Water Safety Strategy

Priority 7: Life guards

Lifeguards

California Water Safety Priority 7

Goal: To create sustainable and adaptive systems for lifeguards in California.

Why is this a priority?

Lifeguards are a critical layer or protection in drowning prevention, (29) and an important stakeholder in the multi-sectoral effort to reduce the burden of drowning in the state. In California, lifeguarding is a profession with highly trained people who are responsible for supervising and safeguarding millions of residents and tourists alike. Many of California’s lifeguards work year- round, in departments that deliver robust services that are integrated into emergency medical and response systems.

California’s lifeguards work in a variety of settings. While images of southern California’s beaches or the public pool are the first to mind for many, lifeguards also work in the central and northern coast, at lakes and reservoirs throughout the San Joaquin Valley and Inland Empire, and at rivers with high incidence of drowning fatalities. The essence of Californian lifeguarding is prevention, and many lifeguard departments and organizations also engage in educational programs aimed at communicating water safety principles to the public.

Strong, adaptive lifeguard systems at both pools and open water sites are a crucial component of an effective drowning prevention strategy.

Knowledge Gaps

Lifeguard organizations are increasingly using data to guide operations and the following data activities will assist them in this process.

Key Data Activities

Policy Analysis

Understanding how current legislation impacts the profession from a variety of perspectives including wages, hours worked, recruitment and retention will help improve the field.

Map Lifeguard Services and Times

Mapping which locations have lifeguards on duty and including this information in drowning data analyses will help understand if resources are being deployed to areas most in need, and provide important data on the effectiveness of these services in areas where they are already established.

Standardize Data Collection

Lifeguards currently have varying standards and forms for submitting incident reports, which limits the usefulness of this information. Developing and implementing a standard set of core data items with uniform definitions that are representative of a variety of population-level factors will provide improved insights at a regional and statewide level.

Lifeguards

California Water Safety Priority 7

Key Action Areas

Community Programs and Education

Pre-Beach and Pool Programs

Design and deliver programs where lifeguards educate members of the community before they arrive at the beach or pool, for example in schools or at health fairs. Prioritize high risk populations, which will be local context dependent.

Role Communication Campaign

Research and develop an education campaign about the role of lifeguards, the benefits to the public and impact on community safety.

Youth Programs

Promote Junior Lifeguard and other youth programs that educate young people about water risks and first aid. Expand access to low resource families and explore opportunities for inclusion of children with a broad range of water competencies.

Professional Training and Capacity

Standardized Training and Recertification

Develop standardized training requirements recognized and transferable between departments.

Prevention Partnerships

Lifeguards are great spokespersons for drowning prevention. Explore partnerships for lifeguards to work on, promote, and participate in prevention and safety programs outside the beach or pool.

Mental Health

Support mental health and wellbeing with specific training, programs, and initiatives for lifeguards.

Recruit Lifeguards from Diverse Backgrounds 

Investigate opportunities and implement initiatives to diversify the lifeguard workforce. Remove barriers to entry to the profession, including unpaid training.

Policy and Systems

Expand Service Locations

Advocate for expanded lifeguard services to new locations, including open water sites and community pools without lifeguards. Places with high volumes of incidents and/or use should be prioritized.

Workforce Development

Advocate for policies that ensure lifeguarding is a viable job that offers competitive living wages and career advancement opportunities. Collaborate across different bodies of water and parts of the state to address issues of recruitment, retention, lateral and in-house advancement, and training.

Extend Service Times

As usage patterns evolve, update hours and seasonal time periods when lifeguards are on duty to reflect when people are swimming (e.g. later into the evening, earlier in spring months, later into the fall months)