Flaming Waters

Imagine a water park way beyond anything that has ever been built. Every inch of it themed, decorated, bedazzled,  you name it. No plain brown concrete decks; let's talk about seashells in that concrete. Don't just dive, walk the plank off a pirate ship. Ever wish for a room completely dedicated to super soaker wars? This place has it, with forts, monkey bridges, and built in water cannons. How about water balloons? Don't worry, this place has a lap pool too... with a shark tank for the bottom. Walk through an obstacle course full of surprises. Water volleyball and basketball. Neon colored leisure pool with black lights. Eat lunch in a jungle. Take the little ones wading in an educational kiddie pool. Enroll your kids; a therapy pool and lap pool designed and dedicated to swim lessons. A glow in the dark spa in a dim room with calm music. Get that cardio workout in the therapy pool with personal changing rooms and separate entrance.  Ever pet a stingray? Fall out of a crashing helicopter into a shark's open jaws. Even the drinking fountains are whales blowing water. Don't pollute; throw your trash away in a futuristic themed recycler garbage. An entire room stretching along one side of the building for 10+ slides. Don't worry, a conveyer belt will bring up your tube for you. Learn lifeguard skills get hands on experience. Get around the park another way; by crawling through tubes and bridges. An entire room that's one giant aqua play. Tarzan ropes and zip lines...

Plain is not allowed in this park. Fun is a rule.

And of course, Ellis lifeguards.

These are most of my ideas so far. I will post more later.

Thank You

I'm not really leaving my job, just switching locations almost. I'm coming from the Vaughan Athletic Center with Jeff Ellis Management lifeguards in Aurora, Illinois, to Evergreen Wings and Waves Waterpark with Ellis and Associates lifeguards in McNinnville, Oregon.

It has always been my grandpa's dream for one of his grandchildren to come out and stay with him. He now has cancer and has decided to not fight it. I am the only one of his children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, great nieces, and great nephews who can possibly come. So I have decided to go.

This is not to tell in detail the life I am establishing in Oregon, this is to tell of the life I lived here in Illinois with Jeff Ellis Management and these wonderful people.

First of all, thank you so much everyone!!!!! I can't believe I have to leave you. You guys are my second family. I have been so spoiled this past week. Thank you so much for the wonderful gifts and all the sweets (first thing in Oregon is to get a gym pass lol) But all those things are worth nothing compared to how much I love you guys. I'm kind of scared to leave the people I know love me back. (Sorry if that sounded cheesy :) That card you all put work into and kept a secret the whole time is worth the world. I will keep it on a table at my new place so I can think of you all every time I see it. The people in this picture are only a small handful of all the wonderful people I worked with.

Left to right: Jimmy, Hector, Bris, me, Santana, and then there's Cesar. Chassmin is taking the picture.

Thank you to our area manager, Jerica, who is the real backbone behind everything we did. You are like a sister to me.

Thank you Cesar for teaching me how to do my job. You have a heart of gold. Stay happy! :)

A special thanks to Doug who was the most inspirational manager I ever worked with, even if I only worked with you a few times. (I hope those guards threw you a party when you left) 

I could go on thanking and telling how much I love each one of my coworkers all day and night. Even though sometimes I got ticked at some of you, in the end, I love you too.

The actual work we do is outstanding! It's amazing what a bunch of teenagers can do; we literally run pools and save lives. The experience is priceless. It's that moment when you climb out of the water after saving a drowning kid and everyone is looking at you in aw.

This job changed my life. I walk out with a final save number of ten, and a final VAT number of twenty-three. I will never forget the looks on each one of those faces.

Like I've said before and I'll say it again; if you really want to know what this job is like, try it. It might change your life and you.

Thank you everyone. Each one of you changed me in some way big or small. If you haven't, go and like my Facebook page Diary of a Lifeguard or friend me and Ill update pictures and stories. Keep me posted!

I love you.

https://m.facebook.com/DiaryOfALifeguard?__user=100000098837899

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.

Lifeguard Memes

Just some pictures I found on Google and Facebook

Made this one up, though I'm sure I'm not the first person to think of it.

Scanning

Scanning is one of the most important skills a lifeguard must use. A lifeguard may go through training and monthly in-service; they may be the best person with rescues, CPR, and rescue breathing, but if they do not scan their water, their skills are not going to be much use to them or a person in trouble.

Ten twenty stands for ten seconds to see a guest in distress and twenty seconds to reach them and render aid. The ten twenty scanning pattern is used by lifeguards to ensure full safety of guests at a pool. We scan our water, moving our heads in different ways to cover every part of the pool, checking the top, the middle, and the bottom of the water. The entire zone should be scanned all within the ten second time frame. A lifeguard never brakes their ten twenty as long as they are in stand.

There are five stages of drowning that can all occur within a minute with an average child. The first stage is Surprise! In this stage the person begins to struggle at the surface, bobbing up and down but still able to bring in air. With a child, this first stage lasts around thirty seconds. An adult may take longer. Our goal as lifeguards is to get to the person in distress and render aid before they pass the first stage of drowning.

Every lifeguard should provide their guests with the ten twenty. It is a lifeguad's number one priority to keep the people at the pool safe. True safety can be given if the ten twenty scanning pattern is used.

One of the most effective scanning patterns.

What is a VAT?

VAT stands for Vigilance Awareness Test. They are run to test a lifeguard's awareness level. The job of a lifeguard may include a great amount of physical work, but the physical ability will do little good if the mental part does not come first. A lifeguard may be moving their heads and eyes, scanning and looking at their zones, but are they seeing what is in their water? It is very easy to scan right over someone in trouble. VATs are run at random to strengthen lifeguards' minds; to develop their reaction to anything out of place.

Lifeguards use the ten/twenty pattern for scanning to check their zones. They look for anyone in trouble on the top, the middle, and the bottom of the water. A lifeguard has ten seconds to recognize (see) the VAT, and twenty seconds to reach it. The same pattern is used in real situations. A VAT recognized in over ten seconds but reached in under a total of thirty secods is a pass. VATs completed in these times meet the standard VAT requirements. A VAT recognized and reached in ten seconds is an exceed. A VAT recognized and reached in over thirt seconds is a fail with remediation. If a guard takes over sixty seconds to recognize a VAT and reach it, it is a fail with termination.

There are several different types of VATs. The most common is Timmy. He is a three foot manikin doll. He can be filled with water fully or partially to sink, or inflated with air to float. He is usually tossed in acting as a young non-swimmer child who jumps in over their head. Sometimes he is slipped in at the side of the pool.

VAT girl is about the size of a six year old and weighs about that much in the water. She fills up with water and sinks to the bottom. VAT girl is usually taken in the water by someone else and dropped.

A live VAT is when a person acts as if they are drowning. They can either be conscious or unconscious. In a live VAT the person can drown in difforent ways to make a lifeguard use their difforent rescue types. These VATs can be the most affective.

The last type of VATs are the silhouettes also known as The Shadow. This is the hardest one to see. It is simply a dark brown mat shaped like a person laying on their side with weights in it to sink. There is a larger one about the size of VAT girl and a smaller one about the size of Timmy. These are the sneakiest of all VATs. They are normally taken into the water by a person and quietly layed out. A shadow VAT acts as a person in trouble laying on the pool bottom. In many real situations, a person may look like only a brown blob on the bottom, especially if they are by the wall or further away from the lifeguard.

Whether a VAT is live or a manikin, at the managers command a simple VAT may turn into a full scenario. It could be a spinal or neck injury or a full scenario with CPR and rescue breathing. These VATs are group VATs. In this case other lifeguards from the nearest stands would run to help.

A lifeguard is not targeted with a VAT, rather a stand at a specific time is planned. The guard who happens to be on stand at the time is random. For a VAT to properly run, a manager, at least two witnesses, a supervisor or manager to time the VAT with a stopwatch, a guard to go up in stand immediately after so the water is never left unguarded, and someone to place the VAT must be present. The witnesses include the manager and someone else running the VAT. Some alterations can be made depending on the amount of staff on duty.

Do not be alarmed if you are ever swimming at a pool while a VAT is run. They are normal and conducted several times a day. Remember, Vigilance Awareness Tests are not real. They are simply there to test a lifeguard's awareness.

My Cousin Martina

Once upon a time there lived a teenaged girl, who so happens to be my cousin,

and she is a lifeguard for Jeff Ellis. I didn't really care about lifeguarding before she herself became one:lifeguards were only people at pools who embarrassed me when I went running on the deck.

But now I know better- lifeguards have a purpose. Martina has a purpose now in life and in work because she is a lifeguard. She gives me tips on this or that about swimming or lifeguarding and encourages me to keep striving after my ideal self as she has done. That is why I am so happy Martina is a lifeguard. Her life is blossoming beautifully into a promising adulthood, and I am glad to have such a cousin who cares about where life takes her and still manages to keep herself busy by nurturing her soul along with myself with writing! Lifeguarding is definitely a job to keep the spirits high and that is why Martina is the best cousin ever!

By Anne