and remove them from the water carefully. Monitor for shock and provide emergency care as needed while awaiting EMS.
___ . Form an initial impression/ look for breathing
___. Activate the EAP
___. Perform a rescue while providing in-line stabilization
___. Provide emergency care as needed.
___. Safely enter the water (if necessary)
___. Report, advise, release
___. Remove the person from the water.
2. Safely enter the water (if neccessary)
3. Perform a rescue while providing in-line stabilization.
4. Form an initial impressions/looking for breathing
5. Remove the person from the water.
6. Provide emergency care as needed.
7. Report, Advise, Release.