While most of the people around has heard the name of American Red Cross, very few are aware of the details of its services, including lifeguard services. It is an organization not based on profit goals but rather believing a lending a helping hand to the ones in need. Its services include disaster response services, blood related services, health and safety services. Lifeguard options are a part of health and safety services with many local outlets that conduct the training on the same, including Long Island.
Brief history
The organization was founded way back in 1881in the capital city of Washington D.C. the founder, Clara Barton, was a part of International Red Cross and decided to generate similar services in her own country, USA. That is what led to the formation of American Red Cross. Hence, the services associated started with the model of functions of the International Red Cross.
While she was the first ever president and founder of the organization, she resigned from it in the year 1904. Today, the organization has spread all across the country with its services and has tied up with many other entities in order to reach people with its benefits. Apart from a pool of more than thirty thousand employees, it has volunteer strength exceeding a million who are consistently working day and night to make people’s lives better with their effort.
Lifeguarding with American Red Cross
As mentioned earlier, lifeguard training is one of the essential services provided by American Red Cross. One might think why something as simple and obvious as lifeguard training is required to be included in its function. The truth is that it is hardly a simple function. A lifeguard needs to consistently monitor the situation around in order to detect any kind of threat or emergency. Hence, there is a need for special surveillance training.
Further, detecting an emergency situation is only the first step. To be able to resolve the situation, one has to be able to reach the spot and respond to it as fast as possible. Hence, it requires a great deal of training to learn the fine skills of emergency response process. It teaches you not just to reach the spot yourself but to assemble a team of required professionals in an optimized time frame.
After a lifeguard reaches the spot of concern, the actual response procedure would take place. It could be a case where someone is already injured and requires medical assistance starting with first aid treatment. Or it could be a scenario where a person is facing breathing issues, or even worse, a cardiac arrest. In such a case, CPR needs to be administered. And the most obvious for a lifeguard is saving someone who is drowning in water.
All of the cases under consideration need special training program. So American Red Cross lifeguard training program would include lot of chapters, including first aid training, CPR/ AED, rescue and surveillance, teamwork etc. in a nutshell, American Red Cross lifeguard training and certification course creates not just professionals but a set of guardian angels who work day and night to protect the society at large.
