5/17/12
We began today's class with our final test. It was actually easier than the first test and I was really happy that I only missed three questions this time around. We talked about the answers for a little while and then suited up to begin the first round of water skill tests! I'm the kind of person that gets really anxious about finals and stuff like that so I usually like to go close to the beginning so that I'm not just stressing the whole time. When they asked for volunteers, my hand shot up and I was put in the group that would finish all four tests today. Thankfully, I didn't have to be the very first person to go and I got to watch and see what we would have to do before I was thrown to the wolves.
The first round of tests actually went pretty well; Someone manned the deep end, another person took the diving boards and still another person watched the shallow end. It was fairly obvious how each victim was supposed to "drown" and everything went smoothly. I even had fun pretending to flirt with one of the lifeguards to distract them.
But when my turn came, the butterflies in my stomach went a little crazy. The first task I had was to sit by the high dive/where the deep end sloped up into the shallow end. I slid my buoy over my neck and took the whistle into my hand, giving it a little swing for luck. I started to relax when the scenario began, and scanned the pool for possible victims. After a while, I noticed a girl named Bridie wave her arms and sink to the bottom. I yelled EAP hoarsely and gave the whistle a sharp blow before striding into the pool to the rescue. I did exactly what I was supposed to and executed the rescue flawlessly. I was feeling really proud of myself when I saw the instructor's unusually grim face. The grin slid off my face as I exited the pool, Bridie in tow. I had gone over the time limit, Sam informed me. I did everything right, just the victim would have been dead in real life because I didn't notice her in time. I felt horrible, but they reassured me that I still had a second chance and promptly pushed me over to the CPR section, where I was to begin the next test. I felt like I needed a moment to just process and breathe, but I guess I needed to get the CPR over with anyways.
CPR has come easy to me since the first class and I performed that section of the test on autopilot and passed with flying colors. I must have still looked a little numb afterwards because Imani came over and gave me a hug and told me that I would nail it next time. Then I got some time to rest and play the victim for other people to rescue. Shortly after, I successfully completed and passed my active victim drowning and shallow water spinal tests. Much to my dismay, we ran out of time for me to run the deep water rescue again, but I was promised first shot at it the next class. 3 out of 4 tests completed, I was feeling pretty good, but not as good as I was sure I would feel the next day when I passed all of the tests and became an official lifeguard for real.
On duty!
Sunday, August 26, 2012
Class 7
5/14/12
Today was a pretty uneventful class. We had a big review day and worked on all of our water skills and studied for our final written exam. We filled out a new study guide and the instructors answered any questions we had about the course. I wasn't really that nervous about the written test as I was about the water skills test. I knew the shallow water spinal, CPR and active drowning rescues would be easy, but I was a little nervous about the deep water unconscious rescue. That was the rescue that I had missed when I had to miss class for my band concert. Sam went over it with me a bunch of times, but I still felt like that was my weakest skill.
That means that when we had free time to work on any water skill we wanted, I drilled the deep water rescue over and over again, and I was pretty sure that I had finally got it. The rest of the class I worked on all of my other water skills and CPR. And when I was done with that, I played around with Imani :) Finally, our instructors led a few scenarios for us to take turns practicing to guard. It was almost more fun to play the victims though. Some of the more memorable scenarios involved, pretending to be intoxicated at a rave pool party, pretending to be hyper summer camp kids and pretending to be crazy senior citizens in the water aerobics class. We all had fun and were prepared the start the final tests the next day.
Class 6
5/11/12
Today we had our first written test. We literally walked into the class and started the test. I thought it was pretty easy but there were definitely some questions that could go either way. Overall I was pretty sure that I had at least passed.
After a grueling wait, we finally got our tests back and I found out that I had missed 6 questions. I was happy that I had passed the test but I was also kind of disappointed that I didn't do better. The class is pass fail, so grades don't really matter but I'm kind of a perfectionist and I like to do really well on tests.
Anyways, after finishing our tests we started learning about spinals. Spinal injuries are some of the most dangerous injuries that lifeguards have to deal with. If someone injures their neck/spine it is very important not to move them to prevent paralysis. This makes it difficult to remove a suspected spinal victim from the pool.
Did you know that every year there are approximately 12,000 spinal injuries reported in the United States? 8% of those injures occur from recreational activities like diving into the pool. Spinal injuries are most common in the shallow end of the pool or when someone strikes an object or another person when diving into the pool. Head, neck or back injuries are also common among kids running around the outside of the pool, that slide on the slick surface. Some symptoms of a spinal injury are: heavy external bleeding from the head, neck or back, seizures, blood in the ears or nose, changes in level of consciousness (or LOC), nausea or vomiting, and loss of balance.
There are several methods for rescuing a spinal victim, each depending on the situation.
1) If the victim is in the water and BREATHING, then you should work with another lifeguard to strap them to a backboard and use the head immobilizer device.
2) If the victim is in the water but NOT BREATHING, you should use a method such as the two-person-removal-from-water (one lifeguard supports the body, while the other assists with the backboard) and provide resuscitation.
3) If the victim is on land STANDING, you should secure the victim to a backboard while they remain standing and slowly lower them to the ground.
4) If the victim is on land but NOT STANDING, you should tell the victim to remain in the same position they were found in, until EMS arrives.
Today we had our first written test. We literally walked into the class and started the test. I thought it was pretty easy but there were definitely some questions that could go either way. Overall I was pretty sure that I had at least passed.
After a grueling wait, we finally got our tests back and I found out that I had missed 6 questions. I was happy that I had passed the test but I was also kind of disappointed that I didn't do better. The class is pass fail, so grades don't really matter but I'm kind of a perfectionist and I like to do really well on tests.
Anyways, after finishing our tests we started learning about spinals. Spinal injuries are some of the most dangerous injuries that lifeguards have to deal with. If someone injures their neck/spine it is very important not to move them to prevent paralysis. This makes it difficult to remove a suspected spinal victim from the pool.
Did you know that every year there are approximately 12,000 spinal injuries reported in the United States? 8% of those injures occur from recreational activities like diving into the pool. Spinal injuries are most common in the shallow end of the pool or when someone strikes an object or another person when diving into the pool. Head, neck or back injuries are also common among kids running around the outside of the pool, that slide on the slick surface. Some symptoms of a spinal injury are: heavy external bleeding from the head, neck or back, seizures, blood in the ears or nose, changes in level of consciousness (or LOC), nausea or vomiting, and loss of balance.
There are several methods for rescuing a spinal victim, each depending on the situation.
1) If the victim is in the water and BREATHING, then you should work with another lifeguard to strap them to a backboard and use the head immobilizer device.
2) If the victim is in the water but NOT BREATHING, you should use a method such as the two-person-removal-from-water (one lifeguard supports the body, while the other assists with the backboard) and provide resuscitation.
3) If the victim is on land STANDING, you should secure the victim to a backboard while they remain standing and slowly lower them to the ground.
4) If the victim is on land but NOT STANDING, you should tell the victim to remain in the same position they were found in, until EMS arrives.
head immobilizer device backboard with straps
multiple lifeguard rescue
Thursday, August 16, 2012
Class 5
5/10/12
Whoo hoo! I'm already more than half done with lifeguarding classes! It's hard to believe that I've already taken 17.5 hours of class. Now that I'm in the home stretch I have to do everything I can to make sure I pass. Speaking of passing...we have our first written test tomorrow! I'm a little bit worried because my instructor says that the Red Cross has a nasty habit of creating tests with lots of answers that sound right, but only one best answer. I really hate tests like that because simple mistakes will trip you up. The test is 40 questions long and you are allowed to miss 8 and still pass. I don't think I'll miss that many but I'm going to study hard either way.
That means that today in class we got our study guides for the test. It's the type of study guide that has the questions that you need to be able to answer, but you have to actually find the answers yourself. The main topic was CPR/AED for the professional rescuer and first aid. After we went over the stuff we needed to know for the test, we had a lesson about first aid because we hadn't discussed it yet.
First aid was actually pretty easy, but gross to learn about. Some of the pictures in the Red Cross manual, well, they just aren't pleasing to look at. We also learned how to tie a bandage around a victim arm in case of a cut or scrape and how to make a makeshift splint on a suspected broken bone. Like I said, pretty easy stuff. Here are a few things I learned about first aid.
Abrasion
Whoo hoo! I'm already more than half done with lifeguarding classes! It's hard to believe that I've already taken 17.5 hours of class. Now that I'm in the home stretch I have to do everything I can to make sure I pass. Speaking of passing...we have our first written test tomorrow! I'm a little bit worried because my instructor says that the Red Cross has a nasty habit of creating tests with lots of answers that sound right, but only one best answer. I really hate tests like that because simple mistakes will trip you up. The test is 40 questions long and you are allowed to miss 8 and still pass. I don't think I'll miss that many but I'm going to study hard either way.
That means that today in class we got our study guides for the test. It's the type of study guide that has the questions that you need to be able to answer, but you have to actually find the answers yourself. The main topic was CPR/AED for the professional rescuer and first aid. After we went over the stuff we needed to know for the test, we had a lesson about first aid because we hadn't discussed it yet.
First aid was actually pretty easy, but gross to learn about. Some of the pictures in the Red Cross manual, well, they just aren't pleasing to look at. We also learned how to tie a bandage around a victim arm in case of a cut or scrape and how to make a makeshift splint on a suspected broken bone. Like I said, pretty easy stuff. Here are a few things I learned about first aid.
- You generally shouldn't move a victim in order to treat them unless it is a life threatening situation or your location is making the problem worse.
- After doing the primary assessment of the scene you should decide whether EMS needs to be called or not.
- The secondary assessment is performed after you have performed the the primary assessment and determined that the victim is not in a life threatening situation.You should gather a brief medical history and perform a head to toe physical exam.
- the acronym SAMPLE is helpful to remember what information to gather in the secondary assessment. It stands for Signs and symptoms, Allergies, Medications, Pertinent past medical history, Last oral intake and Events leading up to the incident.
- Talk to the person calmly and explain what you plan to do to treat them. If the victim is a child, bend down on their level and use words that are easy to understand.
- Sudden Illnesses can happen to anyone, anywhere and be fatal. Some signs of a sudden illness are changes in level of consciousness (LOC), dizziness, nausea or vomiting, numbness, difficulty in speaking, loss of vision and changes in skin color.
- FAINTING- to deal with a victim who has fainted, make sure the victim is on a flat surface and loosen any tight clothing.
- SEIZURES- move nearby objects away from the victim to protect them, position the victim on their side to allow all fluids to drain. If the seizure occurs in the water, call EMS and swim out to the victim and support their head out of the water and wait until the seizure is over to move them.
- STROKE- use FAST to recognize any potential signs of a stroke. Face- weakness on one side of the face, Arm- weakness or numbness in one arm, Speech- slurred speech, Time- time to call the EMS
~Pictures to break up all the information!~
Abrasion
Laceration
And my personal favorite, the avulsion, is a bit too graphic to put on here and I can't find a good example of it anyways. (don't ever Google image avulsion, by the way)
We also learned about using gauze and pressure to treat a small to moderate cut and how to tie a makeshift sling on a suspected broken or sprained arm.
We also learned about using gauze and pressure to treat a small to moderate cut and how to tie a makeshift sling on a suspected broken or sprained arm.
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