That Arm Thing

Many people at the pool always ask "What is that arm thingy you do?"

There are several different ways to answer this question, and many different reasons why we "do that arm thingy."

Every five minutes, one of the lifeguards, usually the one at stand one, will start a Five Minute Strategy. They will announce it over the radios. All the lifeguards stand up and in a certain order, they copy their stands. Looking down their arm as a guide, they scan every part of their zones. Their arms should always be straight for proper guidence. The entire zone should be scanned right around ten seconds. Once the lifeguard has assured their zone is clear of any visible hazards or people in trouble, they hold up a thumb to show their manager and supervisor that the zone is clear. The first stand then clears their zone over the radio. The next stand will do the same and the next and so on until everyone is cleared. At the end, a supervisor or manager will clear everyone and the lifeguards can then sit down.

Scanning is never ceased when a lifeguard is on stand. Five minute strategies are done to keep the lifeguards on their toes. They are done for the guests to give the most safety possible. They give the lifeguard the chance to do an even more careful and profound scan on their zone so that nothing is ever missed. They also prove to the manager that the guards' minds are focused on their water that they are seeing everything and everyone in it.

Lifeguards perform a Five Minute Strategy

Rotations may look much the same as a Five Minute Strategies. Know the difference: in a Five Minute Strategy, the water is scanned in or right around ten seconds. With a rotation, the incoming lifeguard still uses their arm or just head depending on the pool and trainer, however the scan is slower and more careful and may take around thirty seconds. The guard walks around their zone and scans the water around them checking the top, the middle, and the bottom of the water. If it is not possible to walk and scan around all sides of the zone, the guard should at least do two sides of the zone, but still scan the entire zone of water.

After this is complete, the incoming lifeguard stands next to the stand and performs a ten second scan either with their head or arm depending on the requirements at that pool. When the incoming lifeguard confirms the zone is clear "got it" the outgoing lifeguard climbs out of the stand. They then perform a ten second scan as the incoming guard did. When they confirm the zone is clear "got it" the incoming guard climbs in stand and performs another ten second scan. They confirm the zone is clear "got it" and the outgoing lifeguard then scans out. Scanning out is the same as scanning in.

Even though Five Minute Strategies and Rotations may seem long and complicated or hard to memorize when reading them, they become habit. They are actually very simple and do not take long. The trick is to build a good habit from the beginning. When a lifeguard learns how to rotate on their first day of work, they should fallow that pattern the rest of their lifeguard career. They may even go further and improve their rotations from the way they were taught. Not every lifeguard will teach scanning rotations, or Five Minute Strategy at its best.

Every lifeguard should strive to do their best. If they use self discipline, they can rotate and scan well and correctly every time, even on slow days at the pool. And if and when they become supervisors, they can teach the next guards how to scan and rotate properly.