Pompano Beach Junior Lifeguard Program

 

The program teaches kids ages 9-17 the skills involved in life guarding.

The Pompano Beach Jr. Lifeguard Program originally began with 10-15 kids and now has over 150 members.  Over the course of the summer, the Jr. Lifeguards are educated about valuable lifesaving techniques, the marine environment, as well as health and nutrition facts.

The lifesaving techniques taught are not limited to making rescues, but include other skills crucial to life guarding such as CPR, rescue breathing, and checking for and monitoring vital signs.  They are also taught how to appropriately handle illnesses and injuries often encountered by lifeguards, such as heat exhaustion and spinal injuries.  In addition to focusing on the well-being of beach-goers, there is also an emphasis on one's own well-being by focusing on nutrition and physical fitness as these not only make for a good lifeguard, but also for a healthy individual.  The program is quite demanding of the kids' physical abilities as they perform life guarding skills and are very active throughout a normal day, so encouraging such habits are crucial whether the kids realize it or not.

The Jrs are also taught about marine life and environmental factors that affect the lifeguard.  These range from being more aware of and respectful to, the environment and to the natural hazards encountered in the marine environment.  We focus especially close on potentially harmful marine life, rip currents, and thunder and lightning storms.

Depending on the subject matter or physical demands, the Jrs may be split into age groups to cater to their comprehension of certain topics.  Their level of understanding is tested by giving them scenarios or partnering them to practice and apply what they have learned.

The Jr. Lifeguard program is a great way to ensure that we have skilled lifeguards trained and available to work in the future.  It creates a strong community and it encourages individuals to act positively and productively at a young age. Additionally, it educates the youth and instills them with information and skills that make them valuable assets to the community, for both the present and the future, regardless of their career intentions.

After having been a Jr. myself for six or so years, I really enjoyed working with the program this past year and being able to see what it's like from another point of view.  I think that having been a Jr. really helped to prepare me to work with these kids and to be able to better relay information to them.

Lisa Rask

Junior Lifeguard Coach